Beautiful April Spring in Ili Kazakh prefecture in northern Xinjiang, sea of flowers

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

Yining police officers

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

 

[Beijingwalker]

"This is Xinjiang, Ili..."

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Accept third party cookies

 

[Beijingwalker]

The Ili River Valley is a trumpet-like terrain facing westward. From west to east.

The Ili valley is the wettest corner of Xinjiang and the reason the region isn't only desert — a broad green trough between two arms of the Tian Shan, and the heart of Kazakh China.

Xinjiang’s reputation is desert, and for two-thirds of it that’s fair. The Ili valley is the exception that explains the rest.

The Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture occupies the far northwest of the region, where the Tian Shan splits into two arms and opens westward toward Kazakhstan. That opening matters: it’s the one gap that lets Atlantic moisture reach this far inland. The result is a broad green trough with snow mountains on both sides, wetter and cooler than anywhere else in Xinjiang, and grass instead of gravel.