See China's Yuncheng Salt Lake In All Its Colorful Splendor

Publish date: 2024-06-09

Yuncheng Salt Lake is loaded with salt-tolerant algae that react to the mineral, producing a beautiful spectrum of color.

Yuncheng Salt Lake is a world-renowned inland salt lake known as the "Dead Sea of China".Shang Jianzhou/Visual China Group via Getty Images Aerial view of the colorful salt lake on May 22, 2019, in Yuncheng, Shanxi Province, China. Huang Wenpeng/Visual China Group via Getty Images The salt lake has different colors as the water density changes. TPG/Getty Images An aerial view of Yuncheng's many colors.Xue Jun/VCG via Getty Images Workers harvesting salt at Yuncheng Salt Lake. Xue Jun/Visual China Group via Getty Images Workers harvest piles of salt at Yuncheng.Xue Jun/Visual China Group via Getty Images The salt lake becomes colorful when high temperatures lead to an overgrowth of algae. TPG/Getty Images Formed about 500 million years ago, the salt lake creates different colors as a result of the algae in the water. Visual China Group via Getty Images An overhead view of Yuncheng's many colors.Huang Wenpeng/Visual China Group via Getty Images A man using a net to fish for red saltwater worms. Dang Yongli/Visual China Group via Getty Images Red saltwater worms multiply rapidly in the colorful salt lake. Dang Yongli/Visual China Group via Getty Images The lake's colors at low temperatures.Photo by Yang Jianfeng/VCG via Getty Images Yuncheng Salt Lake has a history of salt production that stretches back 4,000 - 6,000 years.Visual China Group via Getty Images Visual China Group via Getty Images Aerial photo shows a view of Yuncheng Salt Lake — one of three inland salt lakes with sodium sulfate in the world.Xinhua/Zhan Yan via Getty Images A view of relatively muted colors at Yuncheng.Huang Wenpeng/Visual China Group via Getty Images Red and green salt water is divided by the road crossing the lake. Visual China Group via Getty Images The various kinds of algae create many different colors across the lake.Xinhua/Xue Jun via Getty Images

Yuncheng Salt Lake And Its Breathtaking Rainbow Of Colored Algae View Gallery

China's Yuncheng Salt Lake may often be called China's Dead Sea, but it's hardly void of life — nor, in fact, is it a sea. The lake is awash in technicolor hues of purple, bright blue, green, and bright crimson in hot weather. With the heat and increased light, the saltwater incubates chemical reactions between minerals and organisms, creating a fantastic palette of colors in the process.

From above, the colors resemble a vibrantly pieced-together quilt divided by thin, gray lines of salt ridges and roadways. Though its beauty is evident, it's not the main reason that China has a special relationship with the Yuncheng Salt Lake — also known as Xiechi Lake. For locals, the lake is remarkable for the salt it produces.

China is the world's largest producer of salt at 48 million tons per year. History reports that wars ensued over possession of the salt lake and nearby temples are dedicated to salt gods — though locals these days are more apt to visit the brilliantly—colored, artist's palette of a lake.

A South China Morning Post video on the unique colors of Yuncheng Salt Lake.

Learn the history and see the wonders of Yuncheng Salt Lake below and in the gallery above.

The Science Behind Yuncheng Salt Lake

Colors like magenta, violet, and yellow appear in Yuncheng Salt Lake due to a unique species of micro-algae called Dunaliella salina that creates algal blooms. Normally, these present as green in the water. However, the blooms are actually a vast accumulation of algae with protective carotenoids — plant pigments — brought out by the environment. All this occurs on the cellular level inside the algae.

D. salina is the most salt-tolerant organism, so it's no surprise you can find it in salt lakes throughout the world. Its pigments are so intense, manufacturers use them as coloring in food additives and cosmetics.

Furthermore, like the Dead Sea, Yuncheng contains many minerals considered to be good for the skin.

Unlike the Dead Sea, however, Yuncheng Salt Lake is full of sulfates that support life. The chloride in the Dead Sea is fairly hostile to life forms of any kind.

Xinhua/Zhan Yan via Getty ImagesMirabilite rime is formed when mirabilite crystallizes at a low temperature.

Winter Crystals

Just as the heat is partially responsible for the colorful micro-algae blooms, winter has its own cool trick. When the temperatures drop, Yuncheng Salt Lake forms crystals on its surface. They are called mirabilite and can resemble blossoming flowers or intricate crystal towers.

Mirabilite rime is formed when magnesium sulfate crystallizes and can be translucent or sometimes shades of pink. The Chinese sometimes refer to it as the "salt flowers blossoming."

This only happens when temperatures are under 23 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 degrees Celsius), so while it doesn't happen every year, it's a beautiful phenomenon when it does.

The History Of Salt Collecting At Yuncheng

Yuncheng Salt Lake formed roughly 500 million years ago, and locals have harvested its salt for at least the last 4,000 years. Over 1,000 years ago, the ancient Chinese honed a five-step production method of creating edible salt. This honored trade had been passed down from master to apprentice for generations.

In this method, lake water went through a series of steps including sunbathing, filtering, storage, crystallization, and finally shoveling — all done by hand. However, by the 1980s, this time-honored traditional method came to a halt. The physical toll on laborers became too high and there was a lack of apprentices willing to learn the craft.

Though the Chinese abandoned their artisanal process for salt production, it is a tradition that sheds light on the importance of the mineral and its preparation. The traditional five-step salt production method was included in the national intangible cultural heritage list in 2014.

U.S. Gov/FlickrAlgae so thick it is creating a dead zone.

Dead Zones

Unfortunately, algal blooms in Yuncheng Salt Lake can result in what's called a dead zone. As the algae continue to bloom and multiply, other life forms become nutrient deficient and die. In turn, when these life forms decay, it depletes the water's oxygen supply.

Algal blooms on the water's surface also prevent the absorption of oxygen to organisms living beneath them. With both reduced sunlight and oxygen, fish, aquatic insects — even seagrasses suffer immensely.

While many algal blooms are considered toxic to people, the ecological study of D. salina in particular is somewhat neglected.

The algal blooms usually die not long after they appear; the ecosystem simply cannot support them for long periods. But when they die off, that doesn't mean they'll be gone for long. "Some of [the increase in blooms] can be attributed to global climate change," said Timothy Davis, a research ecologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Michigan.

As the climate continues to change, the future of Yuncheng Salt Lake will surely change along with it. Nevertheless, it's sure to remain one of the most fascinatingly unique bodies on water on planet Earth.

Next, read about India's Roopkund Lake, where skeletons frequently wash ashore. Then, explore the turquoise wonders of Russia's Lake Baikal.