Nangqian is located in the Zhaqu watershed, a tributary of the upper Lancang River. There are a number of ancient salt springs exposed in the area. There are currently 8 known sites, namely Chaha, Dagai, Ri'azhong, Niu Riva, Ranmu, Toronto, Baizha, Ga sheep, etc.

The salinity of salt springs is very high, ranging from 150 to 294g/L, with an average of 228.3g/L. It is the highest concentration salt spring found in nature.

These salt springs are all distributed around faults or fault zones. The flow rates of salt springs in different areas are quite different. The spring with the largest flow rate is 1.7 L/S and the smallest with 0.01 L/S.

The studies have shown that after infiltration of atmospheric precipitation into the ground, the formation of diving with the flow of terrain or the continuous upwelling of underground confined water, the salt-bearing paleocontinental strata in the area are continuously leached, and finally the salt is carried by the water along the stratum Fissures overflow the ground to form leaching type salt springs. The salinity of salt spring water changes little with the seasons, which may indicate that the salt spring water is more likely to come from underground confined water. The type of salt spring belongs to the fault spring in the ascending spring. The salt springs have a common cause.