# Yuncheng Salt Lake, China's Colorful "Dead Sea" > Discover Yuncheng Lake in Shanxi Province: rainbow-hued water, social media fame and striking views from above. A true natural wonder of China. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/mertve-more-u-kytayi/ - Language: en - Published: 2023-05-26 - Categories: Nature, Tours, China, Swimming, Lakes, Relaxation --- Xichi Lake, also known as the Yuncheng Salt Lake in China's Shanxi Province, has become a social media star in recent years thanks to stunning aerial shots of its colorful surface on Instagram and beyond. Now China wants to turn that online buzz into real-world tourism. Step one: promote it to Chinese travelers. Recent tourism campaigns on Chinese social platforms, including Weibo and WeChat, call Xichi "China's Dead Sea" and celebrate its beauty and healing properties. "As the Chinese version of Israel's Dead Sea, swimming here is an unforgettable experience you won't find anywhere else," reads one tourism ad sponsored by the Yuncheng Salt Lake (China's Dead Sea) Tourism Development Co. LTD. One accolade shows the lake has earned approval at the highest level: Xichi Lake was featured in a special 2019 Chinese TV broadcast marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. ## How the Wonder Formed ![](/storage/image/prev/Salt-lake-2-China-1024x686.jpg) There are three types of salt lakes in the world: carbonate, chloride and sulfate. The Dead Sea and the Great Salt Lake in Utah are chloride lakes. Yuncheng, however, belongs to the last group. "If there's more sulfate in the water than calcium, all the calcium gets used up, you're left with a surplus of sulfate, and you end up with a sulfate lake," explains Bernie Owen, a geography professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. Xichi is also a "closed basin" lake, meaning it doesn't drain into a river or ocean, which explains why its salt content stays so high. "Water comes in with salt, water leaves, salt stays behind, more water comes in with salt, evaporation happens. The salt stays," Owen explains. "There's no way out. It's just going to get gradually saltier, saltier and saltier." And what about those gorgeous colors that made the lake such a hit with photographers? They come down to the plant and animal species living in the water. "If you have brine shrimp, you usually get red colors," Owen says. "There's a microscopic animal called a rotifer, and it produces a purple color. You can (also) get purple from green algae. And greens or oranges (show up) in very salty lakes." Salt lakes can freeze, though not as quickly as other lakes: after all, think about what happens when we sprinkle salt on icy roads. Salt water freezes at lower temperatures than fresh water. ## The Lake Becomes a Star ![](/storage/image/prev/Salt-lake-1-China-1024x658.jpg) In a bid to boost Xichi Lake's international profile, China is reportedly taking steps to add it to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In a 2019 WeChat post, Luo Huining, party secretary of Shanxi Province, announced that local authorities had launched the application process. "The Yuncheng Salt Lake is a crystallization of Chinese culture and civilization. The salt lake carries a positive meaning for promoting our cultural confidence and heritage," he said at the time. China pays close attention to UNESCO bids, which can be costly and lengthy, as a way to give international legitimacy to its many historical and natural wonders. The country currently has 56 such World Heritage Sites, placing it second only to Italy on the overall list. That achievement is all the more impressive considering that the first crop of Chinese UNESCO sites, the Great Wall and the Forbidden City, only appeared on the list in 1987. Two more such recognitions would let China draw level with Italy for the top spot on the UNESCO list. There's good news for first-time travelers hoping to visit Xichi Lake too: it isn't yet as popular or crowded as other tourist spots in China. Tiger Li of the travel company Diverse China says he has organized only a handful of trips there. Nearly all the visitors so far have been Chinese travelers. That situation is unlikely to change as long as China remains largely closed to international tourism. The country sealed its borders in early 2020 and remains one of the few destinations in the world still following a "zero-Covid" strategy, which involves very strict quarantine policies. "Besides the scenery, I think the mud baths and other experiences are the main reason they go (to Xichi Lake)," Li says. According to a statement from the Yuncheng city government, Xichi Lake contains black mud with restorative and healing properties, just like the Dead Sea. The document goes on to claim that people can float on the surface of the water without sinking, which, by coincidence, is also true of the Dead Sea.