Dachaidan,
emerald in the desert
Colour in the middle of nowhere. Former borax workings left a scatter of small lakes in the Qaidam Basin, and the minerals in each one turned them emerald, blue and yellow.
Dachaidan Emerald Lake lies at about 3,170 m in the northern Qaidam Basin, a long day's drive west of Chaka on the Grand Route. The lakes were left behind by old borax workings, and the different minerals in each pool give them different colours: emerald, deep blue and pale yellow. The pools are small and scattered, set in pale crust and gravel, so you move between them on foot rather than looking at a single sheet of water.
It is one of the least visited stops on the route. There is almost no coach traffic and you can walk the edges of the pools more or less alone. The free afternoon is deliberate, because the light changes the colours hour by hour. From here the road turns towards Dunhuang, crossing some of the emptiest country of the whole trip.
What to see
Emerald, blue and yellow pools
Each small lake holds a different mineral mix, so the colours range from emerald to deep blue to pale yellow.
Barely anyone else there
Dachaidan sees far fewer visitors than Chaka. There are almost no coach groups and often no queue at all.
Old borax workings
The lakes are the remains of borax mining. Piles of mineral earth and old workings sit at the water's edge.
A free afternoon
The day is built with time to walk and to photograph, waiting for the light to shift across the pools.
Qaidam emptiness
Around the lakes the basin stretches away, dry and almost featureless, with the road as the only mark on it.
Colour by the hour
The pools change through the day. Mid-afternoon and the late light bring out the strongest greens and blues.
Why the lakes are coloured
Dachaidan is a human landscape as much as a natural one. The pools are the remains of borax mining, and each one holds a slightly different mix of dissolved minerals. That is what drives the colour, from emerald green to deep blue to a pale, milky yellow, all within a few minutes' walk of each other.
- Left behind by old borax workings.
- Different minerals in each pool.
- Colours from emerald to blue to yellow.
- The palette shifts with the light and the season.
A quiet stop on a long road
Most travellers reach Dachaidan late in the day after the drive from Chaka, and the place is all the better for it. It sits far enough west in the northern Qaidam Basin that few tour buses make the detour, so the pools are usually yours. The lower visitor numbers are not an accident of timing; they are the reason the stop is on the route at all.
- Much quieter than Chaka Salt Lake.
- Very few coach groups, often none.
- Space to walk and to photograph without queues.
- A calm contrast to the better-known salt lakes.
Photography here
The colours are strongest in bright, direct light, and a flat grey afternoon flattens them completely. Walk the marked paths along the edges, watch where the crust softens, and give yourself time: the pools look different every hour. Sun protection and water matter, because there is almost no shade anywhere on this stage.
- Walk only on the marked paths: the crust around the pools is fragile and some edges are soft.
- The colours are strongest in bright light, so a flat grey afternoon is the one to avoid.
- Carry water and sun protection; there is very little shade anywhere on this stage.
- This is a long driving day, so charge batteries and download maps the night before.
Frequently asked questions
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