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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Karamay.

Karamay is a contemporary industrial city. Its cultural entry is a pair of dates and the later habit of walking by the river, not a legend of the drilling floor.

Karamay

A pumpjack beside a road, with many more across the gravel plain and low buildings beyond.

A city after the well

Karamay's public story can begin with two dates: industrial oil in 1955 and a city government in 1958.

A river that had to be built

Karamay is named after oil and gets under 130 mm of rain a year. In 2000 a diversion brought water from more than 400 km away, and an 8.5 km channel carried it through the city. The green cover followed.

Karamay

City corners

A short introduction

Karamay No. 1 well

The 1955 industrial well that comes before the city.
Photo credits and rights
  1. The later field: pumpjacks across the gravel plain that supplied the city.Nyx Ning · CC BY-SA 3.0 Photo source ↗ Rights information ↗