Yining — known in Kazakh as Gulja — is the capital of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture and the main city of one of the most beautiful and least visited landscapes in China. The Ili Valley runs east–west along the Ili River, sheltered by the Tianshan Mountains to the north and south. The combination of elevation, moisture, and fertile soil produces something rare in Xinjiang: meadows instead of desert, apple orchards, lavender fields, and rivers that actually flow in summer. It feels like a different country from the Taklamakan.
The valley's population is a mix of Kazakh, Uyghur, Han, Hui, and Xibe — the Xibe being the descendants of soldiers sent here by the Qing Emperor in the 18th century who developed their own dialect and traditions in isolation. This layering of cultures makes the region's markets and neighbourhoods more interesting than those of more homogenous Chinese cities. The Kazanchi district in Yining has preserved streets of blue-painted wooden houses from the Russian and Soviet periods, when the valley had close ties with Soviet Central Asia just across the border.
The real draw is the landscape outside the city. Nalati Grasslands, two hours east of Yining, are high-altitude meadows where Kazakh herdsmen still move their flocks to summer pastures — a scene that has not changed fundamentally in a thousand years. Sayram Lake, en route to Ürümqi on the northern pass through the Tianshan, is a startlingly blue alpine lake at 2,073 metres. In June and July, the lavender farms of Huocheng County southwest of Yining are in full bloom, drawing photographers from across China. The Khorgos border town to the west offers a glimpse of the modern Silk Road as trade corridor between China and Kazakhstan.
Yining airport connects to Ürümqi in about an hour; high-speed trains now make the journey in five to six hours. The city is a reasonable base for several days of valley exploration. The road to Ürümqi via the Guozigou valley and Sayram Lake is one of the finest drives in western China.