Bayinguoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang

Bayinguoleng Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Ba Prefecture for short, lies in the southeastern part of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. In Mongolian, Bayinguoleng means the 'prosperous valley'. To the east, it borders with Gansu and Qinghai provinces, to the west it is next to the Hotan and Aksu regions; it is adjacent to the Tianshan Mountains in the north, and adjoins Kunlun Mountains and Tibet Autonomous Region. There are 36 ethnic groups living here, including Mongolian, Uyghur, Hui and Han.

Covering an area of 471,526 square kilometers, Bayinguoleng occupies one fourth of the total area of Xinjiang and is equal to the sum areas of Fujian, Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces.The whole prefecture fits into three morphologic regions: Tianshan Mountains, Tarim Basin and Kunlun-Arjin Mountains. Mountainous regions make up forty-nine percent of Bayingolin's territory. In addition, it has the Takla Makan Desert in the center and vast plains in the north.   

The prefecture enjoys a temperate continental climate characterized by aridity, lack of rainfall, much evaporation and long daylight hours. In higher mountainous regions, there is no summer heat all the year round, while in the plain areas, the four seasons are distinct.

Bayinguoleng has a profound history of thousands of years. During the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 24 AD), there were eleven kingdoms out of the 'Thirty-six Western Kingdoms' existed in this region, including Loulan, Ruoqiang, Qiemo, Xiaowan, Ronglu, Shanguo, Luntai, Yanmao, Weili, Quli and Weixu. The ancient Silk Road passed through this area. Nowadays, Bayinguoleng Prefecture is rich in tourist resources including the appealing natural attractions such as Mount Tianshan, Mount Kunlun, grasslands, lakes and the Gobi area, and the well-known historical sites, such as the Tiemenguan Pass, the Ancient City of Loulan and the Kizil Thousand-Buddha Caves.

● Mian Cities of Bayingguoleng

Korla City

Korla is the second largest city in Xinjiang, and is, administratively, a county-level city and the seat of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. Korla is also known for its "fragrant" pears. Korla is approximately 200 kilometres southwest from Urumqi, although, due to the intervening Tian Shan, the road distance is considerably greater.
From ancient time onwards, Korla has been a city playing an irreplaceable role in the middle part of Silk Road. Owing to its unique geographic position, numerous tourist attractions such as Bosten lake, Luntai Huyang Poplar Forest Park and the mysterious "Lop Lake" are breaded drawing large numbers of tourists for a sightseeing every year.

Hejing County

Hejing County is located in the central-southern part of the Tian Shan mountains of Xinjiang, in the north-west of Bayinguoleng Mongol Autonomous Prefecture.
Bayanbulak Grassland is situated at the foot of Tianshan Mountain in the northwest of Hejing county, it's a great prairie boasting luxuriant verdant grass, numerous flocks of sheep and varied plants, making it the second largest grassland in China.
Here snowy mountains encircle each other with terrain ups and downs, aquatic plants beautiful are attractive scenery. The famous “swan lake” China’s only swan nature reserve is located here, the swan dance against the background of snow mountain flower, just like the fairy tale world.

Luntai County

Luntai County as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Mongolian as Bügür County, is a county in central Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Bayin'gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture.
Luntai County is located in the south of Tianshan Mountain; the north rim of the Tarim Basin, here is the world's largest, the densest, the best existing “tertiary living fossil”, that is, more than 40 thousand mu of natural poplar forest. Poplar forest in Tarim River Basin is a typical desert forest meadow vegetation types, distribute from upstream to downstream river valley. Although poplar forest structure is relatively simple, it has a strong zonality ecological characteristic. Dyed Sunglow or in the sunset, it gives a person with a mysterious feeling at the same time, also make people understand the vitality and hope.

Yuli County

Yuli County, or Lopnur County, located in the center of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is under the administration of the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. Covering 60,000 square kilometers, Yuli is divided into 9 towns and has a population of 112,400, of which 56% are Uyghurs. Some 50 kilometers to downtown Korla and seated in the northeast of Tarim Basin with Tarim River flowing through, the terrain of Yuli leans to the southeast with mountain front alluvial Gobi plain in the north, Tarim River and Kongqi River alluvial plain in the middle and Tarim Basin and part of Taklimakan Desert in the south. 

Yuli was called Lopnor in ancient times. It was named after Lop Nor, a saline lake in the east of Tarim Basin; it was the location of Quli Kingdom, which is one of the 36 kingdoms of ancient western regions coexisting with Han Dynasty. The thousands-old county once had a splendid culture and was subordinated to Central Plain since Tang Dynasty.