Altay
Altay Overview
Chinese Name: 阿勒泰地区 English IPA: /'æltai/ Location: Situated in the north of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China Population (city): About 640,000 Language: Kazak language, Hui language, Mandarin, etc. Zip code: 836300 Tel code: 0906 Time zone: UTC+8
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 an 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. There are 36 ethnic groups in Altay, such as the Kazak, Han, Hui, Uygur, Mongolia, etc.during which the Kazak account dor 56% of the total population. In December 2017, it was elected as “China Top Ten Ice and Snow Tourist City”.
Highlight
- Charming Altay Autumn: In early autumn, Altay seems to be a oil painting embedded in the golden frame. The period of late September to early October, Altay embraces golden color and sunshine, and under the background of blue sky, white snow, the gold highlights much more markedly. Recommended places to enjoy autumn scenery: Kanas, the Colorful Beach (五彩滩), Hemu, birth forests, Koktokay, Eerqisi River, etc.
- Astounding Mornings: The morning here mainly refers to the one in Tuva villages which are covered by fog so that you could feel it like a fairyland. There are only three Tuve villages in China and they all all gathering in Altay Prefecture, namely Hemu Village, Kanas Village, and Baihaba Village. With fog lingering around, sunshine dropped and rolling smoke rising from the chimney, villages of Tuva people in morning are quite wonderful and unique.
- Kanas Lake: It is a national 5A-level scenic spot and is named as the most beautiful lake in China. With the snow-capped mountains and gorgeous forests around, it enjoy s overwhelming charms and is named as “a fairyland on the earth, the garden of God”.
Other Destinations in Altay
Altay Attractions
The most beautiful and the most concentrated Altay tourist attractions gather in northern Burqin county, mainly including Kanas Scenic Spot, Hemu Village, Baigaba Village (白哈巴村), Colorful Beach Scenic Spot (五彩滩景区), etc. In east, there are two splendid tourist destinations -- Koktokay (可可托海) and Palette Town (五彩城). Besides, there are other tourist spots scattered around the Altay city, loke Hualin Park, Xiaodonggou Forest Park (小东沟森林公园), Wuzhiquan Scenic Spot (五指泉景区), etc. Other scattered scenic spots, is the largest concentration of altay [...]
Altay Tours
Altay is blessed with splendid and abundant tourist resources so that there are all kinds of tours that you could experience. Firstly, the tour featured in health care and leisure vacation covers tourist spots including gold coast of Buluntuo Sea, Diequangu Valley Resort, Dadonggou Scenic Site of Koktokay in Fuyun county. Second, the humanities landscape tour of Altay city. Then, the science expedition tour which covers the taiga that is the only European and Siberian flora and fauna area in China, China's lowest [...]
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Climate & When to Go
Altay winters experience long and cold periods, and its summers are short with stable temperature. The frost-free period lasts for 151 days. The coldest month of Altay is January, with the average temperature of - 16 ℃; the hottest month is July, with the average temperature of 21 ℃. The average annual rainfall is about 200 mm, and the mountainous areas could reach 400 to 600 mm. Altay experiences annual average temperature of 4.5 ℃; annual average highest temperature is 10 [...]
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Transportation
How to Get & Leave There By Plane There are 3 airports in Altay and two of them belong to scenic spot airports which would much more convenient for tourists. Here is some information about the 3 airports. Altay Airport Situated in southwest of Altay city, the airport port is 10 kilometers away from the city proper. 450 kilometers far away from Urumqi, it meets National Highway 216. You could reach the city center from there by taxi. There is no [...]
Festivals and Activities
Xinjiang Altay Ice and Snow Tour Time: November 1st -- March 31st Venue: Jiangjunshan Mountain Ski Resort, Hemu Scenic Spot Altay ski resorts hold ice and snow festivals each November to March. The Jiangjunshan Mountan (the General Mountain) is the main venue which celebrates series of activities for commemorating the human skiing origin. Events and activities like ice and snow appreciation, canyon spectacles admiring, fairyland wild horses seeking, rime viewing on the sea of snow. Also, there are ancient skiing hunting [...]
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Travel Tips
Important Numbers Area Code: 0906 Civil Aviation Consulting: 2128686 Passenger Transport: 2311064 Information and Telephone Directory: 114 Weather Service: 2124325 Tourism Complaint: 2122363 Consumer Complaint: 12315 Post Office Fuhai County Post Office: No.16 Renmin Road Tel: 0906-3472535 Fuhai County Post Office: No.1 Wenhua West Road Tel: 0906-8722822 Burqin County Post Offic: Inside of the Burqin Government Building Tel:0906-6523323 Habahe County: No.39 Renmin Road Tel: 0906-6623251 Keketuohai Post Office Branch: No.134 Wenhau East Road Tel: 0906-8781747 Jiefanglu Post Office: No.39 Jiefang Road, Altay city Tel: 0906-2123784 Hospitals Burqin County People's Hospital: No.5 Youyi Road [...]
Useful Maps
To help you have a better understanding of Altay Prefecture, we have collected some useful Altay maps including the Altay transportation map, the Altay city map, the Altay location map, Altay tourist attractions map, map of scenic spots around Altay, Altay travel map, etc, through which you can probably know how to get to Altay and what to discover there. [...]
Altay Accommodation
For now, there is no 5-star hotels there, but you still have a lot of choices for your Altay accommodation. Inside the Kanas Scenic Spot, there are hotels as well. Here are some of them that you could refer to. Recommended 4-star Hotels Friendship Peak Hotel (布尔津友谊峰大酒店) Address: Kanas South Road, Burqin county Tel: 021-22268913 Kanas Hongfu Eco Resort(喀纳斯鸿福生态度假酒店) Address: Area 1 of Jadengyu Reception Base, Kanas Lake Scenis Spot Tel: 021-22268913 Haiyue Hotel(青河海悦酒店) Address: No. 151 Tuanjie West Road, Qinghe county Tel: [...]
