Southern Pastures (West White Poplar Gully) is located 75km South of Urumqi, at the northern foot of Karawuquntag Mountain, a spur of the Tianshan Mountains. Traveling through this narrow verdant gully is a unique experience for natural scenery lovers. The Ka zakhs usually spend summer here between May and October and graze their herds. Visitors can take a horseback tour guided by local Kazakhs. In a traditional yurt, the hospitable host will welcome you in with fragrant milk tea, mare’s milk, cheese and roasted lamb.
Southern Pasture stretches over a vast natural area with fascinating scenery. The elevation around the Southern Pasture is about 1, 600 meters on average. It is cool in summer and could be the nearest summer resort of Urumqi. It is located 60 kilometers south of the suburbs of Urumqi City, about 2 hours driving.
The Southern Pasture (Chinese name: 南山牧场) is a green, fertile valley surrounded by attractive mountains. Among the mountains, White Willow Ditch is a unique and graceful peak, snow-capped all year round. In the pasture, you can appreciate a beautiful picture of steep mountains, luxuriant grassland, herds of sheep and cattle, and can ride horses, running through the valleys, or walk through the woods to pick mushrooms.
History
South Mountain in Xinjiang during the Tang dynasty is famous as a hunting area, when in the Qing dynasty it was a famous ranch; as early as the Qing dynasty, it was famous as for the summer resort, it had already started and after the liberation South Mountain had great development. South Mountain scenic spot in 1989 formally approved by the autonomous region government as the autonomous region grade scenic spot. Local farmers provide accommodation that tied the yurt outside their house for tourists and can also help visitors to heat the food tourists brought, or tourists can rent the cooking instrument so that they can cook by themselves. And there are many vocational villages around here. In addition to the guest room, there is which can accommodate 300 people.
What to Explore in Southern Pasture
Pasture can be divided into three scenic areas, and the scenery is different in every area.
The first scenic spot is located in the cheuch, mountains surrounded by dense forest, clear streams, and the scenic area have villa, nursing homes, still can visit Kazak herdsmen yurt to experience pastoral life, tasting the Kazakh flavor food. There is also a waterfall formed in 2 million ago, 2 km distance from cheuch, many people go to the Southern pasture just to see the waterfall;
The second scenic spot refers to the West Poplar ditch, here is a variety of coniferous and broad-leaved forest, and many strange rocks formed by running water in the flat bottom of the ditch but steep in the slope;
The third spot is Willow ditch, where water is extremely abundant, trees are lush, valleys are quite, mountain peak can be seen everywhere, and often here is filled with cloud around which formed the changing scenes.