Xinjiang: Anjihai Grand Canyon, Jun 2024

Anjihai Grand Canyon (安集海大峽谷), also known as the Red Mountain Grand Canyon, is frequented by few until lauded by China National Geographic Magazine as “a river and canyon flowing out of a modern abstract painting.”  Apparently, many people came here and were unable to find the canyon because it is a huge ravine that suddenly opens on the flat ground.  The local authorities are beginning to build a visitor’s center and other facilities, but everything is still roped off with “Do Not Enter” signs.  Visitors, including ourselves, have to climb over the barbwire fence to enter the site.  The canyon runs from TianShan Mountains in the south to the Habiga Snow Mountains in the north.  The canyon bottom is only 100-400 meters wide and the canyon shoulder is 800-1,000 meters wide.  The east bank of the canyon is stepped terraces and the west bank is made of gentle hills.  You need to stand at the edge of the cliff to get a full sense of this impressive place.  The braided rivers here remind me of those found in Iceland but with more vibrant colors.  We spent the night at Qian’an Hotel 独山子乾安酒店 in Karamay Dushanzi about an hour away.

Qian’an Hotel 独山子乾安酒店

 

The canyon bottom is only 100-400 meters wide and the canyon shoulder is 800-1,000 meters wide.

 

The east bank of Anjihai Grand Canyon is naturally cut stepped terraces.

 

The sheer size of the canyon is awe-inspiring.

 

Anjihai Grand Canyon

 

The patterns here remind me of the braided rivers of Iceland.

Anjihai Grand Canyon

Anjihai Grand Canyon