2. Kanas Lake. Kanas Lake is located in the Altay Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The lake sits in a valley in the Altai Mountains, near the very northern tip of Xinjiang, and the province borders with Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. The lake was formed around 200,000 years ago during the Quaternary period as a result of glacier movement. The local tourism information office compares Lake Kanas, which is located at around 48°N, with Lake Léman (the Genève Lake) in Switzerland and France (46°N), due to similarities in climate and scenery. [photo/IC]