Tianshan Mountains

Tianshan Mountains is the mountain range in the east of Central Asia, traversing the central part of Xinjiang, and its west part extends to Kazakhstan. It was called “White Mountain” in ancient time, and “Snow Mountain” is its another name because of snow covering mountains throughout the year. The highest peak of Tianshan Mountains is Tuomuer Peak and the altitude is 7,435.3 meters; Hantengri Peak has an altitude of 6,995 meters; Bogda Peak’s altitude is 5,445 meters. These peaks are all within China borders, and all snow-covered all year. Three biggest rivers in Xinjiang -Syr Darya, Chu River and Ili take their source from Tianshan Mountains. Tianshan mountains range divided Xinjiang into two parts, Tarim Basin in the south and Dzungarian Basin in the north.

Famous natural scenery

There are more than 10 peaks with altitude above 5,000 meters, these towering peaks are covered by snow all year without being melted, and the Tianshan Mountains are majestic and mysterious in a distance look.

The Bogda Peak

The Bogda Peak, altitude of 5,445 meters, is the highest peak in the east of Tianshan Mountains, the distance to Urumqi is 70 kilometers. It is known for the Heavenly Lake. It is not only the goal for climbers, but is an amazing tourist attraction.

Heavenly Lake

There is a natural lake in the midst of the Bogda Peak named Heavenly Lake. Heavenly Lake is surrounded by numerous towering verdant spruces and mirror-like lakes and its altitude is 1,901 meters. Covering 4.9 square kilometers, Heavenly Lake is in the shape of a half-moon, with 3,400 meters in length, 105 meters in depth and 1,500 meters in the widest part. Heavenly Lake also has various waterfalls with constantly changing cloud and mist, forming a splendor and open plateau landscape. In addition to natural scenery, a love legend of the Heavenly Empress and King Mu of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 B.C. - 771 B.C.) makes Heavenly Lake more romantic. It attracts a lot of tourists from China and foreign countries to visit.

Glaciers

As the highest peak in Tianshan Mountains, the Tuomuer Peak has about 10 mountains with the height of over 6,000 meters. It has a special snowscape different from other peaks, glacier is one.

The Tianshan Mountains are China's biggest glacier zone. In the area of The Tuomuer Peak , there are 800 glaciers, but the Khan Tengger glacier is the longest one,60.8km in length, it is also one of top eight Valley glaciers in the world. China No.1 Glacier is situated in Tianshan Mountains, which has a long history of 4 million years.

Tianshan Mountains Snow lotus

Tianshan Mountains Snow lotus is a precious Chinese herbal medicine only growing in Xinjiang. It grows in the steep cliffs with an altitude of 4, 000 meters in the Tanshan Mountains range. In the snow-covered mountains, no plants can survive in such a cold climate but Snow lotus. Its unique growing characteristics make it natural and rare, and it has a great and magic medicinal value. It is called “King of medicinal herb”.

Best time to visit

The best time to visit Tianshan Mountains is June, July and August. In these period, golden wild flowers, endless prairie, pure lake water, the shadow of snow mountains reflected in the lake water, cattle and sheep flocks are all beautiful sceneries that you can not miss.

If tourists want to see scenery in winter, before December or after February is a better time. Winter comes from October in the north of Xinjiang, and mountain pass is closed because of freeze-up.