Jinta Desert Poplar Forest 金塔沙漠胡杨林

About Jinta Desert Poplar Forest

The Jiuquan municipal government office's description, dated 1 June 2026, places the scenic area on the north side of the middle section of the ancient Silk Road in the Hexi Corridor, 8 km north-west of Jinta county town, and sets out a layout it calls 'one centre and five zones': an entrance service zone, a 沙枣林 sightseeing zone, the 金波湖–poplar forest core zone, a 瀚海红柳 conservation zone, a desert recreation zone and a desert reed maze zone. It says development began in 2009 and that 360 million yuan has since gone into infrastructure, landscaping and viewpoints, and it lists what has been added: catering, camel rides and beach buggies, a food street called 胡杨堡子, a water-screen film, a railway-carriage inn and a winter ice festival. It gives the brand line '醉美胡杨·金色金塔'. The Gansu provincial A-level tourist attraction register as of 31 December 2025, republished on the Jiuquan culture and tourism bureau's site and credited to the Gansu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, records the site as 金塔县沙漠胡杨林景区 in 酒泉市, rated 4A, with the address given as 酒泉市金塔沙漠胡杨林景区游客接待中心. A search of the whole cached register for 胡杨林 returns only that one entry, and the register contains no 5A entry for the site.

The water element that the catalogue's highlight names is described in a China Network feature dated 24 October 2024. It places the scenic area 8 km north-west of Jinta county town, says it forms part of the Three-North shelterbelt system, gives its area as more than 80,000 mu and says it holds the north-west's largest stand of poplar forest. Its zone list has five zones rather than the municipal page's six, naming the poplar-forest 金波湖 core zone, a 沙枣林 sightseeing zone, a 瀚海红柳 conservation zone, a desert recreation zone and a desert reed maze zone. It calls 金波湖 the heart of the Jinta poplar forest and one of the best places to photograph poplars at the water's edge, and says the lake reflects the tall trunks and yellow leaves, with a small bridge, rippling green water and geese. It describes 胡杨楼 as a seven-storey antique-style lookout tower east of the hero tree in the poplar forest, from which visitors see tall poplars, a river winding past and layered colour, and says that from the 烽燧瞭望台 the poplars, the fragrance of 沙枣, the tamarisk, the desert and the distant hills are all visible. It lists desert surfing, sand sliding and desert camels among the activities on offer.

The colour change and the site's scale come from an earlier China Network feature of 13 October 2021, republished on the People's Daily Online site and credited to reporter Ding Suyun. It places the scenic area on the north side of the middle section of the ancient Silk Road, 6 km north-west of Jinta county town, gives its area as more than 80,000 mu, and says it holds the north-west's largest stand of poplar, which it calls a fossil-level plant. It says that in autumn the poplar forest turns gold against sky, water and desert, and that as the autumn wind rises the trees go from deep green to pale yellow and then to gold, becoming a sea of gold in the desert. Its distance figure differs from the two later pages, which both say 8 km; the sources do not explain the difference and this record does not resolve it.

The site's development is set out in a Jinta county all-for-one tourism round-up in the Jiuquan city news site, dated 12 October 2022 and credited to Lu Yu. It says the county built the desert poplar forest scenic area in 2009 on the basis of the poplar forest and that the area has since been successfully created as a national 4A-level scenic area, that the county has run a poplar culture tourism festival, made a film called 胡杨之恋, put its name on a 金塔号 train and run study-tour activities to build the poplar brand, and that in June of that year it began work to create a national 5A-level tourist attraction at the scenic area. It also says the county invested 220 million yuan in 2021 in a road from the desert poplar forest scenic area to the Heihe river bend, so that visitors could see both, and that the county has been recognised as a provincial-level all-for-one tourism demonstration area. The 5A item is a statement that work had begun rather than that a grade was granted, and the register as of 31 December 2025 still records the site at 4A.

On the visit itself the sources are thin. None of the five gives opening hours, ticket prices, a booking channel, the length of the season or when the colour peaks, and none describes the walking route or says which of the zones is served by the scenic area's internal transport, so the catalogue's caution that animal activity, flowering and migration are seasonal and that no particular sighting is promised stands unanswered. The seasonal claim itself rests on the two China Network features and on the Jiuquan city news site's line that the poplar forest shines every October, all three of which are promotional pieces rather than seasonal records, and the 2024 feature was written for the autumn peak. The municipal page's closing description of the area as one of the province's most attractive core scenic areas is the page's own wording and is not adopted, and the register's 4A grade is a designation rather than a ranking.

What to look for

• 金波湖, which the 2024 China Network feature calls the heart of the Jinta poplar forest and one of the best places to photograph poplars at the water's edge, and which it says reflects the trunks and yellow leaves
• 胡杨楼, which the same feature describes as a seven-storey antique-style lookout tower east of the hero tree in the poplar forest
• The 烽燧瞭望台, from which the feature says the poplars, the fragrance of 沙枣, the tamarisk, the desert and the distant hills are all visible
• The zones the two pages list between them: the 金波湖–poplar forest core zone, a 沙枣林 sightseeing zone, a 瀚海红柳 conservation zone, a desert recreation zone and a desert reed maze zone
• The autumn colour change the 2021 feature describes, from deep green to pale yellow and then to gold
• The activities and built additions the sources name: desert surfing, sand sliding and desert camels, and the 胡杨堡子 food street, the water-screen film, the railway-carriage inn and the winter ice festival

Location & getting there

Getting to Jinta Desert Poplar Forest

Check the open visitor route and follow the site’s rules on distance, food and photography. Conservation areas may limit access beyond designated paths.

• Search for 金塔沙漠胡杨林 with 酒泉市 and 金塔县.