The crescent spring is nearly 100 meters long from north to south and about 25 meters wide from east to west. The spring is deep in the east and shallow in the west, with the deepest point of about 5 meters. It was named "the first spring in the desert" and has been one of the "Eight Scenes of Dunhuang" since the Han Dynasty. 1994 is listed as a national scenic spot.
Potamogeton and Charophyta grow in the crescent spring, and reeds are dense on the south bank, surrounded by quicksand. Although spring is not covered with sand in the gale. Because "the spring reflects the moon without dust" and "the ancient sand does not fill the spring, and the spring does not wither", it has become a great spectacle. Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring are twin sisters in the desert Gobi. "The mountain is famous for its spirit, and the water is beautiful with spirit". There is a feeling that "the sound of sand is sweet and the crescent spring washes the heart".
There is another story about the formation of Crescent Spring and Mingsha Mountain:
Once upon a time, there was neither Mingsha Mountain nor Crescent Spring, only a screamo temple. One year, on the eighth day of April, the annual Buddha washing festival was held in the temple, and all good men and women burned incense and worshipped Buddha in the temple. During the Buddhist activity of "sprinkling holy water", the abbot took out a bowl of ancestral holy water from Leiyin Temple and put it in front of the temple.
Suddenly I heard a heretic warlock loudly challenge me to compete with the abbot. I saw the warlock waving his sword and mumbling something. In an instant, it was dark, the wind was blowing hard, and the yellow sand was flying all over the sky, burying the Lei Yin Temple in the yellow sand.
Strangely, the bowl of holy water in front of the temple is safe and sound, and it is still in its original place. The magician tried to fill the bowl with sand, but no matter how great the magic was, there was never a grain of sand in the bowl. The holy water bowl is still safe until a sand mountain is formed around the bowl. The warlock had no choice but to leave in anger.
Just a few steps later, I heard a bang. The bowl of holy water turned into a clear spring and the warlock turned into a pool of black stone. It turns out that this bowl of holy water was given to the abbot of Leiyin Temple by Sakyamuni. It has been handed down from generation to generation and is specially designed for people to eliminate diseases and disasters, so it is called "holy water". Because heretics do evil and harm creatures, they show their spirits and punish them, making the bowl turn into a spring and form a crescent spring.