Buir Lake

Buir Lake is a freshwater lake, located 311 km distant from the east of Choibalsan city on the border of Mongolia and China.

It is the biggest lake in the eastern region of Mongolia and various water birds gather there. The Khalkha River flows into Buir Lake while the Orshuun River flows out of it, so willows and beets grow densely along the shore. The lake’s southeastern shore is sandy and relatively shallow.

The lake is rich in fish, and there are 36 species of fish and 49 species of floating algae of 6 genera. Also white carp, pike, horse fish, salmon, red sail, whitefish, scorpionfish, and silver carp habit in the lake. The lake is home to the Leander 1778 lobster, which is listed in the Red Book. In 2004, the Buir Lake was included in the Ramsar List of Wetlands of International Importance according to the Ramsar Convention."

Sizes of the lake: Buir Lake lists 5th by its size in Mongolia covering 615 sq. km surface area. The longest is 40 kilometers from northeast to southwest, 21 kilometers wide, and 113 kilometers long. The coastline is 20,200 square kilometers. The average water depth is 6-10 meters, but in the deepest part, it reaches 10-50 meters.

Legend of the Lake:

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Hulun and a strong and handsome man named Buir who were living peacefully and happily.

But one day a fifteen-headed black monster came to the steppe with a gust of wind and red dust on the horizon. He grabbed the girl and drank the lake until it dried up. Wherever the monsters went, the grass stopped growing, and the people and animals became exhausted and on the verge of death. Seeing this, Buir's son quickly dismounted and set out to save his beloved Hulun. Buir killed the monster and saved his homeland from danger. However, he did not find the Hulun girl who had been abducted by the monster.

Then, as he wandered along the shores of the crystal clear lake, people told her that Hulun had become a lake because it was difficult for her to bear the oppression of the monsters.

When Buir heard this, he jumped into the lake, saying that he would be with his beloved forever. Since then, another lake has sprung up next to Lake Hulun, known as Buir Lake.