Altay City

Not to be confused with Altai City.
Altay
阿勒泰市 • التاي قالاسى • ئالتاي شەھىرى
(Chinese) • (Uyghur) • (Kazakh)
County-level city
Altay

Location in Xinjiang

Coordinates: 47°52′N 88°07′E / 47.867°N 88.117°E / 47.867; 88.117Coordinates: 47°52′N 88°07′E / 47.867°N 88.117°E / 47.867; 88.117
Country People's Republic of China
Region Xinjiang
Prefecture Altay
Area
 • Total 11,400 km2 (4,400 sq mi)
Elevation 887 m (2,910 ft)
Population
 • Total 187,600
 • Density 16/km2 (43/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 836500
Area code(s) 0906

Altay or Aletai (Chinese: 阿勒泰; pinyin: Ālètài, uyghur: ئالتاي/ Altay, Kazakh: التاي) is a county-level city in Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, in far northern Xinjiang, China. It is the administrative centre of Altay Prefecture, and has 142,000 inhabitants.

Geography

Climate

Altay has a cold semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), without the strong monsoonal influence on seasonal precipitation patterns that defines the climate across much of China and an annual precipitation total of only 191 millimetres (7.5 in). Winters are long, bitterly cold and dry, with a January 24-hour average of −15.5 °C (4.1 °F); however, the presence of the Altay Mountains to the north helps moderate the severity of winter cold as compared to locations further to the east. Spring and autumn are short but mild. Summers are very warm, but dry, with a July 24-hour average of 21.8 °C (71.2 °F). The annual mean is 4.53 °C (40.2 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 50% in December to 74% in August and September, sunshine is abundant and the city receives 2,993 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Climate data for Altay City (1971−2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) −9.4
(15.1)		 −6.8
(19.8)		 0.0
(32)		 14.0
(57.2)		 21.7
(71.1)		 26.5
(79.7)		 28.2
(82.8)		 26.8
(80.2)		 21.1
(70)		 12.1
(53.8)		 0.8
(33.4)		 −6.9
(19.6)		 10.7
(51.2)
Average low °C (°F) −21
(−6)		 −19.1
(−2.4)		 −11.3
(11.7)		 2.2
(36)		 8.7
(47.7)		 13.3
(55.9)		 15.1
(59.2)		 13.4
(56.1)		 7.9
(46.2)		 1.0
(33.8)		 −9.1
(15.6)		 −17.5
(0.5)		 −1.4
(29.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 12.5
(0.492)		 9.1
(0.358)		 8.7
(0.343)		 13.1
(0.516)		 16.6
(0.654)		 15.7
(0.618)		 25.8
(1.016)		 16.1
(0.634)		 15.6
(0.614)		 15.0
(0.591)		 22.3
(0.878)		 20.8
(0.819)		 191.3
(7.533)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 7.4 6.7 5.8 5.8 6.6 6.8 7.9 6.5 6.0 5.9 8.5 9.9 83.8
Average relative humidity (%) 74 73 71 48 43 48 52 49 49 54 68 75 58.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours 163.6 182.4 247.7 281.9 325.4 338.2 343.5 326.6 278.6 220.8 153.5 131.1 2,993.3
Percent possible sunshine 60 64 68 69 70 71 71 74 74 66 55 50 68
Source: China Meteorological Administration[1]

Transport

From Ürümqi (capital of Xinjiang Province) to Altay, it takes about one hour by plane, 9 hours by day bus, 12 hours by night bus and about 14 hours by train (train is until Beitun city).

Culture

Like other cities in Xinjiang Province, there are a lot of minorities in Altay, especially Uyghurs and Kazakhs.

Education

In Schools, students are taught mainly in Chinese (mandarin) and there are courses for Uyghur and Kazakh languages.

Tourism

The most important tourism site is Kanas Lake where is a legend of a large creature.

People

References

  1. ↑ 中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集（1971－2000年） (in Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 2010-05-23.

External links

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