LANZHOU - Water has reappeared in a lake that had been dried up for about 300 years in the city of Dunhuang, Northwest China's Gansu province, thanks to a local water conservancy project in recent years.

Haraqi Lake at the end of the Shule River now covers a water area of 5 square kilometers, preventing the neighboring Kumtag Desert from invading eastward and serving as an ecological barrier, according to local authorities Monday.

Dunhuang is home to the world's cultural heritage site Mogao Grottoes, boasting thousand-year-old Buddhist sculptures and paintings. Desertification poses a constant threat to cultural heritage in the city.