Kanas Lake is situated in the northern part of Bu'erjin County, which means "a beautiful and mysterious place" in the Mongolian language. It measures 24 kilometers in length and has an average width of about 1.9 kilometers and an average water depth of 90 meters; 188.4 meters in the deepest part. The total area is 45.73 square kilometers. It is China's largest alpine lake. Around the lake are verdant theropencedrymion, the only place with a European ecosystem.

Living by the lake are Tuwa people, famous descendants of a branch of the Mongolians. Scholars are divided with regard to the history of the Tuwa people. But the way the Tuwa people explain it, they are descendants of those of Genghis Khan's troops that got left behind on the Mongolian western expedition. When Genghis Khan was on his western expedition, his eldest son Shuci recruited a number of Tuwa people and asked them to station by the Ma'erhan Lake. When they passed through the Tuwa village, they saw a big lake. They were reluctant to leave it and left some troops there referred to as "blue ties." From then on, this part of Tuwa people were guarded by "blue ties." "Blue ties" in Genghis Khan's army were second only to soldiers with helmets. More than 100 years later, the Mongolian Empire declined and  the "blue ties" and the Tuwa people were forgotten. When the Ming Dynasty began its rule of  China, the "blue ties" guarding the Tuwa people put away their uniforms and became common people.

Tuwa people celebrate traditional Mongolian Aobao Festival, Zoulu Festival (Winter Festival), Spring Festival and Lantern Festival. They believe in Buddhism and live in the Tuwa village and Biahaba Tuwa village, Kanas which is in the territory of the Hemu Kanas Mongolian Township, Burqin County with over 1400 Tuwa inhabitants. There are 120 households of Tuwa people, with a population of almost 700 at the Kanas village alone, by the banks of the Kanas Lake.