Atlas
Ili River Valley
Where the Tianshan tears open a gap to capture Atlantic westerly moisture — a miraculous 'Jiangnan beyond the frontier' flourishing in the heart of the continent's extreme arid zone.
Prefecture: Ili
Province: XinjiangRiders guide horses across Ili Valley beside a winding river and small yurts beneath snowy Tianshan peaks.
Gate & Wall1
- Huiyuan Ancient City Ili General Military HQ
In the Qing dynasty, the Ili General directed Xinjiang's military and civil affairs from this headquarters at Huiyuan, long known as the first city of Xinjiang.
Infrastructure1
- Guozigou Ancient Silk Road Pass & Valley
The historic 'Iron Pass' on the Northern Silk Road where Genghis Khan carved through pine-clad gorges.
Vista1
- Zhaosu Heavenly Horse Park & Geden Stele
Zhaosu has bred celebrated heavenly horses since the Han dynasty, and Emperor Qianlong's Geden victory stele stands on a border peak facing Kazakhstan.
In its history4
- Qianlong Emperor1711–1799 CE
Part of Ili River Valley's history: Pacification of Dzungar. Sixth Qing emperor, of the Qianlong reign, who conquered the Dzungars and the Tarim oases, commissioned the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, and abdicated after sixty years
- Zuo Zongtang1812–1885 CE
Part of Ili River Valley's history: Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang. Late Qing commander and governor-general who founded the Mawei shipyard and, as imperial commissioner, recovered Xinjiang outside Ili and proposed making it a province
- Zeng Jize1839–1890 CE
Part of Ili River Valley's history: Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang. Late Qing diplomat and son of Zeng Guofan who, as minister to Britain, France and Russia, renegotiated the Ili treaty at St Petersburg in 1881
- Liu Jintang1844–1894 CE
Part of Ili River Valley's history: Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang. Late Qing military commander in Zuo Zongtang's recovery of Xinjiang and the inaugural Governor of Xinjiang Province.
Han1
- Princess Xijun Marries into Wusun105 BCE
In 105 BCE, Han princess Liu Xijun married the Wusun ruler, beginning a documented Han–Wusun marriage alliance.
Qing5
- Pacification of Dzungar
Qing armies defeated the Dzungar Khanate and incorporated Ili and the Tarim region into new military and administrative frontier systems.
- Geden Stele Records Dzungar Victory1755 CE
After the 1755 Geden campaign, Qianlong commissioned the Geden Victory Stele to record the Qing military success in multilingual inscriptions.
- Qing Establishes the Ili General1762 CE
In 1762, the Qing established the Ili General at Ili to exercise unified military and administrative authority across the regions north and south of the Tianshan.
- Zuo Zongtang Reconquering Xinjiang
In 1876–77 Qing forces defeated Yaqub Beg's regime and recovered most of Xinjiang; Liu Jintang commanded in the field while Zuo Zongtang directed strategy, finance, and supply.
- Qing Forces Recover Most of Xinjiang1878 CE
By 1878, the campaign organized by Zuo Zongtang had defeated Yaqub Beg's regime and recovered Urumqi, Kashgar, Hotan, and most of Xinjiang for Qing rule.
