Altay 阿勒泰

1

A ski resort on the outskirts of Altay City; with the city lying right beside the slopes, it is known as an urban ski resort where 'the whole city skis'

2

A white birch forest park on the banks of the Kelan River in downtown Altay, scenic in all four seasons: spring buds, summer shade, a golden sea of woods in autumn, and winter rime ice and snow sculptures

3

The grassland stone figure tomb complex in Qiemuerqieke Township is a stone-cist burial site from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age: stone statues stand before the tombs watching over the grassland, earning the name 'Guardians of the Grassland' — a typical relic of the Altai grassland stone figure culture

4

Yekaxia in the Wulasigou river valley is an experience camp for traditional fur skis — the ancient craft of pressing horse foreleg fur onto the ski base so they glide only downhill and never uphill, handed down as a national-level intangible cultural heritage experience

5

An old-town district of Altay City that became a filming-location city experience spot thanks to the hit TV series To the Wonder (My Altay), adapted from Li Juan's essays: Kazakh milk-tea houses, big-plate chicken and Irtysh River grilled fish restaurants line the streets, the Jinshan Road night market bustles winter and summer, and the everyday street warmth of the 'Altay Old Tavern' style...

6

Yardang hills on the north bank of the Irtysh River in Burqin County: named for the brilliant red, golden-yellow and gray-purple hues the rock layers show at sunset thanks to their different minerals — 'one river separates two banks, each with its own world': oasis white birch on the south bank, rolling colorful hills on the north

7

A national 5A-level scenic area and a glacial barrier lake deep in the Altai Mountains: famous for its color-changing waters and the "lake monster" legend; climbing the Fish Viewing Pavilion (Guanyutai) to overlook the lake's bays and the snow line of Friendship Peak is the classic vantage point

8

The largest Tuva settlement village: wooden houses with cooking smoke, birches along the Hemu River, and the Meilifeng (Beautiful Peak) grasslands form "God's private land"

9

A Tuva village on the China-Kazakhstan border: a stone tablet for "the First Village of Northwest China" stands by the border river, with the primitive wooden-house settlement and border-river gorge scenery intact

10

Fuhai County's "sea on the Gobi": Ulungur Lake covers more than 1,000 square kilometers; the January Winter Fishing Festival reenacts northern fishing-and-hunting rituals such as ice-chiseling fishing and offering to the lake to wake the nets, with the auction of the first fish as the festival highlight

11

A UNESCO Global Geopark: Pit No. 3 is a "meritorious mine" — in the 1950s-60s it produced rare metals such as beryllium, lithium, tantalum and niobium, making special contributions to repaying Soviet debts and the "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program; now a patriotic education base, with the Ayiguozi Mine Tunnel open for underground visits

12

Kanas Hemu (Jikepulin) International Ski Resort: at 2,800 meters elevation with a 1,466-meter vertical drop on its runs, it has the largest vertical drop of any ski resort in China