Guaishiyu Scenic Area 怪石峪

About Guaishiyu Scenic Area

The area covers 230 square kilometres between 780 and 1,350 metres above sea level, extending 18 kilometres east-west and about 13 kilometres north-south, with a maximum width of 22 kilometres. The municipal government describes it as one of the largest groups of strange rocks in north-west China; it lies beside the Alashankou pass and is adjacent to Ebinur Lake (艾比湖).

More than ten north-south and east-west mountain streams cut the area, and one east-west stream serves as the main visiting route. The site is divided into a main area of 142 square kilometres and an outer area, with nearly all the named sights in the main area.

The rocks are brownish-red granite, weathered and snow-eroded into shapes the government's page likens to animals and figures — a rhinoceros gazing at the moon, a crouching camel, a race between tortoise and hare, an eagle about to fly, a tiger, a mother and child, a dog gazing at the moon, a sphinx. The page calls the site one of Asia's largest groups of strange rocks and the country's largest and most complete museum of granite-porphyry shapes.

The prefecture's register of A-grade scenic areas lists Guishiyu as a 4A-grade scenic area.

What to look for

• The brownish-red granite weathered into named shapes, including the ones the page calls the rhinoceros gazing at the moon and the sphinx
• The east-west stream that serves as the main visiting route through the area
• The rocks the page names 天狗望月, 大象戏水 and 骆驼阔步
• The main area of 142 square kilometres, where nearly all the named sights are

Location & getting there

Getting to Guaishiyu Scenic Area

Use an authorised visitor route. Cave sections, geological sites and access roads can close independently, so confirm the area that your ticket covers.

• Search for 怪石峪 with 博尔塔拉蒙古自治州 and 博乐市.