What is the best time to visit the Ili valley?

Late spring to early autumn. Apricot blossom in the valleys comes in April, lavender flowers at Huocheng in June and July, and the high pastures of Nalati and Kalajun are green from June to September.

A small Tungusic people whose ancestors were sent by the Qing from north-east China to garrison the Ili valley in 1764. Their descendants in Qapqal county still speak and write Xibe, a language close to Manchu, and celebrate the anniversary of the migration each year.

Historic city · Border city · Scenic area · Xinjiang

Yining (Ghulja)

伊宁 (Yīníng)

Garden city of the green Ili valley

Yining, known in Uyghur as Ghulja, is a county-level city and the seat of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture in the Ili River valley, near the border with Kazakhstan. The valley, open to moist westerly winds, is the greenest part of Xinjiang, and the city mixes Uyghur, Kazakh, Hui, Han, Xibe and Russian influences; it is the base for the Nalati grasslands, Sayram Lake and the Khorgas border crossing.

ProvinceXinjiang

Key facts

Province: Xinjiang
Administrative level: County-level city (seat of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture)
Qing garrison town: Ningyuan, founded 1762–1763

Overview

The Ili valley opens westward towards Kazakhstan between two arms of the Tianshan, and its rainfall, rivers and grasslands have made it a prize for steppe empires since the Wusun of the Han period. Yining itself is a city of poplar-lined streets and courtyard houses with carved and painted woodwork, where Uyghur neighbourhoods, Hui mosques in Chinese style and Russian-era buildings stand side by side.

The prefecture is the heartland of the Kazakh in China and home of the Xibe of Qapqal. It is known for horses, honey, lavender and apples.

Names and nicknames

Ghulja / Kulja
固尔扎 (Gù'ěrzhā)
The Uyghur and Kazakh name, used in older Western literature as Kulja.
塞外江南 (Sàiwài Jiāngnán)
“Jiangnan beyond the frontier”
For the orchards, meadows and rivers of the Ili valley.

History

The Wusun, allies of the Han against the Xiongnu, grazed the valley in the second century BCE. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries Almaliq, near today's Huocheng, was a capital of the Chagatai Khanate. The Qing conquered the Dzungars here in 1755 and made the valley the military centre of Xinjiang, with the Ili General at Huiyuan and garrison towns including Ningyuan, today's Yining. Russia occupied the valley from 1871 until the Treaty of Saint Petersburg returned most of it in 1881. From 1944 to 1949 Ghulja was the capital of the Second East Turkestan Republic.

2nd century BCE
Wusun in the Ili valley
A Han princess, Liu Xijun, was married to the Wusun ruler to seal their alliance.
13th–14th century
Almaliq
A capital of the Chagatai Khanate stood near today's Huocheng.
1762–1763
Qing garrison towns
The Qing built Huiyuan, seat of the Ili General, and Ningyuan (Yining).
1764
Xibe migration
Xibe soldiers and families from Manchuria arrived to garrison the valley.
1842–1845
Lin Zexu in exile
The official exiled after the Opium War promoted irrigation works in the valley.
1871–1881
Russian occupation
The valley was held by Russia until the Treaty of Saint Petersburg.
1944–1949
Second East Turkestan Republic
Proclaimed in Ghulja with Soviet backing; its leaders accepted the Communist takeover of Xinjiang in 1949.

Landmarks

Street or quarter
Kazanchi
喀赞其 (Kāzànqí)
Uyghur neighbourhood of houses with blue-painted gates and carved verandas.
Temple or shrine
Shaanxi Great Mosque
陕西大寺 (Shǎnxī Dàsì)
Hui mosque in Chinese temple style, founded by merchants from Shaanxi in the Qing.
Temple or shrine
Baytulla Mosque
拜图拉清真寺 (Bàitúlā Qīngzhēnsì)
Uyghur mosque founded in the eighteenth century.
Museum
Lin Zexu Memorial Hall
林则徐纪念馆 (Lín Zéxú Jìniànguǎn)
Museum on the official's years in Ili.

Neighbourhoods

Liuxing Street
六星街 (Liùxīng Jiē)
A hexagonal street plan laid out in the 1930s, with Russian and Tatar houses.
Ili riverside
伊犁河 (Yīlí Hé)
Riverside parks south of the city.

Food

Naryn
那仁 (nàrén)
Kazakh dish of boiled horse meat and sausage over flat noodles.
Horse-meat sausage
马肠子 (mǎ chángzi)
Smoked or dried sausage, a winter speciality of the Kazakh.
Kvass
格瓦斯 (géwǎsī)
Fermented honey or bread drink introduced by the Russian community.

Culture

Yining is one of the most culturally mixed cities in Xinjiang. Kazakh traditions of horsemanship, aytys song contests and yurt life are strongest in the surrounding mountains; Uyghur crafts and music fill the old neighbourhoods; the Xibe of Qapqal keep a language close to Manchu. Russian and Tatar communities, though small, left architecture, bread and kvass.

Getting around

Yining station is on the railway from Urumqi via Jinghe, which continues to the Khorgas border crossing.
Yining Airport has flights to Urumqi and other cities.
The grasslands and lakes of the prefecture are spread across the valley and reached by road; mountain roads such as the Duku Highway are open only in summer.

Day trips

Sayram Lake
赛里木湖 (Sàilǐmù Hú)
Alpine lake on the road north over the Tianshan, ringed by meadows.
Nalati grasslands
那拉提草原 (Nàlātí Cǎoyuán)
High meadows in the east of the valley, summer pastures of Kazakh herders.
Qapqal
察布查尔锡伯自治县 (Chábùchá'ěr Xíbó Zìzhìxiàn)
Xibe autonomous county south of the river, with the Jingyuan temple and Xibe museum.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture People's Government — Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Xinjiang Tianshan — UNESCO World Heritage Centre (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Yining — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

More cities in Xinjiang

Dynasty

Qing Dynasty (1644-1912 CE) →

The Qing dynasty (1644-1912 CE) was the last imperial dynasty of China, established by the Manchus of north-east Asia, who took Beijing in 1644 and…