Yili (Gulja) Travel Guide
Located in the northwestern border area of China, and with its capital, from Urumqi, the prefecture is con tiguous to Russia, Mongolia and Kazakhstan. Covering an area of 350 thousands square kilometer, the prefecture has Ili, Tacheng and Altay prefectures and Kuytun City under its jurisdiction. There are 13 nationalities inhabiting here, namely Kazak, Han, Uygar, Hui, Kirgiz, Mongol, Xibo, Man, Tatar, Uzbek and Russian. and the total population is 3820000. The mineral resources are very abundant in the Tianshan Mountain, Altay Mountains and Tarbahatay Mountains within the prefecture. The Ili River, Ertix River and other tens of given bring up thick woods and vast pastures, providing advantaged excellent conditions for the development of industry, agriculture and stockbreeding. After the foundation of the New China. the prefecture has been built as.
After the foundation of the New China. the prefecture has been built as an important base of the petroleum industry" and nonferrous racial industry of Xinjiang. Besides beautiful and attractive natural scenes, such as the Hanas Lake, Ulungur Lake, Sayram Lake and Fruit Gully, numerous stone statues of grassland, ancient tombs, rock carvings, ruins of old-line ancient cities and temples make it a famous scenic spot for tourists.
Ili Prefecture Located in the west of Xinjiang and 700 kilometers to Urumqi, Ili prefecture covers an area of 96832 square kilometers and has a population of 2060 thousands. With the regional administrative office stationed in Yining City, Ili Prefecture is composed of Yining City, Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County and Yining, Huocheng, Gongliu, Xinyuan, Zhaosu, Tekes, and Nilka counties. Ili was the part of the state of Wusun in the Han Dynasty and in the Qing Dynasty the Office ofIli General was set up here. Possessing a suitable climate and fertile soil. Ili has a quite developed economy and is one of the main producing areas of grain. cotton, edible oil and livestock in Xinjiang. The mineral deposits here are more than lO0 sorts, including coal. iron, copper, manganese, aluminum, uranium, gold and silver, etc. Ili Prefecture borders on Kazkhstan and the Korgas Pass is one of the main ports of border trade to Kazakhstan, Uzbekslta, Kyrgyzstan. etc. The transportation via highway and air is very convenient in Ili. The abidance tourist resources, especially the cultural relies of the state of Wusun, Chagatai Khanate and the Qing Dynasty, as well as vast beautiful pastures and fragrant fruits, attract numerous tourists domestic and abroad every year.
