Posted 2018/3/22
There is a saying that you never know how board china is unless you have been to Xinjiang (xīn jiāng 新疆), and you never know how fantastic scene in Xinjiang unless you have experienced the fairyland of Ili Grassland (yī lí cǎo yuán 伊犁草原). The Ili Grassland boasts fertile soil and a mild, humid climate, with more rainfall in the mountains than in the river valley.
Introduction
The Ili Grassland lies in a fold of the Tianshan Mountains (tiān shān shān mài 天山山脉), one of the largest mountain ranges in Asia. Surrounded by ridges on three sides, it is open on the west to humid currents of air. A vertical division of grassland belts has been formed ranging through frigid meadows, montane meadows, montane meadow steppe, montane steppe, montane desert steppe, plain desert and river valley meadows.
The Ili Grassland boasts fertile soil and a mild, humid climate, with more rainfall in the mountains than in the river valley. The average annual temperature is 46.4F—50F, ideal for both pasturing and farming. Between the plain and mountains are scattered barren desert, grassland, meadow, bush and forest areas. In winter, the herdsmen usually tend their cattle on the plain and in the desert; in spring they move to the mountain slopes; in summer, they go higher to the alpine meadows; and in autumn, they return to the lowlands. The grasslands and forests are the main features of the landscape in the north. Ili is famous for the beauty of its mountains and rivers, woods and meadows. They are companions to snow-capped mountains. They are home to horses and hawks, and are like beautiful picture scrolls hanging from the towering peaks.
Nalat (nà lā tí cǎo yuán 那拉提草原), Kongnaiz (gǒng nǎi sī cǎo yuán 巩乃斯草原), Zhaosu (zhāo sū cǎo yuán 昭苏草原) and Tangbula (táng bù lā cǎo yuán 唐布拉草原) are the four major grassland areas in Yili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture (yī lí hā sà kè zì zhì xiàn 伊犁哈萨克自治县). Their counterparts are located at high altitude, either on mountain plateaus or slopes, or at the foot of the mountains, neighboring large woods and deep vales.
