Prairie Stone Men Kazakh Ethnic Culture Park

Prairie Stone Men Kazakh Ethnic Culture Park

The Prairie Stone Men Kazakh Ethnic Culture Park is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

The Prairie Stone Men Kazakh Ethnic Culture Park is located by the roadside at the 97-kilometer mark on the road from Burqin County to the Kanas Natural Ecological Tourism Area, and is 10 kilometers from Kanas Airport. The park covers an area of 23.5 hectares, with a planned total investment of 28 million yuan. To date, construction and improvement have been completed on a 6,000-square-meter parking lot, over 2,800 meters of wooden walkways, as well as infrastructure related to accommodation, shopping, and environmental sanitation. The park opened to the public for trial operation in July 2013.

Since its establishment, the company has been committed to developing and fully showcasing the brand of Xinjiang’s Kazakh ethnic culture, striving to become a leading representative enterprise in Xinjiang and even the nation’s folk culture industrial parks with the shortest time and highest efficiency. After nearly two years of infrastructure development, the culture park has begun to take shape. In addition to originally displaying only the prairie stone men, the park has successively invested in building 18 scenic spots, including the Alphabet Monument, Kazakh Life Rituals, the Lucky “Hipbone,” and the Triangular Stove. Moreover, besides showcasing common Kazakh folk elements such as ethnic song and dance and equestrian performances, four special processing and exhibition experience workshops have been set up to display traditional Kazakh dairy products, embroidery, handicrafts (ceramics), daily life items, and felt yurt interior decorations—products rich in ethnic cultural flavor.

The Prairie Stone Men Kazakh Ethnic Culture Park fills a gap in ethnic cultural tourism that was not previously represented in the Kanas scenic area or even the entire Altay region. It serves as an excellent venue for domestic and international tourists to learn about and experience local Kazakh traditional customs, as well as a key highlight and node along the Altay Thousand-Mile Scenic Corridor. Fine natural landscapes are made richer, deeper, and more appealing when complemented by outstanding cultural attractions.

At the same time, the improved facilities have increased the reception capacity of the Jiadengyu Reception Center, alleviating the issue of insufficient reception capacity in the Kanas Scenic Area, and promoting stable development of the tourism industry in the Kanas region. The project has also created numerous employment opportunities for surplus labor and laid-off workers, especially helping relieve employment pressure in the surrounding rural and pastoral areas. Currently, the park employs 71 staff members, 85% of whom are local herders.

The tourism industry is a labor-intensive sector. While maximizing local job creation, it also drives the development of related industries such as construction, services, animal husbandry, farming, manufacturing, and transportation.