IFreeing.

Places, connected

Cities and places across Xinjiang

From the Tian Shan to the Tarim Basin, this regional view places the magazine’s cities and selected sites in context. City markers are approximate orientation points; peaks indicate summits, not heritage boundaries or entrances.

Xinjiang · China
Ürümqi Changji Karamay Turpan Hami Ili Bortala Altay Tacheng Bayingolin Aksu Kashgar Hotan Kizilsu Ürümqi Grand Bazaar Bogda Grape Valley Yar City Tomur Kizil Caves Jiya

Simplified physical geography · orientation only

These places remain in the list without map markers because the available coordinates do not identify a reliable point.

Natural Earth
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Bayingolin.

Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture holds two waters that should not be folded together. Bayanbulak, in Hejing, is a high Tianshan basin. Bosten, in Bohu, is the broad lake lower down, with a heritage market on its shore.

Bayingolin

Grassland with a winding river and snow peaks on the horizon at Bayanbulak.

River bends in a high basin

Bayanbulak is the Tianshan component where a river loops through highland wetland, a different face from snow lake or forest meadow.

Reed beds along the shore of Bosten Lake, with open water in front.

The large lake

Bosten is Bohu's broad freshwater lake. A heritage market on the shore carries a Mongol name, and the lake stays the subject.

A curator in a dark jacket speaking to three visitors in front of an exhibition panel with a route map.

The road back across the mountains

In 1771 the Torghut left the Volga under Ubashi and crossed Central Asia to Qing territory. About seventy thousand of some hundred and seventy thousand arrived. Bayingolin keeps that journey in a mansion museum and a stage play.

Bayingolin

Bayingolin

Bayanbulak

A high basin in Hejing where a river bends through wetland, one component of the Xinjiang Tianshan.

Bayingolin

Bosten Lake

The large inland freshwater lake at Bohu, with a heritage market on the shore.
Photo credits and rights
  1. Bayanbulak: the high basin, its river, and the Tianshan rim beyond.MichaelE · CC BY-SA 4.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗
  2. Bosten's low shore: reeds, open water and no built edge.Rolfmueller · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗