Kanas Lake is located in the north of Burqin County, Altay Prefecture, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, 150 kilometers from the county seat. The lake is shaped like a crescent moon, with a length of 24.5 kilometers, a maximum width of 2.2 kilometers, a minimum width of 1 kilometer, and an average width of 1.87 kilometers. Its shoreline is 52 kilometers long, with an average water depth of 90 meters and a maximum depth of 188.4 meters. Its water storage capacity is 4 billion cubic meters, making it one of China's deep-water lakes. Kanas Lake covers an area of 45.78 square kilometers and has a volume of 5.3781 billion cubic meters.
Kanas Lake is a through-flow lake. Its water mainly comes from glacial meltwater from mountains such as Kuitun Peak and Youyi Peak, as well as precipitation in the Kanas River basin, flowing into Kanas Lake from the surface or underground. Glacial landforms are commonly seen in the lake area, mainly including: ancient cirques, glacial horns and ridges, glacial lakes, U-shaped valleys and hanging valleys, terminal moraines, and so on. The special geological and geomorphological conditions of Kanas have formed a unique climate type, creating favorable conditions for the growth of various plants and the formation of vegetation types. Kanas Lake is located in the hinterland of the Eurasian continent, far from the ocean and at a relatively high latitude, forming a climate characterized by warm springs and autumns and winters that are cold but not severe. The average annual temperature is about -1°C.
The Kanas Scenic Area covers a total area of 10,030 square kilometers and has a total of 55 scenic spots of various sizes, belonging to 33 basic types. It mainly includes eight major natural landscape areas and three major cultural landscape areas. It is a comprehensive ecological tourism area integrating various natural landscapes such as glaciers, snowfields, high mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, and grasslands.