Intoduction

Altay prefecture is in the north of Xinjiang, it is adjacent to the people's republic of mongolia to the northeast and russia and kasakstan are to the northwest. it occupies an area of 11,700sq.km. with a border of more than 1, 100km.it has a continental climate of the temperate zone with very cold winters.
There is much wind in the spring,plenty of rain in summer.it's cool in autumn and has a cold and long winter,the ertix river and the urungu river are two big river-systems in the area ,the ertix river is the only northward flowing river which empties into the arctic ocean. in china ,urungu river is a continental river ,buruntu lake has the name of "northern lord of fish" , with an area of 1.500.000mu,teeming with more than 10 types of fish .
"Altay" means "gold mountains " in the turkic language, because of being rich in gold, Altay served as the pastoral area for numerous minorities during ancient times. in 60 b.c, it was under the protectorate of a general in the xi yu period. after that the central government of pastages set up administration organizations here. now Altay prefecture contains Altay city (the site of the Altay area administrative office). qinghe, fuyun, fuhai, burjin, habahe and jimunai counties. it has a population of 568,300, half of which is kazak.
Altay is famous for its gold, there's a saying, "there are 72 gullies among the Altay mountains and there is gold in every gully". there are also precious stones and rare metals.
The mountains and rivers of the Altay area are magnificent and the natural scenery is attractive.
There are many scenic spots:
1 The Kanas natural scenery preserve.
2 The burgen beaver preserves area.
3 Butterfly gully.
4 Birch park.
5 And the hot spring.

1The Kanas natural scenery preserve:
(1)?Scenic spot of Kanas mountain villa :
The mountain villa is located on Kanas lake. grasses and trees flourish in the countryside. there is a wooden pier, stretching out in to the middle of the lake. standing on the end of the pier you can watch the wonderful morning fog and view the lake. go fishing --you will enjoy the sight of natural grace beyond description in a pleasure boat.the mountain villa is a good hotel with well --appointed amenities. it is approved to receive all types of tourists. the exteriors of the buildings are of different styles with high--grade, standard --grade and economy rooms. there is a dining hall, bar, ballroom, market and other services offered for tourists. in addition, transport, horses, camels, renting fishing tackle, cameras, binoculars and national costumes are available.

(2)?The view of Kanas lake area:
Kanas lake is about 24km long, averaging 1.9km wide and 90 meters deep, the maximum depth of water being 188.5metres, it is the deepest mountain fresh water lake in china, the area is 45.5sq.km. if you take a pleasure boat ride, you will enjoy seeing the whole lake and its small islands. landing, you will also enjoy rock paintings from 2000-30000 years ago. also, you may visit the residential area of the towa minority who are called "forest inhabitants". on the north band of the lake, you will see an extraordinary sight: a long dike of "floating wood ". there are green pines and old trees, great and straight in the area, the shapes are varied with rocks gone up the side and five chinese firs clustered around some pine trees, the monster of the lake, the buddhist halo in a sea of clouds, and the wonders of the cloud changing lake.

The details:
(3)The wonders of the color--changing lake :
Kanas lake is famous for its color--changing water sometimes dark green, sometimes bright blue, sometimes gloomy, sometimes "milky white". it cans chang to several colours in a day.

(4)The 1000meter dikes of decaying wood :
The trees around the lake have changed from generation to generation, the decaying wood which can be found everywhere has been exposed to the weather and floats on the lake, but they voluntarily float against the current, and collect at the upper reaches and northern bank of the lake. with the passage of time a thousand meters of dikes of decayig wood has accumulated to form a rare landscape.

(5)The treble of "tuwa people "
There is a hemu--Kanas mongol nation Altay autonomous town at the south of Kanas lake. the town is composed of only two small pastoral villages with a total population of less than 2.000.
The residents of these two villages are mainly engaged in animal husbandry.
Their dress and customs are similar to the mongol nationality, but they speak the tuwa language which belongs to the turkish side of the altaic language family. from a linguistic point of view, they are close to the kazak nationality.
The tuwa people are an old nationality in our country. they make a living as nomadic hunters in search of pasture. they settled in the Kanas lake region nearly 400 years ago. the tuwa are brave and intrepid, being good at horsemanship and skiing and being able to sing and dance well. they still preserve their ancient life style. they live in woolen houses with pointed roofs mixed around in their villages, smoke curls upward from kitchen chimneys. the air is heavy with the aroma of milk. the view
of the village is that of primitive simplicity amidst the mystery of Kanas lake.

(6)The monster of the lake :
In fact, the monster is a treasure, a rare species of land-locked salmon,called "large red fish" by the local people. it is said that it is a marathon 10 meters long. horses, and camels are said to have fallen into the water they were drinking to become "pastry" for the "lake monster."

(7)The buddhist halo in a sea of clouds :
After a heavy rain, you can climb up to the fish-observing pavilion on the top of alakait mountain to view a sunrise. above the lake, a sea of cloud rolls in and forms up,the billowing clouds leap up. and sometimes you will see a magnificent halo like a buddhist halo at ermay mountain. the shadow of the pavilion and people fully appear in the halo.

(8)Wo long bay:
The shape of Kanas lake is like the bottom of a pot.it is called guo di lake by the local people .wo long bay is 140km from burgin county and 10km from Kanas. around the lake, there are lush forests, beautiful flowers, green grass and small islands. at the entrance of the lake, a torrent of water breaks against a huge stone and water cascades all around, a wooden bridge has been built across the lake from west to east. standing on the bridge and facing north, you can see quiet wo long bay and to the south, the roaring Kanas river.

(9)Moon bay :
About 1km along Kanas river from wo long bay you will see a blue, crescent moon--like lake in a canyon. that is moon bay. moon bay changes its color just as the water of Kanas lake does. it is a bright pearl set on the Kanas river.

2The preserve area of the burgen beaver:
The burgen river is in qinhe county, with an area of 60sq.km. the beavers are 60-70cm long, and dark grey in color. it is the biggest rodent. it eats leaves, roots as well as water plants. it lives by the river over grown with weeds and a lush growth of poplars and willows. the fur of the beaver is very famous and precious. its fur is very water--proof, the fragrance produced by the beaver is very expensive and high-- grade perfume. only in canada and a few other countries can they found. there are also only a few beavers in the burgen river and qingli river in our country.

3Tutterfly gully in fuhai county
Tutterfly gully is located to the northwest of fuhai, which is 60km from Altay. it is called "kulikebulake" by the local kazak, and means, "butterfly spring "(the same name as "the butterfly spring "in yunan's dali district).
Butterfly gully is located in the middle of the Altay mountains which is 1400 meters above sea level. in the gully, there are murmuring springs, green grass and beautiful flowers and water. the most attractive time is from june to july. the mountain valley runs from south to north where numerous butterflies fly throughout the valley sometimes they seem to blot out sky and cover the earth. butterfly gully is more than 60km long and is like a sea of flowers and a paradise for butterflies . there are many kinds of rare butterflies there. why are there so many butterflies there? it remains a mystery to this day.

4 The birch park in Altay:
The park is located in the middle of the kuran river, 2 km to the north of Altay,with an area of 0.5sq.km. it is divided into several islands by the river.there are grey poplars, white pillars and birches growing on the island. it is filled with national sights and is overgrown with shrubs, a carpet of green grass and murmuring streams. we find the scenery pleasing to both the eye and mind. where the birch leaves are golden, the birch trunks are silver white and the birch branches glow red and green.
The south suburbs are 7 km from the center of the city. there are wild flowers,streams, shrubs and fragrant grass where the birches grow dense, tall and straight. it is rather peaceful and secluded.

5 Alashan hot spring in fuhai:
The hot spring is located in the northern part of the Altay mountain region not far from Altay. it is 1,400 meters above sea level. there are 17 big and small springs. the temperature and colorings are different. there is a hot spring which spurts water half a meter high. "blood spring" is red, like blood which oozes out of rock. "silver pearl" spring bubbles up like a silver pearl without stopping. "frog spring ", in which there are some frogs as big as your thumb, at "snake spring ", there are some small black snakes coiling themselves at the bottom of the spring. in addition, there are "white spring ","cold spring "and "milky spring".the temperature at the mouth of a spring varies, from 34 to 60. the water contains several trace elements, which are good for one's health. in particular "radon spring " which contains radon is seldom seem, it has a notably curative effect for rheumatic--arthritis, gastritis, and skin diseases. now the blood spring and hot spring have been built "double bath rooms ", receiving tourists and patients.