The Huocheng County is situated within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and under the administration of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture

Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture

Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture , in northernmost Xinjiang, is the only Kazakh autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China.-Geography and coordinates:The following figures excludes both Tacheng Prefecture and Altay Prefecture....

. It's located between Yining and the border to Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan , officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Ranked as the ninth largest country in the world, it is also the world's largest landlocked country; its territory of is greater than Western Europe...

, occupies an area of 5,466 km² and has a population of 360,000 (2004 estimate). Including the Han and Uyghur nationalities, there are twenty nine ethnic groups living in the county.

North of Huocheng City is the Tianshan District

Tianshan District

Tianshan District is a district within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administrative jurisdiction of the Ürümqi City. It contains an area of 171 km2. According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 450,000....

; facing to the south lies the Ili River

Ili River

thumb|right|300px|Map of the Lake Balkhash drainage basin showing the Ili River and its tributariesThe Ili River is a river in northwestern China and southeastern Kazakhstan .It is long, of which is in Kazakhstan...

. Its Western side is China's border to Kazakhstan; Yining lies about 45 km to the east. Within Huocheng County lies the important ruined site of ancient Almaliq

Almaliq, China

Almalik was a medieval city in Central Asia's Ili river basin. Its site is located within the present-day Huocheng County in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture of China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, between the city of Yining and the border with Kazakhstan.Almalik was originally one of...

.

There is a border crossing into Kazakhstan at Khorgas, where the road continues to Zharkent

Zharkent

Jarkent or Zharkent , formerly known as Panfilov and Dzharkent , is a town in Almaty Province, Kazakhstan, the administrative center of Panfilov District. It is located near the Ili river. Its approximate coordinates are ....

 in Panfilov District

Panfilov District

Panfilov District may refer to:*Panfilov District, Kazakhstan*Panfilov District, Kyrgyzstan...

. A China-Kazakhstan railway link through Huocheng was constructed, becoming China's second railway link to Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

 besides Alashankou

Alashankou

Alashankou or Alataw Pass is a border town in Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It is a port of entry by both railroad and highway from Kazakhstan as part of the Eurasian Land Bridge. The town is named after the Dzungarian Gate , a pass connecting...

.

Towns and villages

The county includes 5 towns (镇), 3 villages (乡), and 2 ethnic-minority villages (民族乡).

The towns:

• Shuiding (水定) (the county seat);
• Qingsuihe ( 清水河),
• Lucaogou (芦草沟),
• Huiyuan
  Huiyuan, Xinjiang
  The township of Huiyuan is located within Huocheng County, in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, People's Republic of China. It is located near the Ili River, some 30 km to the west of Yining, the main city of the prefecture, and some 8 km south of...
  
   (惠远),
• Harbulak (萨尔布拉克, Harbulake)

Villages:

• Langan (兰干),
• Sandaohe (三道河),
• Yichegashan Xibe
  Xibe
  The Xibe or Sibo are a Tungusic ethnic group living mostly in northeast China and Xinjiang. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China.- History :...
  
   village (伊车嘎善锡伯族乡),
• Sangong Hui
  Hui people
  The Hui people are an ethnic group in China, defined as Chinese speaking people descended from foreign Muslims. They are typically distinguished by their practice of Islam, however some also practice other religions, and many are direct descendants of Silk Road travelers.In modern People's...
  
   village (三宫回族乡),
• Daxigou (大西沟).

Economy

In agriculture, the local population cultivate wheat

Wheat

Wheat is a cereal grain, originally from the Levant region of the Near East, but now cultivated worldwide. In 2007 world production of wheat was 607 million tons, making it the third most-produced cereal after maize and rice...

, corn

Maize

Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...

 and other crops including sugar beet

Sugar beet

Sugar beet, a cultivated plant of Beta vulgaris, is a plant whose tuber contains a high concentration of sucrose. It is grown commercially for sugar production. Sugar beets and other B...

, cotton

Cotton

Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....

, tobacco

Tobacco

Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...

, apples, animal husbandry

Animal husbandry

Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....

 with cattle

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

 and sheep.

The main mineral

Mineral

A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...

s extracted in the area include coal

Coal

Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...

, phosphorus

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus as a mineral is almost always present in its maximally oxidized state, as inorganic phosphate rocks...

, iron

Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...

, gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, silver

Silver

Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...

, copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...

, limestone

Limestone

Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....

, Iceland spar

Spar

In sailing, a spar is a pole of wood, metal or lightweight materials such as carbon fiber used on a sailing vessel. Spars of all types In sailing, a spar is a pole of wood, metal or lightweight materials such as carbon fiber used on a sailing vessel. Spars of all types In sailing, a spar is a...

 and marble

Marble

Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...

, etc.

Transport

Huocheng is served by China National Highway 312

China National Highway 312

China National Highway 312 , also referred to as Route 312 or The Mother Road, is an important highway that runs east-west across the breadth of People's Republic of China. It begins at the port city Shanghai and ends at Khorgas in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it...

 and the Jinghe-Yining-Horgos Railway.

External links

• Huocheng County information, at the site of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
  Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture
  Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture , in northernmost Xinjiang, is the only Kazakh autonomous prefecture of the People's Republic of China.-Geography and coordinates:The following figures excludes both Tacheng Prefecture and Altay Prefecture....
  
   
• County Map
• Thoughts about the history of Yining City and Huocheng County (the writer's point of view on how the places should be called)
• Henry Lansdell, "Russian Central Asia: Including Kuldja, Bokhara, Khiva and Merv", vol. I. Full text available at Google Books; there is also a 2001 facsimile reprint of the 1885 edition, ISBN 1402177623. (Chapters XIV-XVI in Volume I describe Lansdell's visit to the area in the early 1880s, soon after the Russian withdrawal).