County · Xinjiang

Karakax County 墨玉县

Karakax County (墨玉县) combines the workshops of Mulberry-Bark Paper Street (桑皮纸一条街) with the courtyards, shops and food stalls of Moyu Old Town (墨玉老城).

Location of Xinjiang, the surrounding province-level areaView province guide

Get to know Karakax County

Representative view in Karakax County · 墨玉县代表景观:Karakax Paddy Field (IMG 20170519 115504)
Representative view in Karakax County · 墨玉县代表景观。Source photograph / 原照片:Karakax Paddy Field (IMG 20170519 115504). · Voidvector · CC BY-SA 4.0
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Administrative area
County · 县
Part of
Hotan Prefecture
Chinese name
墨玉县
Local areas
County guide

Area & population

Area in the source
25,788.86 km²
Population · 2020
571,648
Administrative seat
Karakax Town

Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.

Paper from mulberry branches

In Buda Village (布达村), the two-kilometre paper street gathers artisans and paper shops around a craft transmission centre. The paper is made by hand from the inner bark of mulberry branches. Its nine-stage process includes soaking, peeling, boiling, pounding, fermentation, filtering, moulding, drying and rough polishing. The soft sheets are used for mounting paintings and calligraphy, and for umbrellas and fans. The craft entered the national intangible cultural heritage list in May 2006.

Courtyards and market food

Old-town lanes contain Uyghur houses and workshops selling atlas silk (艾德莱斯绸), decorative caps, carpets, woodcarving and jade. Bulake Night Market (布拉克夜市) serves roasted pumpkin, pomegranate juice, grilled fish and rice dumplings with yogurt.

Sources for this guide

图说墨玉 - 墨玉县人民政府 · Karakax County Government

图说墨玉 - 墨玉县人民政府 · Karakax County Government

Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-27.

Explore Karakax County

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Sources & geographic information

Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.

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