Hongshanzui Port

Hongshanzui Port

Hongshanzui Port

Located in Fuhai County, Altay Prefecture, it is a highway port bordering Bayan-Ölgii Province of Mongolia. Officially opened in July 1992, the port has an annual freight handling capacity of 10,000 tons and can accommodate 10,000 passengers. Hongshanzui is a bilateral seasonal port that allows personnel, border trade goods, and transportation vehicles from both China and Mongolia to cross. Citizens living within border areas of either country may enter or exit using a border pass. The port is open annually on the following dates: August 1–20, September 1–20, July 1–10, and July 14–23. From Hongshanzui, the distance to the Mongolian port of Dayang is 10 km, and to the county seat of Saikhanbileg is 160 km. Upon entering China at Hongshanzui, the distance to Altay City is 190 km and to Urumqi is 900 km.

A millennium-old forest of trees that never die, never fall, and never rot.

The Populus euphratica forest is the only large deciduous tree species in the Junggar Desert region, standing tall amidst the barren landscape for millennia, making it a treasured tree of the desert. These trees can live for a thousand years without dying; remain standing for a thousand years after death; and lie undecayed for another thousand years once fallen. They are highly tolerant to saline-alkali soils, and white crystalline deposits—known as Populus euphratica alkali—can be found in scars and hollows of their trunks. Residents living near these forests scrape off the alkali to make dough for steamed buns. In terms of saline-alkali tolerance, only the mangrove forests of tropical coastal regions can rival the Populus euphratica.