Ertix River

The Ertix River — known in Russian as the Irtysh — flows along the northern edge of Altay Prefecture before crossing into Kazakhstan and eventually reaching Siberia. It is the only river in China whose waters find their way to the Arctic Ocean, making it a geographic curiosity as well as a beautiful stretch of riverine landscape.

The river valley near Altay City is lined with stands of poplar and willow, and offers pleasant walking and cycling in summer. Fishing is popular — the river holds a variety of cold-water species. In spring, the snow melt turns the river turbulent and impressive; in late summer, the water drops and sandbars appear.

Several towns along the river make useful stopping points, particularly if you are driving north on Highway 216. The scenery is quieter and less visited than the Kanas area, with a genuine sense of the vast steppe landscape that stretches north into Kazakhstan.

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A story
The Ertix (Irtysh) is the only river in China that drains toward the Arctic Ocean rather than into the Pacific or Indian basins. It rises in the Altay Mountains, flows west through Kazakhstan, then northwest across Siberia, emptying into the Ob River and ultimately the Kara Sea. That a river originating in Xinjiang should end in the Arctic is one of the stranger geographical facts in Chinese nature.