Zhaosu Grassland 昭苏草原

About Zhaosu Grassland

The county government places Zhaosu in the south-west of Ili prefecture, bordering Tekes county to the east, Aksu prefecture's Baicheng and Wensu counties across the mountains to the south, Kazakhstan to the west and Qapqal county to the north. It gives an administrative area of 11,200 square kilometres and a registered population of 173,000 including the corps, with 27 ethnic groups including Han, Kazakh, Uyghur and Mongol, and describes the county as mainly pastoral but also farming. It records 7.36 million mu of natural pasture it calls world-class and 1.06 million mu of arable land, and names the county as the origin place of the Chinese Ili horse, Xinjiang brown cattle and fine-wool sheep.

The county page records that Zhaosu has long been known for producing "heavenly horses", that it is "China's home of heavenly horses" and a breeding base for Chinese ceremonial horses, that it has more than 100,000 quality horses, and that it is the permanent venue of the national "Tianshan horse forum". Xinhua records that the county's horse population has been growing and stood at 122,300 at the end of 2025, that Zhaosu is a centre of Chinese horse culture and rich in horse resources, that it holds more than a hundred horse-related events a year, and that the county promotes the brand "there is a way of life called Zhaosu".

What to look for

• The natural pasture itself: 7.36 million mu of grassland the county government calls world-class.
• The horses — more than 100,000 quality horses according to the county page, with Xinhua recording 122,300 at the end of 2025.
• The Zhaosu horse farm and the Tianma tourist culture park, which Xinhua names as places where horses are kept and trained and where horsemanship is displayed to visitors.
• The horse-related events Xinhua records, more than a hundred a year, including the "heavenly horses bathing in the river" performance at the county's wetland park.
• The Zhaosu grassland horse-herding system (新疆昭苏草原马牧养系统), listed as the fiftieth item in the seventh batch of China's important agricultural heritage.

Location & getting there

Getting to Zhaosu 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 昭苏草原 with 伊犁哈萨克自治州 and 昭苏县.