Aletai

Aletai (阿勒泰; Ālètài; also known as Altay) is a city in Xinjiang Province of China. Go 100 km or so in any direction except south and you hit a border: Mongolia to the east, Russia to the north, Khazakstan to the west.

Get in

By plane

The Aletai City airport (AAT) is 17 km from the town center and can be reached by taxi. The only destinations you can fly to are Urumqi and Yining.The airport only operates 5 months in each year and close during winter.

By bus

The bus station is at Tuanjie Road.

• Burqin — takes about 1.5–2 hours, a bus every hour, costs ¥21
• Urumqi — takes about 12 hours, sleeper ¥160-170
• Yining — takes about 2 days

Get around

In place of buses or taxis, Aletai has an amalgam that costs ¥1 per person anywhere within the town.

By bus

• 101 — from the bus station will to the city center, People's Square (人民广场) and near the PSB
• 1 — from the bus station to city center

See

• Birch Forest Park. Prime bird-watching spot as well as amply endowed with wildflowers. 

Do

Difficult to find anything to do here, it takes 1 hour to walk through the town, though doing some shopping is not a bad idea.

Buy

All kinds of chirstals.

Eat

Lamb shishkebab, in local dialect is called Kebab, and in Chinese is called Yangrouchuer. Beshbarmak, the traditional dish of the Kazakhs is a mixture of boiled lamb, potatoes, carrots and noodles usually eaten with the hands.

Drink

• Original Kazak yoghurt, in Kazak is called airan. In Chinese it is Suannai.

Sleep

• Aletai Diqu Hotel (Aletai Diqu Bingguan) (in city center, alone the Kelang River), ☎ [phone]. Local three star hotel, probably the best you can find, no one speak English there, the hotel restaurant is also decent. 
• Bus Station G.H (just beside the bus station). Clean rooms and hot water. Double ¥100. 
• Golden Bridge Hotel (in city center), ☎ [phone]. Local three star hotel, no one speak English. 
• Postal Hotel (next to the post office). Two star hotel. They do not speak English. Pay no attention to the marked prices and bargain it down to ¥140. 

Cope

Visas

• PSB - visa extensions. M-F 10AM-noon, 1PM-6PM. Can give you just 7-10 days and will probably send you to Urumqi. Nobody speaks English. ¥160. 

Go next

• Hanas National Nature Reserve — approximately four hours away by bus