Xiji Earthquake Lake is located in Dangjiacha Village, Zhenhu Township, about 32 kilometers southwest of Xiji County seat. It is a barrier lake formed by the magnitude 8.9 Haiyuan Earthquake in Ningxia in 1920, and ranks as the world's second largest earthquake lake.

Stretching in a narrow and long shape, the lake once covered a water area of around 80 square kilometers. At present, it is 60 meters wide from east to west and approximately 3,110 meters long from north to south, with a total water surface area of 1.86 million square meters. The average water depth is about 12 meters, and the maximum depth reaches 27 meters, with a total water storage capacity of 11.2 million cubic meters.

Dangjiacha Barrier Lake is the largest earthquake barrier lake on the plateau and also the biggest barrier lake in Ningxia. Nearly ten species of fish inhabit the lake, including silver carp, common carp and grass carp, as well as colorful crucian carp. Every spring, flocks of wild ducks come here to settle. They do not fly south for winter reluctantly until the lake surface freezes over. The lake area is also home to nearly ten other wild bird species such as great tits and owls.

The presence of brightly colored crucian carp in this and a handful of similar lakes remains an unsolved mystery for the scientific community to this day.