Sogo Nur

— When we were in Zhangye we consulted a map and saw that the Ruoshui River has its source in the Qilian Mountains, then winds north through the Hexi Corridor and into the desert. It then flows through the forests of Ejin Banner and pours into two lakes — the Gaxun Nur and the Sogo Nur.[...] The Mongolian woman told us that in recent years the water flowing from the south has seldom reached the lakes here, and consequently the Gaxun Nur had dried up. This summer, less water than usual had poured into the Sogo Nur, so it too was almost empty.[...] Next, we headed northeast to visit Sogo Nur. After two hours of driving through willow bushes no more than two feet in height, we saw the white surface of a lake. A solitary thatched cottage stood by the road leading to the lake, and the sound of our engine brought a middle-aged Mongolian man out to greet us. After a short conversation, she^([sic – meaning he]) told us that the lake had dried up just ten days earlier.