460 metres of sand
UNESCO inscribed Badain Jaran Desert, Towers of Sand and Lakes, in 2024 under criteria (vii) and (viii). The brief synthesis says the tallest stabilised dune reaches a relative height of 460 metres. The property covers 726,291.41 hectares, with a buffer of 891,114.36 hectares. It lies on the Alashan plateau, in the hyper-arid temperate desert of northwestern China. Alxa is a league. The desert is not the league seat at Bayanhot.
One hundred and forty-four lakes
The same text counts 144 inter-dunal lakes, their colours coming from different salinity and microbial communities. It also names an expanse of singing sand, the sound dry loose grains make when the wind moves them. Most of the property is uninhabited. A few herding families use it with camels, goats, donkeys and sheep. The lakes depend on groundwater, and the listing says that water has to be watched.
No polygon yet
The listing page says the georeferenced polygons will be published once UNESCO receives the GIS data. This journal therefore does not drop a pin in the middle of the dunes and call it the gate. A town named Badain Jaran exists. It is not the heritage boundary. The thing to know first is the relation of height to water: sand towers, and lakes that should not be there, and are.
