Salt lakes that turn the desert into a mirror

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Healing apple-green color of the Chaerhan Salt Lake, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province. Chen Hongyu/CGTN

Turquoise color of the Emerald Lake in Da Qaidam, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. Chen Hongyu/CGTN

As night approaches, the salt lakes fade into quiet shades of green and blue, Emerald Lake in Da Qaidam, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. Chen Hongyu/CGTN

Gulls stand in Dongtai Jinai'er Lake, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. Chen Hongyu/CGTN

Jade Lake in Mangya City, Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, China. Chen Hongyu/CGTN

Salt lakes in the Qaidam Basin spread across the desert like vast mirrors in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province, shifting in color under the highland sun – from pale turquoise and emerald green to apple green, milky white and deep blue. Minerals and light work together to create a palette that feels almost unreal, as if the ground itself were changing tone with every step.

This surreal landscape appears in films such as A Little Red Flower, where locations like Dongtai Jinai'er Lake become spaces of imagination and emotion.

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