Aleitaidi · Xinjiang · Place

Altay Prefecture

Northern Xinjiang alpine region with Kanas (Kanas Lake), Hemu village, Koktokay and Kazakh herder culture across 118,000 sq km.

Written and signed by Xiangqun Li

4.7/5RatingKanas CNY 230; Hemu CNY 150; Koktokay CNY 90TicketApr-Oct 08:00-20:00; Nov-Mar 10:00-18:00Opening hours

What it actually is

Altay Prefecture is China's far-north alpine region bordering Russia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia, anchored by Kanas Lake (Kanas, a UNESCO-listed glacial lake), Hemu Tuvan village (Hemu) and Koktokay canyon (Koktokay). Kazakh herders drive cattle to summer pasture in June.

Editor's take

Xiangqun LiWritten and signed by

The verdict

Worth the trek if you want raw Xinjiang scenery and you're willing to pay for it and rough the cold — go in September for gold or early summer for green, and get to Hemu at dawn or don't bother. Skip it if you're on a tight budget, hate crowds and commercialized villages, or can't handle cold and long, chaotic transport; those travelers leave disappointed.

What's great

Kanas Lake and the Hemu/Baihaba valleys are the real draw — the turquoise water and the Tuvan wooden cabins hold up in person, not just in edited photos (people who go two years running still rate the early-summer river valley as the best thing they've seen up north).

Time it right and Hemu at dawn is the real deal: a clear morning after overnight rain gives you mist over the valley with sun breaking through. That combination is luck, not a guarantee.

Autumn (September) is when the larches and grassland turn gold — that's the window most repeat visitors point to for the color, over summer.

Practical creature comforts exist here now — there's a KFC and basic food in Hemu village, which sounds trivial until you've spent a week in a remote pasture and want a cheap, reliable meal.

Worth knowing

It gets genuinely cold, and not just in winter — even people who love the place say the chill wore them down. If you run cold, layer hard or go in the warm months.

Hemu is heavily commercialized: one river, lined with private stalls selling food and gear, and some visitors flatly say it feels like a paid park and isn't worth a dedicated trip — the scenery on the drive in can beat the village itself.

It's expensive and remote. Cabins in Hemu can run 2,000 CNY+ a night, tickets stack up (Kanas 230, Hemu 150, Koktokay 90), and one traveler burned through 8,000 CNY on public transport alone across the region.

Transport is a mess — people describe getting turned around and dizzy navigating the area. Distances are long and logistics eat days, so budget travel here is hard without your own car.

Grounded in 54+ traveller reviews. Distilled by our editors from traveller reviews on Xiaohongshu and Douyin.

Essentials

Opening hoursApr-Oct 08:00-20:00; Nov-Mar 10:00-18:00

TicketKanas CNY 230; Hemu CNY 150; Koktokay CNY 90

Contact+86 906-212-2114

Rating4.7/5

Good to know

Bring passport or Chinese ID for ticket purchasesForeign visitors must present a valid passport when buying tickets for Kanas, Hemu and Koktokay scenic areas. Copies are generally not accepted, so carry the original.

Border pass required for Baihaba and Kanas loopA frontier pass (边防证) is mandatory for Baihaba village and sections of the Kanas Lake loop. Have your guide or hotel arrange it at the Jiadengyu police station. Processing takes ~30 min and requires your passport.

Drone flying is restricted in most scenic areasDue to border-zone regulations, drones are prohibited or heavily restricted in Kanas, Hemu and Baihaba. Flying near military areas can lead to confiscation. Leave your drone at home.

Pack layered clothing - nights drop below 10 C even in July.

Try Kazakh beshbarmak and kumis at village yurts.

Hire a 4WD SUV for Hemu-Koktokay transfers.

Carry a border permit for Baihaba and Kanas lake loop.

Avoid Dec-Feb unless you want serious cold and ski focus.

Book Hemu wooden cabins 2-3 weeks ahead for autumn foliage.

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Kanas Lake shifts color from turquoise to emerald

Kanas Lake (Kanas, a UNESCO-listed glacial lake about 1374 m deep) shifts between turquoise and emerald across the day, depending on cloud cover and sediment flow. The most photographed view is from Guanyu Platform after the morning mist lifts. A walking path circles the lake in 4-5 hours, but most travelers combine it with a bus up to the viewpoint.

Hemu village is a Tuvan hamlet of wooden-balcony cabins

Hemu (Hemu village, a Tuvan timber-balcony hamlet on a curving river) holds about 1700 Tuvan people and a few hundred wooden cabins with carved balconies. At dawn in late September larch trees turn gold and woodsmoke rises off cabin chimneys against the river bend - the scene most visitors come to photograph. Stay overnight in a village cabin to catch both sunrise and sunset.

Live with a Kazakh herder at Naren summer pasture

From late June to mid-July Kazakh herders drive cattle from Baihaba village up to Naren Xia Muchang (Naren Summer Pasture, a high meadow ringed by spruce forest and snow patches). Travelers can stay in felt yurts, drink mare's-milk tea and ride horses. The landscape doubled as the My Altay TV drama setting; bring a sleeping bag and ask the herder to be your guide.

Getting there

flightFly to Altay Airport (AAT) from Urumqi ~50 min or Beijing ~4 hr.

trainOvernight train K9791 from Urumqi South to Altay station ~13 hr.

carCharter 4WD SUV from Altay town to Hemu or Kanas ~3-4 hr.

busDaily tourist bus from Altay to Kanas ~6 hr and Hemu ~5 hr.

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