Iconic salt lake reopens to public

XINING -- An iconic salt lake in Northwest China reopened to the public on Sunday.

Chaka Salt Lake offers free admission to the country's tourists from Sunday to June 30. One-year free admission is provided to Chinese medical staff and tourists from the provinces of Hubei and Qinghai, in addition to college students.

"I was at home for almost three months and kept thinking about going out in nature," said visitor Su Lin, from Wuhan, capital of Hubei.

The natural saline lake is located in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Qinghai province. With its snow-white lake bed and crystal blue water, the lake has earned the moniker "the Mirror of the Sky". It attracted an average daily of over 40,000 tourists during last year's peak tourist season.

Located at 3,100 meters above sea level in Ulan county, the oval-shaped lake is 15.8 km long and 9.2 km wide, covering a total area of 105 square km. It is about four hours' drive from Xining, capital of Qinghai province.

Chaka Salt Lake, along with Ta'er (Gumbum) Monastery, Qinghai Lake and Mengda Lake, represent the best-known tourist destinations in Qinghai.