Altay travel guide

There are flights between Urumqi and Altay. The flight takes 1 hour, and the airport is 11 km from the city center.

From Urumqi, it is 290 km north to Karamay, the oil city. From Karamay northward is the junction of Tacheng and Altay prefectures: turn left for Burqin, or right for Altay city. Kanas Lake, the most famous scenic spot in Altay Prefecture, can be reached by hired car from either of these two cities. Altay to Kanas Lake is over 260 km, and Burqin County to Kanas Lake is 140 km.

Most of the nearly 700 km road from Urumqi to the Altay region runs through deserts, Gobi, and grasslands, and a regular bus takes more than 15 hours. There are often stretches of hundreds of li with no people, and bad weather may affect the road, so be mentally prepared. Also bring some dry food, water, and warm clothing before setting out, in case of need.

Altay's urban area runs north to south in a long, narrow strip along the Kelan River, with the center slightly to the north. From here, taxis and small motorbikes to various parts of town are very cheap, and walking is also quite easy.

In fact, you can find transport to Kanas from either Burqin or Altay. As the prefectural capital, Altay has somewhat better facilities than Burqin. However, with the development of Kanas, the number of guesthouses, hotels and tour vehicles in both places has grown steadily.

Be sure to ask locals beforehand which areas are military control zones. To travel to Baihaba you need a border pass, which can be obtained where your household is registered or in Burqin, or by presenting your ID card at the Kanas scenic area. The process takes only 10 minutes.

The main ethnic group in Altay is the Kazakh people. When visiting a Kazakh home, keep the following in mind: while your host is cooking, do not touch the tableware, and never poke at the food with your hands or lift the pot lid; when your host cuts meat for you or offers you bedding for the night, you must not refuse, but accept it gladly, otherwise your host will think you look down on them; do not praise the host’s livestock or hunting dogs to their face; do not point at people with your hand or a stick to count them, as this implies you are counting them like livestock; and when visiting a Kazakh family, it is generally best not to stay longer than two days.

From the small hills around Hemu Village, you can watch the sunrise and distant snowy peaks and take in the Tuvan homes up close. It is also an excellent spot for photographing sunrises, morning mist and the Hemu River.

Altay’s many rivers teem with more than a dozen prized cold-water fish, including carp, crucian carp, redfin perch, white-spotted pike, oriental bream and Chinese dace. A fish feast is therefore an essential part of any visit to Altay. Fish braised with ferula mushroom is especially delicious, and its flavour can only truly be enjoyed in Altay.

Altay Prefecture produces large-tailed sheep, gemstones, gold and furs, but these are extremely expensive and beyond the means of most ordinary travellers, and people who are not experts often struggle to tell genuine from fake.

In Fuyun County, the seat of Altay Prefecture, there are many jewellery shops selling gemstones where you can satisfy your love of gems simply by browsing. Stone collectors can visit the production site at Keketuohai, which yields two gemstones: tourmaline and hailan (a stone known locally as “hailan”).