Chaka Salt Lake

Chaka lies at around 3,050 metres on the eastern edge of the Qaidam basin and has been worked for salt for some three thousand years, with a crust thick enough to walk and drive on and a thin layer of brine standing on top of it. That combination of a flat white floor and a shallow film of still water makes an almost perfect mirror in calm weather, so on windless days the sky is reflected whole and the horizon disappears, which is why the lake is called the mirror of the sky. A small narrow-gauge train runs out onto the flat, and salt sculptures line the route.

What you actually see

• The mirror surface - sky reflected in a shallow film over salt crust.
• The salt flat - the worked white floor extending to the hills.
• The narrow-gauge train - a small railway running out onto the lake.
• The salt sculptures - carved figures placed along the walkways.

When to go

June to September for the mildest weather and the most reliable brine film; the effect needs calm air and fails when wind ripples the surface, and dry spells can leave the crust bare. Winter is bitter.

Honest expectations

The mirror depends entirely on weather and water level and often does not appear. The site is crowded in summer, with long queues for the train. Entry plus internal transport is expensive.

Nearby

Qinghai Lake lies east; the Qaidam basin is west.