Tso Tang

Tso Tang is an alkaline lake located in the disputed territory of Aksai Chin in Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang province of China.

History

In the late 1800s, in order to facilitate trade between the Indian subcontinent and the Tarim Basin, the British attempted to promote a caravan route via the Chang Chenmo Valley as an alternative to the difficult and tariffed Karakoram Pass. Tso Tang was on this route. British Army surgeon Henry Cayley who was part of a mission to Yarkand that took this route noted the lake as "brackish but quite potable."