The Tian Shan, also known as the Tengri Tagh or Tengir-Too, meaning the "Mountains of God/Heaven", is a large system of mountain ranges in Central Asia. The highest peak is at the Jengish Chokusu at 7,439 metres (24,406 ft) high. Its lowest point is at the Turpan Depression, which is 154 m (505 ft) below sea level.
Lake Balkhash, also spelt Lake Balqash, is a lake in southeastern Kazakhstan, one of the largest lakes in Asia and the 15th largest in the world. It is located in the eastern part of Central Asia and sits in the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, an endorheic (closed) basin. The basin drains seven rivers, the primary of which is the Ili, bringing most of the riparian inflow; others, such as the Karatal, bring surface and subsurface flow. The Ili is fed by precipitation, largely vernal snowmelt, from the mountains of China's Xinjiang region.
Dzungaria, also known as Northern Xinjiang or Beijiang, is a geographical subregion in Northwest China that corresponds to the northern half of Xinjiang. Bound by the Altai Mountains to the north and the Tian Shan mountain range to the south, Dzungaria covers approximately 777,000 km2 (300,000 sq mi), and borders Kazakhstan to the west and Mongolia to the east. In contexts prior to the mid-18th century Dzungar genocide, the term "Dzungaria" could cover a wider area, coterminous with the Oirat-led Dzungar Khanate.
Karamay is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is surrounded on all sides by Tacheng Prefecture. The name of the city comes from the Uyghur language and means "black oil", referring to the oil fields near the city.
Jetisu or Semirechye is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the southeastern part of modern Kazakhstan.
Lake Khanka or Lake Xingkai, is a freshwater lake on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia and Heilongjiang province, Northeast China.
Usu as the official romanized name and transliterated from Mongolian, also known as Wusu, is a county-level city with more than 100,000 residents in Xinjiang, China. It is a part of Tacheng Prefecture of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. Oil production is a major part of the economy while the county is an oasis in the Dzungarian Basin. Wusu lies between the major cities of Bole and Shihezi in Northern Xinjiang and west of Ürümqi and Kuitun, south of Karamay.
The Dzungarian Alatau is a mountain range that lies on the boundary of the Dzungaria region of China and the Zhetysu region of Kazakhstan. It has a length of 450 km (280 mi) and a maximum elevation of 4,464 m (14,646 ft).
Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture is an autonomous prefecture in the northern Xinjiang, China. Its capital is Bole, also known as Bortala. It has a population of 475,483 inhabiting an area of 27,000 km2 (10,000 sq mi). Despite being designated an autonomous area for Mongols in China, only a little over five and a half per cent of Bortala's population is Mongol.
Hulun Lake or Dalai Lake is a large lake in the Inner Mongolia region of northern China.
A rift lake is a lake formed as a result of subsidence related to movement on faults within a rift zone, an area of extensional tectonics in the continental crust. They are often found within rift valleys and may be very deep. Rift lakes may be bounded by large steep cliffs along the fault margins.
Pempek, mpek-mpek and also known as colloquially as empek-empek is a savoury Indonesian fishcake delicacy, made of fish and tapioca, from Palembang, South Sumatera, Indonesia. Pempek is served with a rich sweet and sour sauce called kuah cuka or kuah cuko, or just "cuko". Sometimes local people also eat the dish with yellow noodles and diced cucumber to balance out the vinegar's sourness, or adding chili powder to giving the vinegar's spiciness.
The Dzungarian Gate, also known as the Altai Gap, is a geographically and historically significant mountain pass between China and Central Asia. It has been described as the "one and only gateway in the mountain-wall which stretches from Manchuria to Afghanistan, over a distance of three thousand miles [4,800 km]." Given its association with details in a story related by Herodotus, it has been linked to the location of legendary Hyperborea.
The Ulungur River / Urungu River or Urungu, in its upper reaches in Mongolia known as the Bulgan River, is a river of China and Mongolia. It rises in the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia, flows south into China's Xinjiang, where it turns north-west to empty into the Ulungur Lake. It is about 700 km long.
The Northern Xinjiang railway or Beijiang railway is a railway in Xinjiang, China, between Ürümqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang, and Alashankou on the border with Kazakhstan. The railway is 460 km (290 mi) in length and runs along the northern slope of the Tian Shan mountain range, connecting all major cities and towns of the southern Junggar Basin, including Changji, Hutubi, Manas, Shihezi, Kuytun, Wusu, Bortala (Bole), Jinghe and Alashankou. The line extends the Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway west from Ürümqi to the Turkestan–Siberia railway on the Kazakh border and forms a section of the Trans-Eurasian Railway from Rotterdam to Lianyungang. The line opened in 1992. It was partially funded by the government loan of the Soviet Union.
The Manas Lake is a salt lake in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. It is located in the western part of the Dzungarian Basin, within the Gurbantünggüt Desert. Administratively, the lake is in Hoboksar Mongol Autonomous County; the closest urban settlement is Urho District of Karamay City, some 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the northwest of the lake.
The Ailik or Aylik Lake is a lake in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the Dzungarian Basin, on the edge of the Gurbantünggüt Desert. Administratively, the lake is situated within the Urho District of Karamay City, some 20 km south-east of the district's main urban area.
Lake Zhalanashkol is a freshwater lake in the eastern part of Kazakhstan, on the border of Almaty Province and East Kazakhstan Province. It is the smallest out of the four major lakes of the Alakol depression. It is also the southernmost of the four, the one closest to the Dzungarian Gate and the Aibi Lake on the other, Chinese, side of the Gate.
The Borohoro Mountains is one of the major ranges of the Tian Shan mountain system. It is almost entirely located within China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, with only a few westernmost peaks being in Kazakhstan.
The Lepsy also known as the Lepsa River or the Lepsi River, is a river of the Balkhash-Alakol Basin, south-eastern Kazakhstan. It originates in the Dzungarian Alatau Mountains north of the border with China, and flows into the endorheic Lake Balkhash. The river is 417 kilometres (259 mi) long and has a basin area of 8,100 square kilometres (3,100 sq mi). The Lepsy is the easternmost of the two small rivers that flow into the eastern Balkhash on the south bank, the other being the Aksu. The Lepsy is one of the main rivers of the historic region of Zhetysu.
