Aksai Chin area has number of endorheic basins with many salt or soda lakes. The major salt lakes are Surigh Yil Ganning Kol, Tso Tang, Aksai Chin Lake, Hongshan Hu, etc. Much of the northern part of Aksai Chin is referred to as the Soda Plains, located near Aksai Chin's largest river, the Karakash, which receives meltwater from a number of glaciers, crosses the Kunlun farther northwest, in Pishan County and enters the Tarim Basin, where it serves as one of the main sources of water for Karakax and Hotan Counties.