Yining trip - My first trip to Ili Valley

Plan your Xinjiang tour? Yining, or Ghulja is the capital city of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang. The Ili Kazakj Autonomous Prefecture (Simplified as Ili or Yili) is located in the Ili Valley ( or Yili Valley), administers 1 city and 8 counties: the capital city of Yining and with 8 counties including the namesake Yining County, Xinyuan, Gongliu, Nileke, Teks, Zhaosu, Huocheng and Chaxian County.

The city of Yining is about 78 km east of Huoergousi Port, 700km west of Urumqi. The Ili River passes through the city of Yining from East to the west, the only river in China which flows from East to West. Yining City borders Keguqin Mountain in the north and Tianshan Mountains in the south.

Ili (Yilin) is a green plain, a fertile delta of Ili River which is formed by three principal tributaries - Kashi River, Kunes River, and Tekes River. Yining is situated on the north of the Ili Valley in the form of an open trumpet with its big mouth facing the west.

Narat Grassland ( or Nalati Grassland ) is about 180km long from east to west along the river bed sandwiched by the mountains of Tianshan in three sides, the east section of Ili valley.

Narat Grassland is a typical river bed grassland and the alpine meadows. Narat Grassland is located at the sea-level of 1800 meters. It is inhabited by Kazakh minority (but ironically, here in Narat Grassland, we, Han people are the minority).

Further Readings

Further Readings

Top 10 Places in Xinjiang.
See Autumn Leaves in Xinjiang .
Sayram Lake .
Karamay Ghost Town .
Taklamakan Desert .
Top 10 Attractions in Urumqi .

Any questions, just drop a line.