Tekes Bagua City 特克斯八卦城

About Tekes Bagua City

Xinhua records, citing the Tekes county gazetteer, that the town was begun in the 1930s, when Qiu Zongjun, then the Ili garrison and reclamation commissioner, had the layout planned by combining a ring-and-radial street plan with the Yijing bagua diagram. The first phase centred on the second ring, and the town grew outward to the fourth ring to complete the pattern. The county page records that eight main streets radiate from the centre, named for the trigrams 乾, 兑, 离, 震, 巽, 坎, 艮 and 坤, each 1.2 km long and linked by a ring road every 360–380 m, with four rings in succession giving 8 streets in the first ring, 16 in the second, 32 in the third and 64 in the fourth.

The county page records that the Taiji Altar at the town centre was built in 2015, rebuilt from October 2020 and completed and reopened in June 2021 at a cost of 40 million yuan, with a complete taiji diagram on its roof and eight pillars for the eight trigrams. Xinhua records that buildings along the streets are almost all under five storeys, and that the town has no traffic lights within the fourth ring in the low season, roundabouts doing the work of slowing and turning traffic, with traffic police or mobile lights directing traffic in the peak season. The county page places Li Street, the folk-custom pedestrian street, between the third and fourth rings on the 离 trigram, and records that it is 1,700 m long and covers 92,000 square metres across seven lanes, with its first phase opened in June 2016 and its second in August 2018.

What to look for

• The eight main streets named for the trigrams 乾, 兑, 离, 震, 巽, 坎, 艮 and 坤, linked by four ring roads so that the rings carry 8, 16, 32 and 64 streets in succession.
• The Taiji Altar (太极坛) at the town centre, built in 2015 and reopened in June 2021, with a complete taiji diagram on its roof and eight pillars for the eight trigrams.
• Li Street (离街), between the third and fourth rings on the 离 trigram: 1,700 m long, 92,000 square metres, seven lanes, first phase opened in June 2016 and second in August 2018.
• The low skyline — Xinhua records that buildings along the streets are almost all under five storeys.
• The roundabouts — Xinhua records that the town has no traffic lights within the fourth ring in the low season and that traffic police or mobile lights direct traffic in the peak season.
• The street lamps, which Xinhua records carry water-droplet patterns on Kan Street in the north and flame motifs on Li Street in the south, matching the water and fire trigrams.

Location & getting there

Getting to Tekes Bagua City

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

• Search for 特克斯八卦城 with 伊犁哈萨克自治州 and 特克斯县.