It is said that Kanas is beautiful in early autumn, from September to October, with a richness like wine. We arrived in early summer. From Hemu to Kanas Lake, everything was still bright and clear: clean green, a quiet village, and even the small inns had just changed their beddings, still smelling of the snow from the previous winter.
Ten days ago, we were still in the Ili Valley to the north of the Tianshan Mountains, but now, we are at the foot of the Altai Mountains in the northern tip of Xinjiang – the Altay Prefecture.
From the perspective of the map, the Altai Mountains are the upper ‘horizontal’ stroke in the natural geographical framework of Xinjiang. Although most of it lies outside China, with only a small eastern section extending into China, it has already brought about a fertile land that nourishes the vegetation of the entire Xinjiang region. Since ancient times, the Altai Mountains have also been known as the ‘Golden Mountains’ because of its abundant gold production. The term ‘Altun-tara’ used by ancient Turks and ‘Altai’ in Kazakh both mean ‘gold’.
There is also a "silver water" at the foot of the Altai Mountains—the Irtysh River, which is the only water system in China flowing into the Arctic Ocean. Along its banks, the dense birch forests shimmer like silver water.
In the deep hinterland of Altai, there is Kanas, which is the deepest part of all the history of Altai.
There are two routes to Kanas from Altay: one passes through Habahe County and enters the mountains from the direction of Baihaba Village, which borders Kazakhstan, with Border Marker 5 nearby on a hilltop; the other goes north through Burqin County and over Jiadengyu. We planned to go to Hemu first and took the Burqin route.
A village passed on the way from Altay to Hemu
Hemu
After passing Chonghuer, the scenery outside the window was completely different.
Before reaching Chonghuer, the road was lined with tawny Gobi and deserts, with the sun unobstructedly baking the wild gravel. Occasionally, we saw cemeteries made of large stones. After navigating several large bends in the Chonghuer section, the Gobi was completely left behind, and a pastoral idyll came into view. On the right side of the mountain road, across a valley, were slopes covered with spruce trees. Occasionally, Kazakh herdsmen would pitch their yurts in the shade of the valley, with a few wisps of smoke rising finely in the sunshine. Moving forward, the valley became increasingly vast and populated. Several wooden houses were surrounded by layered fences on the grassland, with cows and sheep standing beside them in a daze.
At a road junction, a road sign indicated ’48 km to Kanas’ and ’50 km to Hemu,’ with the road to Hemu on the right. After descending into the river valley and walking along the Burqin River for a while, we entered the valley of the Hemu River, a tributary, with birch forests on both banks, displaying a fresh green hue. After passing the Qibakuoyi Forest Ranger Station near the iron bridge, we were informed that Hemu Village was not far. We left Altay City at 4 pm and arrived at the village entrance after 7 pm. After dropping off our luggage, we still had time to walk to the Hemu Wooden Bridge to watch the sunset and the animals returning from grazing.
"We only open for business in June every year, you’ve come too early," told us Chi Binchang, the owner of the villa. There are over 200 households in Hemu Village.
In the hinterland of the Altai Mountains, Hemu, along with two other villages in the scenic area—Kanas and Baihaba, is well-known because they are all inhabited by the legendary Tuvans. According to records, there are 230,000 Tuvans worldwide, with 200,000 living in today’s Russia. In the territories of the former Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, it was once a place called "Tangnu Wulianghai," which became the Tuvan People’s Republic after 1926; nearly 30,000 Tuvans live in the Khovsgol area of today’s Mongolia; while in China, there are only just over 2,500 Tuvans in total, who have settled in Hemu and the Kanas area located in the front mountains of Altai for many years. The three villages were once remote and desolate, and it could only be reached in the four summer months before the mountains were blocked by snow and ice, taking two to three days to ride a horse along the mountain trail. Nowadays, with roads built, the so-called "secret land" has become a tourist destination.
Sailigerin is drying dairy lumps
Like the ‘lake monster’, the origin of the Tuwa people is also one of the legends that adds a mysterious flavor to Kanas. Outsiders have various vague theories, and they themselves also have many doubts. One theory promoted in official tourism books is that the Tuwa people are descendants of Genghis Khan left behind during his western conquests and belong to the Uriyangkhai tribe of the Mongolian people. The place name ‘Tangnu Wulianghai’ is related to Uriyangkhai. Indeed, when we enter Tuwa people’s homes, we see portraits of Genghis Khan and the Panchen Lama hanging. However, some elderly Tuwa people deny any relationship with Genghis Khan, saying that they hang his portrait only because he is a hero. Professor Cheng Shiliang from the Ethnology Department of Minzu University of China, based on linguistic research, concluded that after being conquered by the Mongols around the 12th century AD, they began to fuse with various Mongolian tribes on a large scale, so they retained typical Mongolian racial characteristics and adopted Lamaism.
Actually, besides scholars still caring about the Tuwa people’s origins, what does it matter if there is a conclusion or not? Their lives have been exposed to the sun with the development of tourism and are no longer secrets hidden in pointed wooden houses.
It is said that Kanas is beautiful in early autumn, from September to October, with a richness like wine. We arrived in early summer. From Hemu to Kanas Lake, everything was still bright and clear: clean green, a quiet village, and even the small inns had just changed their beddings, still smelling of the snow from the previous winter.
Around eight or nine in the morning, people who went to the northern hillside to chase the light for photos have already returned, saying that there was a thin fog and morning frost along the way, and they still didn’t capture the first sunlight. The morning sun seemed intense, but it was still cold inside the house. Chi Binchang thoughtfully helped us move breakfast to the courtyard. We are currently the only guests in his villa. Sitting in the sunshine drinking milk tea, we almost have the entire beautiful scenery of Hemu Village to ourselves. This feeling is truly luxurious.
Lao Chi is 40 years old this year, tall and thin with few words. In 1996, he came to Burqin County from Liaocheng, Shandong to seek refuge with his uncle and cousin, who were both old Xinjiang aid workers who retired from the military in the 1950s. "Before that, I also went to work in other places and worked as a chef in a hotel in Beijing, but I couldn’t stay. As soon as I arrived in Burqin, I felt that the customs were very good, and I didn’t want to leave." Lao Chi said. In 2000, he married a local Burqin girl and truly settled down in Xinjiang.
Lao Chi first came to Hemu in June 2003, driving with a few friends. At that time, tourism in this village had not yet been developed, and they drove a 212 jeep into the mountains via an original forestry road for five to six hours. "The scenery was similar to now, but there weren’t as many wooden houses. The herdsmen earned money through tourism, and conditions are much better now than before. They have money to repair houses." A month later, Lao Chi decided to move to Hemu. He spent 25,000 yuan to buy an old house from a herdsman, which is the current location of his hotel. It only had four rooms and had no property ownership certificate or land use certificate. That year, he also transferred his household registration here. "Since the house has no property ownership, this is the only way to prove that I bought it."
Initially, Mr. and Mrs. Lao Chi only ran a very small grocery store with a counter outside and shelves inside, earning an annual income of 40,000 to 50,000 yuan. From 2004 onwards, they began to operate this mountain villa. Mr. Lao Chi expanded two rows of wooden houses in the courtyard of the old house, with 22 rooms that are fully booked from July to September, and the income has been improving year by year. ‘I earned a lot of money last year and changed to a Landwind X8 SUV.’ Mr. Lao Chi said that there are many photographers here in summer and autumn, both professional photographers and enthusiasts. They stay for more than ten days, and during that time, his room price will rise to 400 yuan with the market, and even reach 800 yuan in the peak month of September. Meals are not expensive. If you eat at his place, 30 yuan per person per meal is enough. Mr. Lao Chi now has 8 employees, ‘all from Chonghuer Township, which is where you took the winding road when you entered the mountains.’
Mr. Lao Chi, a Shandongese who settled in the village of Hemu
Mr. Lao Chi and his family were the sixth family to move into the village from outside, and others followed later. Now, there are more than ten Han families like this in the village of Hemu, most of them coming from Burqin County, and one or two from Urumqi. The rent for renting a yard ranges from tens of thousands to more than one hundred thousand yuan, and the rent of small grocery stores also follows the market, increasing from 20,000 yuan to nearly 30,000 yuan.
When Mr. and Mrs. Lao Chi didn’t have children, they lived in the village of Hemu all year round. He said that before the establishment of the scenic area management committee in 2006, the road was not accessible in winter, and it took two days to get into the village by snow sled. Now, there are buses from Burqin to Hemu every day, one at 10 a.m. and one at 4 p.m. Last September, the State Grid was also connected, and the village lights are no longer as dim as candles. After June this year, all rooms in his mountain villa will also have internet access. ‘Hemu is also very beautiful in winter. It snows heavily, but there is no wind, and it’s not particularly cold.’
They are now living a ‘transhumance’ life like herdsmen, moving with the seasons: After October 10th each year, the hotel closes, and he and his wife return to Burqin County. They hire a villager from the same village to help look after the house for a winter wage of about 2,000 yuan. They return to the mountains at the end of April the next year to prepare the hotel for business in June. He has now brought his younger brother and elder brother’s family from Shandong to Burqin one after another, and his parents also plan to settle here this year.
Kanas
There is a hiking route from Hemu to the Kanas scenic area. Starting from the Hemu wooden bridge, keep going west, and you will pass by the Black Lake (Kanakule Lake).
Before entering the mountains, Li Juan from Altay told us that we shouldn’t take a boat to see Kanas Lake. It’s better to hike in this season. We can walk along the栈道 (plank road) beside the lake to the Sixth Bay, where wildflowers cover the mountains.
But in the evening of the first day, we walked to the area between the First Bay and the Second Bay. We could barely move near those ancient rock paintings, and it took us almost two hours to go there and come back. If we really walked to the Sixth Bay like Li Juan said, it would probably take us a whole day considering our pace. Kanas Lake is crescent-shaped, and there are six rock ridges stretching into the lake along the inner side of the lake, so it is called the Six Bays. The staff said that you couldn’t make it past the Third Bay either, because the area beyond it belongs to the ecological reserve and is temporarily closed to tourists. Only scientific researchers can enter.
Walking along this floating wood plank road by the lake, you can feel at ease and comfortable even at night. On one side are the primitive taiga forest and birch trees, and on the other side is the lake. Across the lake is the Halate Mountain, where the snow and ice have not yet melted. The Fish Viewing Pavilion on the mountain is one of the famous attractions in Kanas. It is said that someone has seen the ‘lake monster’ there, so many people climb up to see it. Is there really a ‘lake monster’? This legend of Kanas has been around for a long time. After the hustle and bustle settled down, the more prevalent view now is that what appears in the lake is actually a large red fish called ‘Hucho taimen’, which is fierce and huge, but also rarely seen. Most of the time, the blue-green lake water remains unrippled under the sunlight and moonlight.
Actually, whether there is the legend of the ‘lake monster’ or not, Kanas is equally charming. The Tuwas have a folk song that goes like this: ‘I live in a paradise-like scenery, I graze sheep on a carpet-like grassland, I drink milk wine like holy water every day, and I am chasing a flower-like girl. Ah ho, my happiness and joy are almost like those of the gods.’ Kanas Lake is a mountain lake formed by three major ancient glacial actions. It is sandwiched between two mountains in a valley, with a lake surface elevation of over 1,370 meters. It is surrounded by the only Siberian taiga forest in China. During the season when we arrived, we couldn’t see the richness of autumn, but from the forest to the lake surface, everything was clear and peaceful. I think it’s better than being among crowds of tourists.
It is said that Kanas is beautiful in early autumn, from September to October, with a richness like wine. We arrived in early summer. From Hemu to Kanas Lake, everything was still bright and clear: clean green, a quiet village, and even the small inns had just changed their beddings, still smelling of the snow from the previous winter.
New Tuwa Village
From the log cabin where we stayed, it takes about half an hour to walk along the plank road to the southern end of Kanas Lake, where Kanas village is located. It is close to the scenic area, and there is a bus stop for the shuttle bus here. Kanas village still looks like a log cabin village, but it has been completely touristified. Every household is doing business with tourists, and you can encounter groups of tourists with cameras hanging around at any time on the road.
Eight years ago, the Ulan family, along with most of the villagers, moved out of the current scenic area, so there is also a new Tuwa village below. The new village is not far from the old one. After crossing the iron bridge over the Kanas River and turning along the spruce and Korean pine forest by the shore, you will arrive in just over ten minutes. Most of the houses in the village are newly built log cabins, each with a courtyard enclosed by pine fences. When you open the door, you are greeted by the mountains. The custom of the Tuwas is to build a fence before constructing a new house. With the fence, even if the wooden house has not been built yet, it still marks out a homestead. Ordinary households have two fences: one in front of the house with the gate in the middle, and one behind the house enclosing the cattle and sheep. It is said that there are households with six or seven fences, but unfortunately, I didn’t see them. In the Ili region, we have also seen the wooden houses of the Kazakhs, but they are very different. The log cabins in the Tuwa village have a square base with a small part buried in the ground, and a pointed and steep roof, which adapts to the rainy and snowy climate of the mountains. For the gaps between the walls of the houses, the Tuwas use moss to seal them, which allows air to pass through but keeps out drafts and withstands the cold wind.
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