Kurdenin Scenic Area

Kurdenin Scenic Area – a UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site, national water conservancy scenic area, and AAAA-rated attraction – is located in the southeastern forest region of Gongliu County, 55 km from the county town. In April 2000, it was designated as the West Tianshan Nature Reserve by the State Council. Home to the Tianshan Mountains' unique species, the Schrenk's spruce, it serves as the global habitat and origin of these spruces and Central Asian wild fruit forests, earning its reputation as the "Green Valley of Tianshan and the Hometown of Schrenk's Spruce." Recognized as a World Natural Heritage Site, national 4A-level attraction, and natural oxygen bar, it ranks as China's top forested area for negative oxygen ions. The official bird, tree, and flower of the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture all originate here. Additionally, it serves as a sketching and creative base for the China Artists Association and a training base for mountaineering.

Kurdening means "horizontal valley" in the local herders' language. This is a broad north-south mountain valley covering 1,176 square kilometers with an average elevation of about 1,500m. Its unique north-south orientation creates pleasant year-round temperatures—warm winters and cool summers. The area combines the grandeur of northern landscapes with the delicate beauty of southern China, making it an ideal summer retreat. The attraction features the snow-capped Mount Kabamba, standing majestically at 4,257m among the peaks—one of the most famous mountains in the western Tianshan range. To its left lies a hidden reclining Buddha naturally formed by snow-capped spruce-covered ridges. This nature's masterpiece presents a perfectly proportioned sleeping Buddha with its head toward sunrise and feet toward sunset, exuding serene tranquility. The scenic area showcases breathtaking landscapes of forests, grasslands, snow mountains, streams, canyons, and waterfalls. As the most densely forested part of the Tianshan Mountains, it boasts exceptionally rare spruce forest resources with complete primitive forest types and vegetation—representing a particularly typical example of the entire Tianshan forest ecosystem. Preliminary statistics show 1,594 species of vascular plants and 223 species of wild vertebrates, earning its reputation as a "natural gene bank" of Eurasian continental wildlife species.

Tour routes:

Shuttle bus routes:

Attraction visitor center (take shuttle bus) -> Heritage center (walk, visit exhibition hall) -> Mount Kabanbay (view from distance) -> Iron bridge (walk) -> Tianshan Sleeping Buddha (view from distance) -> King Spruce (take sightseeing bus) -> Cloud Grassland (walk down via wooden boardwalk) -> Restaurant (walk, dine at Green Valley Resort or fast food restaurant) -> Heritage center parking lot (walk) return to visitor center (take shuttle bus)

Self-driving routes:

visitor center -> entrance of the middle valley in Kurdenin Scenic Area -> + Li Gallery -> Bee Fragrance Station -> Kafeng Base Camp -> Qimengde Viewing Platform -> Ayousai Viewing Platform -> hike to the King of Spruces -> hike to the Sleeping Buddha of Tianshan (distant view) -> hike to the Grassland Above the Clouds