Tianshan Mountain Xueling Spruce Forest [Wulumuqi]

"One of Top Ten Most Beautiful Forests in China"
Ranked by China National Geography Magazine

Tianshan Mountain Xueling Spruce Forest in Guliu County, Yili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region

The Tianshan Mountain Xueling Spruce Forest has existed for 40 million years and is like a living fossil on the Tianshan Mountains. From late October on, cold snow bearing, winds from Siberia start arriving. Blanketed in whiteness, all is quiet; the spruce trees with their elegant crowns stand like an awesome military phalanx.
It grows mainly in the snow peaks on the northern and southern slopes of the Tianshan Mountains, the western part of the Kunlun Range and mountain areas of the Junggar Basin, its range extending 1,800 kilometers east to west. Along with the western Tianshan, it also goes into Kyrgyzstan. It is the most important mountain evergreen conifer forest in the arid region of Central Asia. The Xueling Spruce Forest grows in the mountains between 1,500 and 2,800 meters above sea level. The trees are tall, between 20 and 30 meters when mature—up to 60 or 70 meters in the most favorable environments, giving rise to the name 'sky gazing tree.' In the northwest of China and desert areas of Central Asia, the evergreen Xueling spruce grows sturdily despite the harshness of the desert. This is the oldest tree ever found in Xinjiang and is well worthy of its name 'King of Xinjiang Spruces.'
The spruce stand closely in lines and rows, following the rise and fall of the hills, one after another, like countless green piano keys playing the music of tinkling streams. Roses, honeysuckle and other bushes kept the tall spruces company. The trees had rooted themselves deep into the cold, hardy rock. The roots changed direction following the grain of mountain rocks, filling every tiny gap in the rock, groping for water down in the unknown darkness.
In this pure symphony of snow peaks, glaciers and mountain lakes, the powerful chorus from rows of orderly Xueling spruces, in this jade blue song…...the world falls silent.

Best time to go
July, August and September

RMB 20/person

Around Landscape
The Sayram Lake, Ili River Scenery, Kongnaiz Grassland, Lli Grassland, Fruit valley, etc.

Travel Tips
Pay attention to the time! Beijing time here means that the sun does not rise until 09:00 and it is still light at midnight in the summer months.
Be sure to take sun block and take warmer clothes for the nights and always carry plenty of drinking water even in the cooler months.
Be sure to respect local ethical customs and traditions.

Beijing (3768 km) Urumqi City (900 km) Yining City (100 km) Guliu County (86 km) The Tianshan Mountain Xueling Spruce Forest