| Bayanbulak Grassland National Nature Reserve | |
|---|---|
| (also: Bayinbuluke) | |
IUCN category V (protected landscape/seascape) | |
 Kaidu River, on the Bayan Baluk Reserve | |
  Location, in Xinjiang Province | |
| Location | Hejing County, Xinjiang, China |
| Nearest city | Korla |
| Coordinates | 42°45′N 84°20′E / 42.75°N 84.33°E |
| Area | 148,689 ha (1,486.89 km2; 574.09 sq mi) |
Bayanbulak Grassland National Nature Reserve (Chinese: 巴音布鲁克; pinyin: Bāyīnbùlǔkè) (from Mongolian "abundant spring") [1] is the second largest grassland in China, located in the Bayanbulak Basin of the Tian Shan mountains in northwest China.[2] The terrain is mostly flat, and encompasses a middle section of the Kaidu River ("Peacock River"). The reserve is 200 km northwest of Korla in Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
As a high-altitude marshland (at 2,000 - 2,500 meters), the reserve is an important breeding and staging ground for birds and waterfowl, and is the highest-altitude breeding ground for swans in the world.[3] The area has been designated an Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA #CN-114) by Birdlife International.[4]
At the center of the reserve is "Swan Lake", a connected series of wetlands, which was designated in 1980 as the "Bayanbulak Swan Nature Reserve" by the Xinjiang government, and upgraded in 1986 to a "National Swan Reserve" by the government of China.[3]
- ^ "Bayanbulak Grassland". Travel China Guide. Travel China Guide. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- ^ "Understanding the Late Palaeozoic - Mesozoic tectonic and topographic evolution of Tian Shan". Geoscience Rennes. Universite de Rennes. Archived from the original on 27 October 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- ^ a b Baiping, Zhang (November 2002). "Human-Induced Changes to Biodiversity and Alpine Pastureland in the Bayanbulak Region of the East Tianshan Mountains" (PDF). Mountain Research and Development. 22 (4): 383–389. doi:10.1659/0276-4741(2002)022[0383:hictba]2.0.co;2. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
- ^ "Bayanbulak Grassland". Birdlife International. Retrieved October 1, 2016.