The Altay Mountains lie in the north of Xinjiang, and the Kunlun Mountains,the Karakorum Mountains and the Altun Mountains in the south. The Tianshan Mountains, as the symbol of Xinjiang, run east and west in the middle and shape the region into two basins, namely, the Tarim Basin to their south, and the Junggar Basin to their north. Habitually, the south part of the Tianshan Mountains is known as Southern Xinjiang, the north part of the Tianshan Mountains as Northern Xinjiang, and the Basin of Hami and Turpan as Eastern Xinjiang. The accumulated snow and glaciers of the three ranges of mountains give birth to all therivers that run across the basins and oases flanking the Tianshan Mountains. There are over 500 big and small rivers in the region and over 20 bigger ones include the Tarim, the Ili, the Ertix, the Manas, the Ulungur, the Karaxahar (Kaidu) and others. The rivers run across countless oases and turn them into fertile and productive farm- land. The fields, villages and towns here make a beautiful place of the region, reminiscent of the scenery of "a vast sea of peach blossoms and willows," as described by a poet. This is the main base where the Xinjiang people of nationalities live and toil one generation after another. Xinjiang also boasts of a large number of beautiful lakes. They cover a total of 9,700 square kilome- ter, accounting for 0.6 percent of the total territ- ory of the region. Among all, the most famous ten lakes are the Bosten, the Ebinur, the Buluntuo, the Ayakkum, the Sayram, the Aqqikkol, the Jingyu, the Jili, the Aksayqin, and the Aiximan. Xinjiang has more than 18,600 big and small glaciers of distinctive features. Their total areas are more than 24,000 square kilometers, making up 42 percent of the country's total. The total ice reserve is 258 million cubic meters. Thanks to this natural solid water reservoir, Xinjiang is rich in water resources. The region is superior to China's other provinces and regions in terms of per capita possession of water resources. The deserts in Xinjiang make up two-thirds of all the country's deserts in area. The Taklimakan Desert here is 320,000 square kilometers in area, the biggest of its kind in China and the second biggest shifting-sand desert of the entire world, next only to the Ar-rub-Al-khali Desert of the Arabian Peninsula. The Gurbantunggut Desert, 48,000 square kilometers in area, is the second largest desert of China. Under the deserts of Xin- jiang are rich oil, natural gas, and mineral re- sources.
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