Since my dad works in China and I am currently studying abroad at Beijing University, we decided to take a long weekend trip up to Urumqi in Xinjiang Province in the northwest corner of China. Xinjiang is really a fascinating place. Although it is an autonomous region of China, it has so much influence from its neighboring countries like Russia and Kazakhstan. If I hadn’t have known better I would have thought I was in a city in the Middle East.

During our time in Xinjiang, we took a trip about one hour outside of the city to the Tianshan Mountains to visit the Heavenly Lake. The Heavenly Lake is a beautiful mountain lake situated on the northern part of the Tianshan Mountain range. To get to the lake, we had to take a long, steep road that switched back up the mountain until we reached the beautiful, clear lake. The day before it had snowed heavily, but when we arrived to the lake it was sunny with clear, blue skies (albeit even with the sun, the temperature was still only about 35 degrees Fahrenheit).

There is a myth about this lake. It is said that long ago, a beautiful goddess used to bathe in this lake and would soak her feet in a smaller lake farther down the mountain. One day when the goddess was taking a bath, a demon came and started bothering her. Wanting to rest in peace, she took her hair pin out of her hair and stabbed the demon into the shore of the lake. The hairpin turned into what is now a beautiful, large elm tree on the shore of the lake. The mountain is at about 6,600ft above sea level in the mountains, so it’s quite unusual for a tree like that to grow so tall at such a high altitude. The lake was obviously fit for a goddess. The color of the lake was a bright, saturated teal and was clear enough to see down to the rocky bottom. Even the snow fit the setting, gently covering the ground and sparkling in the sunlight.

We decided to follow a small pathway built into the side of the mountain that snaked around the lake. With all of the snow on the ground it was a bit terrifying. One slip would’ve sent me falling into the frigid mountain water, but it was worth the risk because along the edge of the lake was a Taoist temple nestled into the side of the mountain. After a long flight of stairs, we finally reached the top. We were greeted with a giant yin-yang symbol and an old keeper of the temple. He wore a black outfit, circular beady glasses, and had a long white beard, just like you’d imagine finding at a Taoist temple isolated in the mountains. The view from the temple was breathtaking: the sun gleamed off of the snow and highlighted how far back the lake tucked into the mountains. It struck me just how natural and untouched this place was. Despite the tourists, the motor boat crossing the lake, and the tour bus parked along the road, it felt like I was in a place that humans hadn’t pervaded. After so much time in the hustle and bustle of Beijing, this mountain lake was like a paradise.

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