Tiān Chì, Xīnjiāng Uyghur Autonomous Region

Tiān Chì (Heavenly Pool) sits in an amazingly beautiful valley, 115km North East of Ürümqi, at an altitude of 1980m in the Tiān Shān (Heavenly Mountains) and at the foot of the 5445m Bógédá Fēng (Peak of God).

The predominant people in the area are Kazaks whose Yurts can be seen around the lake and in the surrounding mountains. In summer, when the area receives many tourists, the Kazaks rent out their yurts and take tourists on horse treks around the lake and up the surrounding valleys into the mountains.

During the bitter winter the lake freezes over and the area is usually deserted. On this occasion the only other people present were the competitors from Ürümqi and surrounding towns taking part in a tài jí (tai chi) and jiàn (swordsmanship) competition. My taking of these photographs was a major distraction to the local CCTV cameraman who spent as much time filming me as the competition!