Nalati Grassland 那拉提

About Nalati Grassland

The county page places the scenic area in the Tianshan hinterland at the eastern end of the Ili valley and describes it as bringing together snow mountains, glaciers, forest, gullies, meadow, rivers and waterfalls with the history and culture of the grassland and Kazakh folk customs. It records that the name comes from a legend of Genghis Khan's western campaign: a Mongol army crossing the Tianshan in midsummer came over a pass into sunlit country, and the soldiers cried "Nalati, Nalati", which the page renders as "the place that first sees the sun" — later transliterated as 那拉提. The page also notes that the grassland was known historically as a deer park, citing the Xiyu Shuidao Ji for the observation that the place had many springs and many deer.

The county page records that the scenic area is a national-level tourist resort, and that it was named a national AAA-level scenic area in 2001, a national AAAA-level scenic area by the National Tourism Administration in December 2005, and a national AAAAA-level scenic area in December 2010, with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism recognising it as a national-level tourist resort on 15 December 2020. It names Tianyuntai, Tianjietai, Tianmutai, Youmu Renjia, Tawusani, Wusun Guji, Yitigensai, Senlin Gongyuan, Daigelasi, Jiaolong Chuhai, Woniu Gang and Wo'ertajiaota among the scenic area's viewpoints, and records that its plants form a subalpine meadow community and that its animals include snowcock, ring-necked pheasant, otter, roe deer, lynx, fox, steppe polecat, egret, kestrel, ibex, snow leopard, wolf, golden eagle and rough-legged buzzard. The same page describes Tianyingtai, the highest point of the forest park at 1,800 m, as one of the scenic area's hiking routes, reached by a stairway of 2,779 steps.

What to look for

• The viewpoints the county page names, among them Tianyuntai, Tianjietai, Tianmutai, Youmu Renjia, Tawusani, Wusun Guji, Yitigensai, Senlin Gongyuan, Daigelasi, Jiaolong Chuhai, Woniu Gang and Wo'ertajiaota.
• Tianyingtai, which the county page describes as the highest point of the forest park at 1,800 m, reached by a stairway of 2,779 steps.
• The subalpine meadow flora — the county page describes a montane meadow of slender-leaved iris with betony, false gentian, sedge, wheatgrass, fescue, strawberry and thyme among the associated species.
• The wildlife the county page lists, among them snowcock, ring-necked pheasant, otter, roe deer, lynx, ibex, snow leopard, wolf and golden eagle.
• The grassland itself, which Xinhua describes as a subalpine meadow plant zone and an important summer pasture of the Gongnaisi grassland.

Location & getting there

Getting to Nalati Grassland

Confirm the road and activity operator, weather and return transport. Stay on permitted routes and do not treat open land as unrestricted access.

• Search for 那拉提 with 伊犁哈萨克自治州 and 新源县.