The Nanshan, literally the southern mountains, are the first real range of the Tianshan south of Urumqi, and they begin about sixty kilometres from the city. Several valleys cut into them - West Baiyanggou, East Baiyanggou, Gangou, Miaoergou - and each has a road up it, a river of snowmelt, spruce on the slopes and open meadow on the floor where the herders' animals graze. For people living in Urumqi this is the standard weekend escape, and it works just as well for a visitor who wants one day out of the city and into the mountains.
The herders and the camps
The pasture is used in summer by Kazakh and Kyrgyz families who bring animals up from the lower valleys, which is the old transhumance pattern of the Tianshan. They set up yurts in the meadows and run simple camps for visitors: a yurt to sit in, a few horses and sometimes camels to ride, and a kitchen turning out boiled mutton, hand-pulled noodles, naan and tea. The tea is the thing to order - brewed black tea with milk and salt, poured from a pot into small bowls, which is exactly what you want at that altitude after a walk.
What to do up there
Walking is the main occupation. Tracks lead up the valley sides through spruce into high meadow, and a fit walker can get above the tree line in two or three hours; horses can be hired by the hour for those who would rather ride. In summer the meadows are full of wildflowers and the herders' foals; there is a small waterfall at the head of West Baiyanggou and a set of pools. In winter the same valleys hold snow and some of the camps run sledging and skiing on a modest scale.
Practical notes
There is no train, so go with a car and driver or a booked day trip from Urumqi, roughly an hour and a half each way. The valleys sit around 1,600 to 2,000 metres, so the sun is strong and the nights are cool; take a jacket even in July. Weekend traffic out of the city is heavy, so leaving early matters. Agree the price of a horse or a yurt meal before you sit down, and remember that the camps are family businesses working a pasture rather than a theme park.
