Tacheng
塔城市 · چۆچەك شەھىرى Chuguchak; Tahcheng | |
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"Ruins in Chuguchak" by Vasily Vereshchagin (1869) | |
Location of Tacheng City (pink) in Tacheng Prefecture (yellow) and Xinjiang | |
Coordinates (Tacheng municipal government): 46°45′06″N 82°59′13″E / 46.7517°N 82.9869°ECoordinates: 46°45′06″N 82°59′13″E / 46.7517°N 82.9869°E | |
Country | People's Republic of China |
Autonomous region | Xinjiang |
Prefecture | Tacheng |
Area | |
• Total | 4,007 km2 (1,547 sq mi) |
Population (2003) | |
• Total | 160,000 |
• Density | 40/km2 (100/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
Postal code | 834700 |
Tacheng | |||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||
Chinese | 塔城 | ||||||||||
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Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Chinese | 缺切克 | ||||||||||
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Second alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Chinese | 楚呼楚 | ||||||||||
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Third alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 塔尔巴哈台 | ||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 塔爾巴哈台 | ||||||||||
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Uyghur name | |||||||||||
Uyghur | چۆچەك | ||||||||||
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Kazakh name | |||||||||||
Kazakh | شاۋەشەك Sháýeshek |
Tacheng[1] (Chinese: 塔城), as the official romanized name, also transliterated from Mongolian as Qoqak, is a county-level city (1994 est. pop. 56,400) and the administrative seat of Tacheng Prefecture, in northern Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang.
The city was sometimes called Tarbaghatay or Tarbagatai (Mongolian: 'having marmots') and in European languages as Chuguchak (based on its name in the Mongolian language).[2] The current official Chinese name Tacheng is an abbreviation of "Tarbaghatay City". The current Uyghur name is Qöqäk transliterated from Mongolian.
It is located in the Dzungarian Basin, some 10 km (6.2 mi) from the Chinese border with Kazakhstan. For a long time it has been a major center for trade with Central Asia because it is an agricultural hub. Its industries include food processing, textiles, and utilities.
In the mid-19th century, Chuguchak was considered the most important commercial center of Western China after Ghulja (Yining), being an important center of trade between China and Russia, in particular in tea. The city, surrounded by an earth wall, was the residence of two Qing ambans and had a garrison of some 1,000 Chinese soldiers and 1,500 Manchu and Mongol soldiers.[2]
Chuguchak suffered harshly in 1865 during the fighting between the Qing forces and the Dungan and Hui rebels.
The Bakhtu border crossing (simplified Chinese: 巴克图口岸; traditional Chinese: 巴克圖口岸; pinyin: Bākètú Kǒu'àn) into Kazakhstan is located 17 km (11 mi) from Tacheng. The checkpoint on the Kazakh side of the border is also known as Bakhty and is located 60 km (37 mi) from Makanchi in East Kazakhstan Province. In April 1962, during the Ili-Tacheng Incident Yita Incident (伊塔事件),[3] over 60,000 Chinese nationals, including around 48,000 Tacheng residents, illegally crossed the Xinjiang–Kazakh SSR border,[3] leading to massive economic loss in Tacheng; the border crossing closed in August of that year.[3] The crossing re-opened on 20 October 1990,[3] and was deemed a "first-class port of entry" (一类口岸) on 14 March 1994.[3] On 1 July 1995, the crossing opened to use by third nations.[3]
Subdistricts (街道)
Town (镇)
Townships (乡)
Other
Tacheng has a typical Xinjiang cool semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk) that is almost moist enough to be a hot summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa), as being on the west side of the Altay Mountains the region receives more winter snowfall than most of Xinjiang.
Climate data for Tacheng (1981–2010 normals, extremes 1971–2010) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 8.6 (47.5) |
10.5 (50.9) |
24.7 (76.5) |
33.2 (91.8) |
38.2 (100.8) |
37.6 (99.7) |
40.3 (104.5) |
41.6 (106.9) |
37.7 (99.9) |
32.0 (89.6) |
20.8 (69.4) |
11.8 (53.2) |
41.6 (106.9) |
Average high °C (°F) | −3.8 (25.2) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
5.7 (42.3) |
17.2 (63.0) |
23.8 (74.8) |
28.8 (83.8) |
30.9 (87.6) |
30.1 (86.2) |
24.3 (75.7) |
15.4 (59.7) |
5.1 (41.2) |
−2.1 (28.2) |
14.5 (58.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −9.7 (14.5) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
−0.2 (31.6) |
10.1 (50.2) |
16.4 (61.5) |
21.2 (70.2) |
23.1 (73.6) |
22.0 (71.6) |
16.2 (61.2) |
8.2 (46.8) |
−0.5 (31.1) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
7.7 (45.8) |
Average low °C (°F) | −14.6 (5.7) |
−12.7 (9.1) |
−5.1 (22.8) |
4.1 (39.4) |
10.0 (50.0) |
14.2 (57.6) |
16.3 (61.3) |
14.8 (58.6) |
9.3 (48.7) |
2.7 (36.9) |
−4.7 (23.5) |
−11.8 (10.8) |
1.9 (35.4) |
Record low °C (°F) | −33.5 (−28.3) |
−37.1 (−34.8) |
−30.6 (−23.1) |
−12.3 (9.9) |
−3.7 (25.3) |
2.6 (36.7) |
6.2 (43.2) |
4.0 (39.2) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−13.3 (8.1) |
−31.5 (−24.7) |
−34.7 (−30.5) |
−37.1 (−34.8) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 20.9 (0.82) |
16.0 (0.63) |
18.4 (0.72) |
28.0 (1.10) |
31.7 (1.25) |
24.6 (0.97) |
30.8 (1.21) |
18.4 (0.72) |
12.8 (0.50) |
26.5 (1.04) |
35.6 (1.40) |
27.2 (1.07) |
290.9 (11.43) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.9 | 8.5 | 8.3 | 8.2 | 9.4 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 6.3 | 6.0 | 7.5 | 10.0 | 9.7 | 99.1 |
Average relative humidity (%) | 71 | 69 | 65 | 52 | 51 | 50 | 52 | 47 | 47 | 58 | 69 | 73 | 59 |
Source 1: China Meteorological Data Service Center[4] | |||||||||||||
Source 2: Weather China (precipitation days 1971–2000)[5] |
The Karamay–Tacheng Railway (opened on May 30, 2019) connects Tacheng with Baikouquan Station (百口泉站) on the Kuytun–Beitun Railway in Karamay City. It takes 9 hours from Tacheng to Ürümqi.[6]
Tacheng is also served by the Tacheng Airport with flights to Ürümqi and other cities in Xinjiang.