Qarhan Salt Lake is the largest salt lake in China, a playa of salt crust and brine pools covering some 5,800 km² in the Qaidam Basin north of Golmud in Qinghai, at about 2,700 metres. It is China's main source of potash fertiliser, and the Qinghai–Tibet railway and highway cross it on a bed of salt.
Key facts
Overview
Qarhan is less a lake than a salt plain: a hard crust of crystallised salt, in places metres thick, over brine, with a few shallow lakes of open water around its margins. The name is Mongolian, reflecting the Mongol herders of the Qaidam. From the air and from the road the landscape is flat, white and grey to the horizon, with the Kunlun Mountains to the south.
The salt is also a mine. Brine is pumped into huge evaporation ponds, where the sun concentrates it until potassium salts crystallise; the pond fields, coloured blue, green and white by their different brines, are the part most visitors see and photograph.
How the landscape formed
The Qaidam Basin is a closed basin enclosed by the Kunlun, Altun and Qilian mountains. During the Pleistocene it held large lakes; as the climate dried and the lakes evaporated, their dissolved salts were left as layered deposits of halite, potassium and magnesium salts and lithium-bearing brine. Qarhan lies at the lowest part of the eastern basin, where rivers from the Kunlun, including the Golmud River, end in the salt plain. Evaporation far exceeds rainfall, so the brine keeps crystallising: salt “flowers” grow along the edges of the pools.
Highlights
Ten-thousand-zhang Salt Bridge
万丈盐桥
The stretch of road built directly on the salt crust, about 32 km long, and repaired with brine that recrystallises as it dries.
Salt flowers
盐花
Crystal growths in coral- and flower-like shapes along the edges of brine pools.
Dabsan Lake
达布逊湖
The largest body of open water on the salt plain.
Plants and wildlife
Almost nothing lives on the salt crust itself. Brine shrimp and salt-tolerant micro-organisms, which colour some pools pink or red, survive in the brines, and a few waterbirds use the less saline margins where rivers enter.
Plants
Kalidium
盐爪爪
A succulent shrub of the saline flats around the basin margin.
Wildlife
Brine shrimp
卤虫
Artemia live in the saline lakes of the Qaidam.
Culture and legend
The Qaidam was the land of Mongol and Tibetan herders before the 1950s, when prospectors and settlers came for oil, salt and minerals and founded Golmud. The development of Qarhan's potash from the late 1950s made it a cornerstone of Chinese agriculture, and the salt works remain one of the largest industrial sites on the plateau.
Potash fertiliser
钾肥
The main product of the salt works, extracted from brine in evaporation ponds.
Qaidam Basin
柴达木
From a Mongolian word often glossed as “salt marsh”; the basin holds dozens of salt lakes.
History
1950s
Exploration of the Qaidam
Geological teams survey the basin's salt, potash and oil resources.
1958
Potash production begins
The first potash fertiliser is produced at Qarhan, starting China's domestic potash industry.
1984
Qinghai–Tibet railway reaches Golmud
The first section of the railway, laid across the salt plain, opens to Golmud.
Through the seasons
Spring
Dry and very windy, with dust from the basin.
Summer
Warm days and strong sun; the best time for colour in the evaporation ponds and for reflections after rain.
Autumn
Clear, stable weather and cooler temperatures.
Winter
Cold and dry; the brine itself rarely freezes.
Routes and ways in
Salt lake visitor area
A designated area beside the salt works with walkways onto the crust and along the pools, reached from the Golmud–Dunhuang road north of Golmud.
Practical notes
- The glare off the salt is intense; sunglasses and sun protection are essential.
- Salt crust can hide soft brine beneath; stay on marked paths.
- Brine damages shoes, clothes and camera equipment; rinse with fresh water afterwards.
- Much of the lake is an active industrial site with restricted access.
Cities to start from
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Qaidam Basin — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Qarhan Playa — Wikipedia (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Qinghai Provincial People's Government — Qinghai Provincial People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More mountains and nature in Qinghai
- Nature reserveHoh Xil可可西里The uninhabited high plateau of the Tibetan antelope
- LakeQinghai Lake青海湖China's largest lake, a saline inland sea on the Tibetan Plateau
- National parkSanjiangyuan National Park三江源国家公园The high plateau where the Yangtze, Yellow River and Mekong begin
- Mountain rangeQilian Mountains祁连山The glaciated wall whose meltwater feeds the Hexi Corridor
Related
Province
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City · Qinghai
Golmud →
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