Alashankou | |
|---|---|
 Tianshan Street, Alashankou | |
  Alashankou Location in Xinjiang Show map of Dzungaria Alashankou Alashankou (Xinjiang) Show map of Xinjiang Alashankou Alashankou (China) Show map of China | |
| Coordinates:45°10′24″N82°33′17″E / 45.1733°N 82.5546°E /45.1733; 82.5546 | |
| Country | China |
| Autonomous region | Xinjiang |
| Autonomous prefecture | Bortala |
| Municipal seat | Alataw Subdistrict |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,204 km2 (465 sq mi) |
| Population (2020)[1] | |
• Total | 11,097 |
| • Density | 9.2/km2 (24/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard Time[a]) |
| Website | www |
| Alashankou | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Chinese | 阿拉山口市 | ||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
| Chinese | 阿拉套阿格兹 | ||||||||||
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| Mongolian name | |||||||||||
| Mongolian Cyrillic | Алаг уул хот | ||||||||||
| Mongolian script | ᠠᠯᠠᠭ ᠠᠭᠤᠯᠠ ᠬᠣᠲᠠ | ||||||||||
| Uyghur name | |||||||||||
| Uyghur | ئالاتاۋ ئېغىزى شەھىرى or ئالاتاۋ ئېغىزى | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Alatau Pass | ||||||||||
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| Kazakh name | |||||||||||
| Kazakh | الاتاۋ ساعاسى قالاسى or الاتاۋ قالاسى | ||||||||||
Alashankou is a border city inBortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture,Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. It is aport of entry by both railroad and highway fromKazakhstan as part of theEurasian Land Bridge.
The city is located at theDzungarian Gate[2] (Alashankou in Chinese), a pass connecting the two countries through theDzungarian Alatau mountains. West of the pass, the port of entry on the Kazakhstan side isDostyk. Alashankou is 73 kilometers (45 mi) fromBole, 460 kilometers (290 mi) fromÜrümqi, and 580 kilometers (360 mi) fromAlmaty.[3] The weather in Alashankou is harsh.[4]
Alashankou is one of China's national first-class ports of entry. The volume of imports and exports passing through Alashankou accounts for 90% of the total for all of Xinjiang.[5] Since 2010, it has surpassedManzhouli,Inner Mongolia to become the busiest land port-of-entry in China.[6]
Formerly a township-level port commission under the administration ofBole City, Alashankou was upgraded to acounty-level city in December 2012. The city governs an area of 1,204 square kilometres (465 sq mi), including 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) of built-up area, which is divided into Alatao and Aibihu subdistricts. It has a permanent population of 10,000 and a floating population of 30,000.[6]
The agreement between theSoviet Union and theChina to connect Kazakhstan with Western China by rail was achieved in 1954. On the Soviet side, the railway reached the border town of Druzhba (Dostyk) in 1959. On the Chinese side, however, the westward construction of theLanzhou-Xinjiang railway was stopped once it reachedÜrümqi in 1962. Due to theSino-Soviet split, the railway link was not completed until September 12, 1990. The highway port of entry was opened in December 1995.[5]
The railway networks of the two countries use different gauges (China, like most of Europe, uses thestandard gauge of1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in), but Kazakhstan uses the broader gauge of1,520 mm (4 ft 11+27⁄32 in)Russian gauge), so there arebreaks of gauge. It is proposed to build a standard gaugetranscontinental railway to link Europe and China to bypass these two breaks of gauge. This project was signed in 2004.[7]
On July 10, 2010,Bole Alashankou Airport was opened with scheduled flights to Ürümqi.[8]
Alashankou has again become a major transportation hub due to freight associated with theBelt and Road Initiative's Eurasian Land Bridge Economic Corridor.[2]
Alashankou is made up of 1subdistrict and 1town.
| Name | Simplified Chinese | Hanyu Pinyin | Uyghur (UEY) | Uyghur Latin (ULY) | Mongolian (traditional) | Mongolian (Cyrillic) | Administrative division code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subdistrict | ||||||||
| Alataw Subdistrict | 阿拉套街道 | Ālātào Jiēdào | ئالاتاۋ كوچا باشقارمىسى | Alataw kocha bashqarmisi | ᠠᠯᠠᠭ ᠠᠭᠤᠯᠠ ᠵᠡᠭᠡᠯᠢ ᠭᠤᠳᠤᠮᠵᠢ | Алаг уул зээл гудамж | 652702001 | |
| Town | ||||||||
| Ebinur Town | 艾比湖镇 | Àibǐhú Zhèn | ئېبنۇر كۆلى بازىرى | Ëbnur köli baziri | ᠡᠪᠢ ᠨᠠᠭᠤᠷ ᠪᠠᠯᠭᠠᠰᠤ | Эв нуур балгас | 652702100 | |
| Climate data for Alashankou, elevation 370 m (1,210 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 8.3 (46.9) | 8.8 (47.8) | 23.5 (74.3) | 36.2 (97.2) | 40.2 (104.4) | 41.8 (107.2) | 44.1 (111.4) | 42.3 (108.1) | 39.1 (102.4) | 30.7 (87.3) | 19.5 (67.1) | 10.9 (51.6) | 44.1 (111.4) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −12.0 (10.4) | −6.1 (21.0) | 6.6 (43.9) | 19.8 (67.6) | 26.6 (79.9) | 32.2 (90.0) | 34.2 (93.6) | 32.5 (90.5) | 25.5 (77.9) | 15.5 (59.9) | 3.9 (39.0) | −7.2 (19.0) | 14.3 (57.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −15.5 (4.1) | −10.1 (13.8) | 1.9 (35.4) | 13.9 (57.0) | 20.5 (68.9) | 26.1 (79.0) | 27.9 (82.2) | 26.3 (79.3) | 19.8 (67.6) | 10.7 (51.3) | 0.3 (32.5) | −10.3 (13.5) | 9.3 (48.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −18.2 (−0.8) | −13.4 (7.9) | −2.1 (28.2) | 8.8 (47.8) | 15.0 (59.0) | 20.5 (68.9) | 22.4 (72.3) | 20.8 (69.4) | 14.7 (58.5) | 6.5 (43.7) | −2.6 (27.3) | −12.6 (9.3) | 5.0 (41.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −31.4 (−24.5) | −30.5 (−22.9) | −25.3 (−13.5) | −10.6 (12.9) | 1.9 (35.4) | 8.8 (47.8) | 12.7 (54.9) | 9.1 (48.4) | 1.5 (34.7) | −7.8 (18.0) | −28.0 (−18.4) | −31.9 (−25.4) | −31.9 (−25.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 5.8 (0.23) | 4.2 (0.17) | 4.2 (0.17) | 10.1 (0.40) | 18.8 (0.74) | 15.6 (0.61) | 20.7 (0.81) | 16.5 (0.65) | 11.8 (0.46) | 8.8 (0.35) | 4.9 (0.19) | 8.1 (0.32) | 129.5 (5.1) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 10.5 | 7.3 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 6.3 | 6.8 | 8.8 | 7.0 | 5.1 | 4.0 | 5.2 | 12.0 | 81.4 |
| Average snowy days | 21.2 | 16.7 | 6.1 | 0.8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.9 | 7.6 | 21.5 | 74.8 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 80 | 77 | 63 | 42 | 35 | 34 | 36 | 36 | 39 | 52 | 70 | 81 | 54 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 108.3 | 130.8 | 192.1 | 251.8 | 299.2 | 294.0 | 300.8 | 296.6 | 259.8 | 204.2 | 113.9 | 73.7 | 2,525.2 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 38 | 44 | 51 | 61 | 65 | 63 | 64 | 70 | 71 | 62 | 41 | 27 | 55 |
| Source:China Meteorological Administration[9][10] | |||||||||||||