Xinjiang: Altay Pasture Transfer, Jun 2024

By Beatrice Wong
August 26, 2024
7:30 pm
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I have always longed to visit the biggest province in China, Xinjiang (新疆), a land of breathtaking natural beauty and vibrant folklore. Xinjiang, located in northwest China, was one of the main stops of the historic Silk Road and now one of the most popular mainland Chinese tourist destinations. Tianshan Mountain divides Xinjiang into two parts – the north and the south. Northern Xinjiang, our destination this trip, is famous for its natural scenery of snowy mountains, lakes, and grasslands. Whereas southern Xinjiang is known for its historical relics and ethnic culture. We decided to come during the beginning of June mainly to catch the centuries-old tradition where local herders in the Altay Prefecture guide over 500,000 heads of cattle and sheep to the summer pastures for sustainable grazing. There are two such transfers each year so that the livestock have abundant food and the grasslands can renew for the next season. The plan is to photograph the pasture transfer and then head down to Ili (伊犁) for its beautiful grasslands, lakes, and flowers. We originally wanted to fly directly into Altay (阿勒泰) in the north to start our trip but our flight was rescheduled so we flew into Urumqi, the capital, instead and drove 5+ hours north to Altay. Upon arrival we checked into our hotel, 阿勒泰国帆假日, which is newly built and much better than I had expected.

Bright and early the next morning, we drove another hour and half to Shaerbulak town (沙爾布拉克) in Fuhai County (福海縣) to attend the opening ceremony of the summer pasture transfer. Our guide has already obtained border passes for us in order to attain access at the checkpoints, but in the end, I am not sure anyone checked. Local herders came to the ceremony with their families and their livestock. We were able to witness activities like sheep catching, horse racing, dancing, and wrestling.

The little boy in the middle is riding all by himself!

I was told that this opening ceremony is a relatively new thing to attract more visitors to the area.

The local herders dress up and parade around the ceremony grounds some with their adorned camels and others with their sheep.

Opening ceremony

Children of Altay learn to ride horses as soon as they can walk. I am impressed at how they raced multiple times around the course riding bareback!

Traditional sheep catching is a game where the goal is to get the “sheep” into the stacked rubber tires on the two ends of the field.

Goal on the right!

Most of the time, we just go the bathroom in nature behind a tree or an umbrella. Had to use this “facility” since there are too many people around at the opening ceremony. Inside is basically a large hole with some wooden planks and everyone can see everyone else….

Every year, many photographers gather here to capture the dust rising as thousands of cattle and sheep driven by shepherds and dogs together with camels carrying yurts and other necessities embark on the “Thousand-mile Pastoral Road”. It was pouring rain that morning but we still headed out to Shaerbulak town in hopes of seeing the pasture transfer in action. The local herdsmen were originally set to begin the process but then told the authorities that this is their livelihood and they will transfer whenever they deem fit. Disappointed, we still climbed up the hill and only saw a few small groups of herdsmen with their sheep and horses.

Love how the animals line up in an orderly fashion

We were told that the pasture transfer will be delayed for at least a week, so we decided to leave Altay and head to Ili according to our original itinerary. Just 3 days later, we received news that the herders have started the migration to the summer pastures! Since the focus of this trip was to capture the pasture migration, we drove 15 hours back north to Altay! After only sleeping for a few hours, we got ourselves parked on the side of the cliff along the transfer path.

The change in the transfer schedule actually benefitted me as many photographers left the area so I was able to find a spot on the small clearing along the transfer path. I think only about a dozen or so people could safely stand on that cliff.

These are taken from the cliff with my camera but they look like drone shots.

I think the photos speak for themselves. And once again, nothing good comes easy!

Not all the herders have camels to help them carry the load, so it was a privilege to come across some. :)

The animals do kick up a LOT of dust. Everything got very dusty, my equipement, my clothes, and my face…..

Altay migration to summer pastures

One of my favorite cinematic shots from this migration ❤️

They come rushing down the hill in waves, one family (with their sheep, cows, or horses) after another.

The noise of the sheep bleeping and cows mooing together with all the dust is just incredible.

Light is really the best at sunrise.

Herders set up temporary settlements along the pasture migration route and we came across one such settlemet made up of a yurt and a ring fence for the sheep. The family said they plan on staying here for a week or so before continuing to the summer pastures.

The family has just woken up and the wife was milking the goats. I was told that of all the milk, only camel milk can be consumed directly.

We were invited into the yurt to partake in their breakfast of Uyghur flatbread (Nang) and salty milk tea.

We followed the migration route and waited for the herds to pass by. You can easily spot the livestock coming your way by the cloud of dust in the distance. Our car can only follow as far as the river where the livestock usually stop for drinks of water. After that, one would have to rent horses to continue and we were advised against it as we are not seasoned riders.