Attraction Of West Poplar Valley in the Southern Mountains

The West Poplar Valley in the Southern Mountains (nanshan ximougou) is "Southern Mountains" generally refers to the mountain area at the northern foot of Karawuquntag Mountain, a branch of the Tianshan Mountains to the south of Urumqi. This place is not only an excellent natural pastureland but also an ideal summer resort for sightseeing visitors. There are dozens of parallel valleys and ravines running from west, with the West Poplar Valley as the most famous one.

Seventy-five kilometers south of Urumqi, the West Poplar Valley is located in the transition zone between low mountains and the mountains of intermediate height. At an elevation of 2,100 meters, it has an annual rainfall of 500 to 600 millimeters. The valley, screened by snow-capped peaks and dotted with tall and straight dragon spruce trees, is covered with a carpet of green grass. Setting off the deep shade of the green trees are white yurts scattered here and there, and small exquisite villas, elegant and quiet sanatoriums, reception houses for foreign guests and snack bars make the valley even more attractive. When making an excursion into this place, visitors are welcomed as guests to the yurts of the local Kazak herdsmen and always offered fragrant milk tea, mare's milk, cheese and delicious roast lamb. They can entertain themselves to their hearts' content with singing and dancing in threes and fours and ascend the heights, threading their ways through the deep woods, to enjoy the picturesque landscape. Young visitors who are found of horsemanship can hire fine horses for a few coins from the local Kazak herdsmen, and make use of the whip to urge on the horse to gallop across the vast pastureland.

At the far end of the valley, one finds the landscape even more spectacular. From a striking precipice hiding in the green trees, a waterfall two meters wide cascades forty meters, floating down like a white silk in the air, roaring down to the bottom and spraying fine water droplets and mist onto the rocks covered with mosses and the green leaves on both sides, just like a drizzle making people feel pleasantly cool.