a lake in western China, on the eastern part of the Kashgar Plain, at an altitude of 831 m. It has an area of 88 sq km (as much as 250 sq km including periodically flooded marshes and reeds). The Cherchen River flows into the lake, and so does the Tarim River in years abundant in water. At such times the lake overflows and its water flows eastward into Miran Kol, a neighboring lake. Most of the lake is between 1 and 2 m deep, but near the mouth of the Cherchen it is up to 10 m deep. The lake’s water is fresh in the north but salty in the south, its mineral content varying widely.