1996-19, Tianchi Lake in Tianshan Mountains《天山天池》

Stamp Title: Tianchi Lake in Tianshan Mountains
Scott No: 2700, 2701, 2702, 2703
Serial number: 1996-19
Values in set: 4
(4-1), Lake atop the Mountain, 20 fen, 50*30mm
(4-2), Splendid Waterfalls, 50 fen, 50*30mm
(4-3), Snow-capped Peak beside the Lake, 50 fen, 50*30mm
(4-4), Lakeside Scenery, 100 fen, 50*30mm
Date of issue: August 8, 1996
Designers: Wang Zhenhua;Li Defu
Size:
50*30mm for 1 and 4
30*50mm for 2 and 3
Perforation: 12
Sheet composition: 40
Printing process: offset

Tianchi (Heavenly lake) is located on the halfway up the Peak Bogeda of Mount Tianshan in Fukang city, Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. A renowned scenic spot, Tianchi, also called Jasper Lake in the ancient times, was the place where Emperor Zhoumu and the Queen Mother of the West held court feasts, according to “Life story of Emperor Zhou”.

The highest point of the folded Bogeda Peak, one of the youngest peaks in the world, is 5,445 meters above sea level. It is one of the 10 perilous peaks China has opened up to foreigners. There are 54 modern glaciers on the peak, whose water capacity 1.64 billion cubic meters. They are the main water sources for the Tianchi.

With water storage capacity of 160 million cubic meters, the 4.9-spuate-meter Tianchi, 90 meters deep, extends about 3.3 kilometres from south to north, and one kilometre or so from east to west. The surface of the lake is 1980 meters in average above sea level. The Tianchi is a moraine lake formed more than 2 million years ago when the Quartenary Period glaciers were active. The thawed snow from the mountains gathered in the lake and the green water shimmers in the soft breeze and warm sunshine and now is very clean. Tianchi is embraced by snowy mountains which are covered by towering dragon spruces. Falling from a northeast cliff, Tianchi water forms a waterfall, which through erosion, has created a pool below-called East Little Tianchi. The East Little Tianchi was once very large, but now shrank due to the blocking of the alluvial soil. Tianchi water flows to Sangong River.

Mount Tianshan and Tianchi are also abundant in forest and animal resources. Apart from the dragon spruces, condense-leaf poplars and birches, there are extensively-spread medicinal herbs or edible plants, including dangshen (Codonopsis pilosula), Radix astragal, fritillary, radix bupleuri and mayberry. The animals here include red deer, argali, Beishan sheep, snow leopard, stone marten, Lynx, snow weasel, snow chicken, Tianshan deer, bighorn sheep, Tianshan antelope and roe deer.

1996年特种邮票《天山天池》
国家邮政局1996年8月8日发行《天山天池》特种邮票1套4枚。
（4-1）T 高峡平湖 20 分 3781.75万枚
（4-2）T 悬泉飞瀑 50 分 2703.75万枚
（4-3）T 湖屏雪峰 50 分 2703.75万枚
（4-4）T 湖畔胜景 100 分 2201.75万枚

志号名称：1996-19T
版别：胶印
整版枚数：40枚
全套面值：2.20元
邮票规格：50 × 30毫米
齿孔度数：12 度
设计者：王振华、李德福
印制机构：辽宁省沈阳邮电印刷厂

天山天池，位于新疆昌吉回族自治州阜康县境内的天山主峰，即海拔5445米的博格达峰的腰部，远远望去，犹如一块色彩斑谰的晶莹碧玉，镶嵌在九天之上。它湖面南北长约3.3公里，东西宽约1公里，面积4.9平方公里，平均水深40米，最深处105米，总蓄水量1.6亿立方米，湖面海拔高度1980米。据考证，它是200多万年前第四纪冰川活动中形成的冰碛湖。古称“瑶池”，又叫神池、龙潭。

天山天池湖水清澈，绿如碧玉，四面雪山环抱，云杉参天，风光独特，景色迷人，为著名游览、避暑胜地。1982年11月被国务院定为第一批国家级重点风景名胜区。其著名景点有石门一线、龙潭碧月、顶天三石、定海神针、南山望雪、西山观松、海峰晨曦、悬泉飞瀑等，合称为“天池八景”。天池周围，森林茂密，复盖率达41.5%，雄伟挺拔的天山雪岭云杉林四季长青，密叶杨、白桦树也广泛分布。食用植物有珠芽蓼、野葱、悬钩子、草莓等;药用植物有党参、黄芪、贝母、柴胡、雪莲等;野生花卉有芍药-西伯利亚铁线莲、阿尔泰金莲花、石竹、柳兰等;这里还生存着国家重点保护的马鹿、盘羊、北山羊、雪豹、石貂、猞猁、银鼠、雪鸡等珍贵动物;雪线下还有体重达百余斤的大角绵羊、天山鹿、天山羚羊;在天池湖畔的松林中，还有狍子;天池内有冷水性无鳞鱼等等，实为动植物得天独厚的自由世界。在这青山秀水草绿花红中，还点缀着许多宗教文化遗址，如铁瓦寺、无极观、居仙洞、马牙山、龙王庙、娘娘庙、山神庙、海峰亭等，使天池景色更具人间情趣。

天山天池以其险峻的山川冰雪，浩渺的湖水碧波，繁茂的森林草坪，众多的庙宇寺阁，吸引着无数游人，来此观光游览。为此，早在1958年，国家便修起一条直通天池的盘山公路，从乌鲁木齐坐汽车，只需两个多小时就可到达。附近还盖起了招待所，修建了水电站。入夜，繁星般的灯光，使天池更加光彩夺目，恰似博格达峰上的一颗璀灿的明珠。

1996年8月8日，为了展现中华山河的壮美风貌，邮电部发行了《天山天池》特种邮票，全套4枚。