beauty of Xinjiang

before I first visited Xinjiang my preconceived notions of the western frontiers of China was deserts and rolling sand dunes. later in the artsy martial arts movie "Hero" by Zhang Yimou, I glimpsed the beautiful landscape of Kanas Lake in Xinjiang. You can see the part where Jet Li is duelling with Tony Leung flying across the lake (minus superman's cape). The place is breath-takingly beautiful with the boreal forests reflected in the crystal clear alpine lake. It is ecologically unique since it was the only spot of "taiga" boreal forest in China. A colleague just visited the spot and these are the pics.