Tourists visit the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spot in Dunhuang City, northwest China’s Gansu Province, May 31, 2025. Crescent Spring, a famed desert oasis in northwest China’s Gansu Province, has recorded its highest water level and largest surface area in over 20 years, signaling a major victory in ecological restoration efforts.(Photo by Zhang Xiaoliang/Xinhua)

LANZHOU (Aug 6): Crescent Spring, a famed desert oasis in northwest China’s Gansu Province, has recorded its highest water level and largest surface area in over 20 years, signaling a major victory in ecological restoration efforts.

According to a report by the provincial geological environment monitoring institute released on Wednesday, the crescent-shaped oasis now stands at 3.8 meters deep and spans 2.12 hectares, a dramatic recovery from the late 1990s, when the average water level dropped below 1 meter and the surface area was reduced to just 0.17 hectares.

Nestled among the towering dunes of Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang, a key hub of the ancient Silk Road, Crescent Spring has been celebrated for at least 2,000 years as a natural marvel where shifting sands and clear waters coexist in harmonious balance, according to historical records.

The beautiful spring not only dazzles visitors but also sustains Dunhuang’s fragile desert ecosystem, with groundwater from nearby rivers percolating through porous sands to offset evaporation.