Badain Jaran Desert 巴丹吉林沙漠

About Badain Jaran Desert

The contrast between steep sand slopes, water and narrow vegetated margins is its defining landscape. An introductory visit can focus on Badan Lake and the neighbouring dunes; reaching the remote temple or Bilutu sand mountain requires a longer organised desert journey. Treat these as different levels of commitment, and select the route with the reception operator before leaving the paved approach.

The desert contains densely packed giant dunes interspersed with lakes, including the world's largest area of singing sand and wind-eroded landforms, and one of its dunes, at more than 500 meters, ranks as the world's highest stationary dune. Tall dunes of 200 to 300 meters, and up to 500 meters, cover 61 percent of the area, while shifting dunes make up 83 percent of the desert's surface; composite and pyramid-shaped dune mountains occur alongside simpler dune chains. In the southeast, around 144 small inland lakes lie among the dune mountains, each about 1 to 1.5 square kilometers and mostly too saline to drink.

Badain Jaran Desert lies on the Alxa Plateau, at the point where it meets three neighboring deserts, and is administratively divided between Ejin Banner and Alxa Right Banner in Inner Mongolia. It is China's third-largest desert and second-largest shifting-sand desert, part of the temperate desert zone of northwestern China. The Ejina River (额济纳河) crosses the region and has formed an alluvial plain, and the varied terrain supports a range of habitats.

Research published in the journal Nature attributes the dunes' long-term stability to groundwater: a moist sand layer lies 20 to 30 centimeters below the surface, sustained by water rising along deep fault zones, which increases surface humidity and holds the tall dune mountains in place.

What to look for

• The meeting of dunes, water and vegetation at Badan Lake.
• The steep wind-shaped sand ridges around the lake visitor sector.

Location & getting there

Getting to Badain Jaran Desert

Arrange the visit through the desert operator in Badain Jaran Town, Alxa Right Banner, then continue to the Badan Lake reception and parking sector.

• Use the operator's designated desert transport for routes beyond the paved approach; remote lakes and the temple are separate journeys.