Qiongkushitai Village 琼库什台

About Qiongkushitai Village

The county page places the village in the southern hills of Tekes County, across the river from the Kalajun grassland and 97 km from the county seat, and records that it was named a Chinese historical and cultural village in December 2010 and recognised in 2012 as a first-batch Chinese traditional village and an ecological protection village for intangible cultural heritage. It describes the village as one of the earliest settlements of Ili's pastoral peoples and an important post on the Wusun ancient road. The People's Daily account adds that the Kazakh name means "big flat terrace", that the village was once a necessary stopping place for trading caravans and for herders on the move, and that it began with a few traditional log houses serving those herders and Wusun-road hikers; it records that under government encouragement more herders came to settle there in winter, and that the village grew into settlement clusters including Hayihe, Taxibazha, Kuoerbulake and Qingbulake, with most herders living at Taxibazha.

The village is built of timber. The People's Daily account records that builders use pine and fir taken nearby, that frames are made from whole trunks rather than sawn boards, that wall meets wall in a "well-and-sill" mortise-and-tenon joint, and that herders pack a mud-and-straw mixture into the gaps to keep out wind and rain. It records that the roofs are covered with earth and sown with grass, the roots holding the soil, storing water and moderating the temperature, with mesh trays added beneath to stop the soil washing away. The county page records that almost every house in the village is a timber building, some raised from whole logs and some from logs split lengthwise and joined by gouging, tenoning and arching, with the bark left on the livestock pens, and that the buildings form a timber group that survives in good condition in the Ili valley. The People's Daily account puts the number of surviving log buildings at more than 40, some of them close to a hundred years old.

What to look for

• The log houses — whole trunks used as frames rather than sawn boards, with "well-and-sill" mortise-and-tenon corners and a mud-and-straw mixture packed into the gaps.
• The grass roofs — earth and grass laid over the roof, the roots holding the soil and moderating temperature, with mesh trays added beneath to stop the soil washing away.
• The surviving log buildings: the county page calls the village a timber group that survives in good condition in the Ili valley, and the People's Daily account records more than 40 log buildings, some close to a hundred years old.
• The winter settlement clusters — Hayihe, Taxibazha, Kuoerbulake and Qingbulake are among those the People's Daily account names, with most herders living at Taxibazha.
• The village's setting, which the county page describes as lying across the river from the Kalajun grassland.
• The village's Kazakh households, which the county page records as keeping their customs and traditional ways of life.

Location & getting there

Getting to Qiongkushitai Village

Identify the main visitor approach and any separately managed houses, museums or performances. Ask before entering residential spaces or photographing residents.

• Search for 琼库什台 with 伊犁哈萨克自治州 and 特克斯县.