The regional water authority's 2023 account of 570 rivers says most are short. Xinjiang is one of inland Asia's great endorheic regions. The Irtysh is the exception the page isolates: it leaves through Russia by way of the Ob and the Arctic Ocean. A second, smaller exception drains toward the Indian Ocean from the Karakoram. Oasis canals and terminal lakes are the ordinary pattern. The Irtysh is the one that refuses it.
From the journal
The river that does not turn back
The Irtysh rises in Fuyun and is the Chinese river described as leaving for the Arctic, unlike the oasis streams.
In the same city · Altay ↗Most rivers stop inland
It begins in Fuyun
The natural-resources feature traces the river to the Kayirt and Kuyirt streams in Fuyun County and gives a basin, in that article, of 57,000 square kilometres. The water authority's account adds a comb of tributaries, among them the Kelan, Burqin and Haba. The page calls the water second in volume to the Ili. Volume is not a beauty contest. It explains why this northern valley could carry a different life from a single karez.
A geographic fact before the scenery
Altay is often introduced through lakes and forest. Those pictures can wait for their own checked pages. The first fact is direction. Water here can leave the country. The Emin, in Tacheng, is listed with the inland Central Asian group instead. Knowing which river does which thing keeps the north from becoming one green postcard. Rock art, seasonal pasture and the later history of mining on this basin are open subjects, not this article.