The Heavenly Lake is an alpine lake located about 120km from Urumqi. It nestles at an elevation of 1,940m on the northern side of the Bogeda Peak of the Tianshan mountain range. It covers an area of about 3 square kilometres and has a greatest depth of about 105m. In 1783, Ming Liang, the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Commander of the Urumqi Army Zone, named the lake "Tianchi" or Heavenly Lake. Several local legends are associated with the lake, which is listed by the State as one of the key scenic spots of Xinjiang in 1982.

This is one of the few occasions where my super-wide angle lens (10-22mm) was put to good use. This picture was taken at a focal length of 10mm. Part of the sky is blown out where the sun was shining through the clouds, but what the heck is some technical imperfection so long as the overall picture looks arresting...