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Explore the region
About Karamay
Black Oil Hill makes that history visible, while Urho’s eroded desert formations offer a very different landscape farther away. The city’s administrative districts are spread out, and Dushanzi is separated from the main urban area. Use central Karamay as a practical base, then plan each outlying visit with its own travel time.
Oil exploration began here in 1951, before the present urban area had any residents. Karamay No. 1 Well (克拉玛依一号井) produced industrial oil flow on 29 October 1955. Large-scale oilfield development followed in 1956, and industrial construction and population growth began to shape a town. A county-level city was established in 1958.
The surrounding terrain is predominantly Gobi desert, with higher land in the northwest and lower, open ground toward the southeast. Average elevation is about 400 metres, and Ailik Lake (艾里克湖) occupies the lowest point. The climate is desert-like, with annual average precipitation of 106 millimetres, dry winters lasting from mid-November to late March, and hot, dry summers.
What to look for
- Black Oil Hill connects the city’s name with its petroleum landscape.
- Urho adds a separate outing among wind-eroded desert formations.
Background & history
Karamay (also spelled Karamai; Chinese: 克拉玛依, romanized: Kèlāmǎyī, Uyghur: قاراماي, romanized: Qaramay) is a prefecture-level city in the north of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is surrounded on all sides by Tacheng Prefecture. The name of the city comes from the Uyghur language and means "black oil", referring to the oil fields near the city. Karamay was the site of one of the worst disasters in modern Chinese history, the 1994 Karamay fire, when 324 people, including 288 school children, lost their lives in a cinema fire on 8 December 1994.
Excerpt from Wikipedia: Karamay · Wikipedia contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected introductory sentences; formatting simplified. Background information, not current visitor-service advice.
Location & getting there
Getting to Karamay
Check whether your arrival is at Karamay railway station or Karamay Guhai Airport, then transfer to your booked district. A Dushanzi address is not central Karamay; confirm the full district before arranging a pickup.
Combine your visit
Choose from these complementary stops when planning your visit.
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Black Oil Hill黑油山
Begin with the city’s petroleum landscape.
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Central Karamay克拉玛依城区
Use the city for an overnight base and local services.
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Urho Ghost City乌尔禾魔鬼城
Plan a separate road excursion.
This is a suggested combination, not a timed route; confirm the opening and transport arrangements for your date.
Find Karamay overview
克拉玛依 · 克拉玛依
The pin marks the area, not the entrance.
More places nearby
Approximate straight-line distances between map pins, not travel distances.
Black Oil Hill Park 黑油山公园
4 km awayBlack Oil Hill makes Karamay’s petroleum story visible at the surface. Natural oil seepage has formed dark deposits and small oil-spring features, which visitors can examine from the managed paths. The setting gives a direct…
View guide →Urho Ghost City 乌尔禾魔鬼城
84 km awayUrho Ghost City is a field of wind-eroded formations northeast of central Karamay. Ridges and isolated rock masses resemble towers, animals and ruined buildings, giving the site its evocative name. Changing light reveals the…
View guide →Duku Highway Museum 独库公路博物馆
140 km awayDuku Highway Museum explains the construction of the mountain road through photographs, objects and the accounts of people who built it. Clothing and equipment make the working conditions tangible, while landscape displays…
View guide →Sources & visit information
The linked encyclopedia sources support background and place descriptions. Current opening hours, ticket prices, booking rules and transport schedules have not been independently verified for this guide. Confirm them with the venue or operator before travelling.
- Karamay — Wikipedia geographic and historical reference ↗
- Chinese Wikipedia: 克拉玛依市 (revision 94239316, 2026-09-08) ↗
Geographic and historical facts selectively adapted from Wikipedia contributors, Karamay · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 1369667031.
Background paragraphs translated and condensed from Wikipedia contributors, "克拉玛依市", Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0. Source revision 94239316.