General view of newly revived Qingtu lake in Minqin, China's Gansu
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| Photo taken on Nov. 26, 2010 shows a general view of the newly revived Qingtu Lake in Minqin County, northwest China's Gansu Province. The Qingtu Lake, suffered from drought for over 50 years, witnessed three square kilometers of water surface again after 8.6 million cubic meters of water from Shiyang River were infused into the lake by the end of October this year. Extensive farming since the 1950s sapped underground water in Minqin and destroyed the local ecology. The 400-sq-km, 60-meter-deep Qingtu Lake dried up in the 30 years since the 1960s, and by the early 1990s, the lake had been smothered by creeping yellow sand. The newly revived lake plays a vital role in preventing desertification in Minqin County, which is one of China's three major sandstorm originations due to its lying between the two deserts of Tengger and Badain Jaran. (Xinhua/Gao Jianjun) |
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