The national and Xinjiang government will invest 720 million yuan ($117.22 million) in the Sayram Lake protection project starting in 2014. According to the Xinjiang Department of Environmental Protection, the 720 billion yuan pilot plan of the Sayram Lake ecological environment protection project has been approved. It involves five parts, including ecological restoration and protection as well as pollution control. It includes 51 items in total.
Sayram Lake is the only lake in Xinjiang to get national financial support for protection among the 15 lakes and rivers around the country.
In 2014, three parts of the project worth 126 million yuan are expected to be finished. So far, the ecological restoration and protection part has been finished with around 164,500 mu (10,967 hectares) of grassland restored and 80 km fences created.
Sayram Lake, located in Bortala prefecture near the Tianshan Mountains, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, is renowned as a pearl on the mountain. It is the largest (458 square kilometers) and highest (2,070 meter) alpine lake in Xinjiang.
As a national famous site, every year, lots of tourists around the world visit Sayram Lake and are enchanted by the amazing grassland and snow mountains there. In the Kazakh language, Sayram means “blessing.”