Baisha Lake in the Changing Light and Shadow

One of the eye-catching spots on the way to Taxkorgan, and a popular internet-famous location, Baisha Lake is located in Akto County, Kizilsu Kyrgyz Autonomous Prefecture. It is a plateau lake connected to a reservoir, situated at an altitude of 3,300 meters. Surrounding it are the Baisha Mountains, a high mountain in the Pamir Plateau range. Due to long-term weathering, the rocks at the mountain top have turned into powdery sand that cascades down, covering the mountain body, hence the name Baisha Mountain. It consists of more than ten hills of various sizes, with the green mountain body covered by white sand. The snow-capped mountains and the lake complement each other, showcasing a stunning Tiffany blue that is breathtaking. However, the plateau scenery is highly dependent on weather and lighting. When I visited three years ago, it was windy with drifting snow, the sky was grayish yellow, and the lake water was yellow-green—truly a "photo deception" as the legend says. This time, the weather finally gave me a clear blue sky with no wind, and the lake surface was calm like a mirror. Arriving in the afternoon at the north slope, which was backlit, the reflection of the continuous Baisha Mountains looked like a computer-generated image. The distant lake surface showed a deeper blue than the sky, while the nearby water was apple green. We lingered for two hours among the uneven sandy ground, with surrounding peaks covered in the white snow of the Pamir Plateau. Clouds began to drift slowly across the blue sky. Away from the crowds, the tranquility was elegant, as if isolated from the world. I kept changing lenses and using my phone, constantly composing the scenes before me, but the final photos still could not fully capture the true colors and awe I saw with my own eyes.