Altay Overview

Basic Information

  • Chinese Name: 阿勒泰地区
  • Location: Situated in the north of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China
  • Area: About 117,000 square kilometers
  • Population: About 640,000
  • Language: the Kazak language, Hui language, Mandarin, etc.

Administrative Divisions

By 2009, Altay Prefecture administers 1 county-level city and 6 counties, and they are further divided into 3 blocks, 13 towns, 41 townships, 68 communities, and 506 village committees. Also, there are 10 divisions which are administered by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

Further  information about Altay Administration Divisions. 

Geography

Altay is situated in the north of Xinjiang and southern foot of the Altai Mountains. It borders Mongolia in the east, Kazakhstan and Russia in the west and north. In southwest, taking Uygur Mountain ridge of boundary, it connects Tacheng Prefecture by prairie in the southern bank of Ulungur Lake (乌伦古湖). Its south lies in Gurbantunggut Desert (古尔班通古特沙漠). In north, it borders Changji Prefecture.

With a 402-kilometer width from west to east and an 464-kilometer length from north to south, Altay has an area of 171,000 square kilometers, accounting for 7% of the total area in Xinjiang.

Altay landform varies from west to east. In the east of Ulungur Lake (乌伦古湖), it is hilly areas and plain, namely the Altai Mountains and hilly plain in the front of mountains. In west, one valley stands between two mountains, namely the Altai Mountains, Irtysh River (额尔齐斯河) and Sawu’er Mountain (萨吾尔山).

The Altai Mountains is a transnational fault-block mountain which go northwest-southwest direction. With an length of 1,600 kilometers, it starts at east longitude 82 in east and ends at east longitude 106 °. The highest point, Friendship Peak, with an altitude of 4374 meters, stands at the junction of China, Russia and Mongolia. Southern part of the Altai Mountains lies in China, about 800 kilometers. From west to east, it spans through the north of Haba River (哈巴河), Burqin county, Altay city, Fuyun county and Qinghe county.

Climate

Located in the hinterland of Eurasia center, Altay is far away from the sea, so it belongs to the temperate continental climate. Altay city is the most north city of Xinjiang, having close latitude with Mohe in northeastern China. To know further information about Altay Climate.

The Best Time to Go

The best time to visit Altay is the period from early July to early October.

July to late August is summer which enjoys the most fertile grasslands, bluest lake, most gorgeous view of blooming flowers and cool weather. It is the season that Altay sees the most color.

From September to early October, the weather is getting cooler and cooler, but this time Altay views golden yellow everywhere. No matter the city streets or the forests of scenic spots, golden color is eye-catching. Thus, this period receives a lots of visitors as well.

Things to Do

The national 5A-level tourist destination, Kanas Lake, is situated in Altay, and it is a must-see tourist spot for many visitors. Especially the autumn of Kanas Lake, it is covered by fog and forms a wonderful painting. Then, Altay provided unique and valuable cliff paintings which show the history of nomadic culture. Besides, there are a lot of other tourist attractions that you could visit, such as Keketuohai, the Colorful Beach (五彩滩), etc.

History & Culture

"Altay" stems from the Altay Mountains. The Altay Mountains is called “Jinhui Mountain” and “Gold Mountain”in historical records. In the Turkic and Mongolian, Altay means “gold”. The 3rd century BC, Scythes (塞种人) arrived there. Later, it was ruled by the Hun(匈奴人), the Sabir (鲜卑人) and Turkic people (突厥人).

There were signs of human activity in early history. It is the birthplace of the world's oldest skiing, which could be proved by stone paintings of Dundebulake (墩德布拉克岩画), thousand-meter gallery of stone paintings, and Dulate stone paintings (杜拉特岩画). they are favorable channels to know more about the lifestyle of nomads who make a living by hunting.

Altay is inhabited by ethnic minorities so it is an excellent window to know the different ethnic customs. Most ethnic groups are good at singing and dancing. Ayijiake dance (阿依加勒克舞), also known as moon dance, is a popular folk group dance of the Kazak people. When herdsmen who do well in singing and dancing gather together, the grand Kazak events form. To know more about Altay Culture. 

Tourism

Tourism industry has been the pillar industry of Altay Prefecture. In 2006, Altay received 1,280,000 tourists, realizing tourism incomes of 1.05 billion yuan, which accounts for 13.3% of regional GDP. More than 10% contribution was brought to the local finance. Altay insists taking tourism as its main industry so that tourism booming of the prefecture has been seen. In 2017, it achieved 1.5 billion yuan of the tourism incomes.

Recent years , the snow advantages of Altay has been explored quite well. During the snow season from 2016 to 2017, Altay received 1,940,000 visitors the whole winter, which reached 1.17 billion yuan of tourism incomes. The number of the tourists and tourism incomes increase respectively 25% and 30%.

The popularity of Altay winter tourism ranks the third place in China from 2018 to 2019 winter season. Being blessed with abundant snow resources, it was listed as "2018 top ten ice and snow tourist city". More than 10 ice and snow sliding activities had been held successfully there in the winter season from 2018 to 2019, and it also got the fame of the "best tourism destination" and “the capital snow in China”.

Altay enjoys diverse and ample tourist destinations. Many tourist attractions are well-known, such as Kanas Lake scenic spot, Bu’ergen River Beaver Nature Reserve, Fuhai seaside scenic spot, Butterfly Valley, Ulungur Lake Bathing Brach, Baishahu Lake, Minshashan Mountain, etc. It provides mountainous scenery, glacier views, snow - capped hills, lakes, hot springs, stone carvings, etc. There are 13 national A-level tourist sites.

Economy

Thanks to its own resources and development conditions as well as national policies, Altay economy develops rapidly. In 2016, the regional GDP achieved 21.73 billion yuan, with an increase of 9.7% over the previous year. During which the first industrial added value of 4.89 billion yuan, up by 6.1%; the secondary industry added value of 7.49 billion yuan, up by 11.0%; the tertiary industry added value of 9.35 billion yuan, with an increase of 11.8%. The three industries accounted for the proportion of GDP by 22.5%, 34.5% and 43.0% respectively. Per capita GDP reached 33,874 yuan.

Transportation

For aviation, there are flights going and back between Altay and Urumqi. For railway, there lies Beitun Railway Station which is the final station of Kuibei Railway. For highway, Kui’a Highway (Kuitun - Altay) runs through the prefecture. Besides, National Highway 217 and 216 meet in the region, which brings convenience of the transportation there. To know more about Altay Transportation.

Festivals

There are many ethnic groups in Altay so that various festivals and activities with local ethnic features are celebrated in addition to traditional Chinese festivals. Besides, you could enjoy some tourism activities like Xinjiang Altay Ice and Snow Tour. To know more about Altay Festivals and Activities.

Dining

Thanks to the Eerqisi River which provides the local with many kinds of fish, fish-based dishes and snacks are local special. In addition to the local dishes, other typical Xinjiang dishes and snacks could be provided there, such as those beef-and-mutton-based dishes. To know more about Altay Dining.

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