If you open a map of China, you will be surprised to find that this large country in the East, with 9.6 million square kilometers and 1.3 billion people, resembles a rooster that announces the dawn.
If Mohe, located in the northernmost part of the motherland, is the "cockscomb" of China, then Burjin, Xinjiang, which is located in the westernmost part of the motherland, is the highest place in China's "chicken tail".
In the midsummer of 2018, I traveled westward from the banks of the Yangtze River to the west with the "Western Tour" tourist train of Tongda International Travel Service, and came to this small border town in the westernmost part of China, which is located in the depths of the Eurasian interior.
Burjin is a small county town in the western border of the vast and sparsely populated region, belonging to the Altay region of Xinjiang, located at the highest point of the "chicken tail" of the territory of the People's Republic of China, bordering Kazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. It has a total area of 10,540.3 square kilometers, a national border of 218 kilometers, and a population of less than 80,000.
When it comes to Burjin, for many people, this small city in the western border of the motherland should be said to be a cold and unfamiliar place name, which can be described as unknown. However, when it comes to Kanas Lake, a famous tourist destination, many people will have in mind the autumn picture of colorful mountains and emerald blue water.
The misty morning mist of Kanas Lake, the colorful beaches, and the mysterious Tuvan village of Hemu Village, these unique and well-known natural and cultural landscapes at home and abroad are like a huge magnet, attracting countless Chinese and foreign travelers to come to Burqin.
Burjin City is the political, economic and cultural center of Burjin County, and is the seat of the county party committee and county government. The first time I walked into this northern Xinjiang town, my eyes lit up, I didn't expect that in the vast and vast Tianshan Beilu, there is still such a border town with European style and unique charm. Wandering around the beautiful town is like entering a fairy tale world.
Walking into the town, you will be greeted by colorful houses, these houses are very Russian architectural style, and from a distance, they look like they are stacked with bricks from a fairy tale, not only in bright colors, but also in different shapes.
The streets of the town are clean and tidy, the boulevards are lined with green trees, French plane trees, birches, elms, and bunches of blooming flowers, decorating the town romantically and exoticly. And those Kazakh guys, Uygur girls, and Russian elders walking on the road with high noses and blue eyes, seem to make us tourists feel like they are traveling abroad.
Walking in Burqin, a border town of less than 7 square kilometers, we see not only fairytale European-style buildings, but also the blue sky like the sea. Through the sunlight, you seem to be able to see the slightest trace of water rising in nothingness, which makes people have a kind of quiet beauty. This kind of beauty is different from the Jiangnan town with willow green flowers and red flowers and small bridges and flowing water, but it shows the boundless openness and atmosphere of the small town in the Western Regions.
The town is small, but it has a special aura. Its aura comes from the two rivers that envelop it, one is Burzin and the other is the Irtysh. Burzin County is named after the Burjin River. "Burzin" is the Oirat Mongolian language. In the Oirat language, the three-year-old male camel is called "Boer", and "Jin" means herder. The local Kazakh language also calls this place "Kukgan" (meaning confluence), because the Burzin River joins the Irtysh River here. The Irtyy River is the only international river in China that flows through Russia into the Arctic Ocean. Wrapped in two rivers, the town is a city of water. The vitality and aura of water wash away the dust of the town and make the town stand out from many cities in Xinjiang.
Historically, Genghis Khan led his army to conquer half of Europe from this land of gold and silver.
There is a street less than 100 meters long on the side of the Irtysh River in the town, but it is famous: "Russian Street". The less than 100-meter-long street is all in the Russian style for its architecture, streetscape sculptures, and lifelike colorful matryoshka dolls. In particular, the chic wooden houses at the end of the street, built among the green grass of the birch forest, bear a slight resemblance to the "Putin's cabins" I saw during my trip to St. Petersburg, Russia, in June.
According to the tour guide, because Burzin Town is located in the western border of the motherland, it is a border county town on the border with Russia, and before the 60s of the last century, it was an important commercial port and border bank for trade between China and the Soviet Union. At that time, the Chinese tightened their belts to pay off the Soviet Union's foreign debts, and many ores, precious stones and other materials produced in Altay were transported from the docks next to the town of Burzin to the former Soviet Union through the Irtysh River.
Today, when we scatter along the Irtysh River, we can see not only the ruins of the old bustling wharf, but also the ruins of the former Soviet consulate in Burzin can be found in the streets not far from the wharf. However, the consulate has long been converted into a patriotic education memorial hall by the Burzines, and all that is left for us is the yellowed black and white old photos. Through these old photos, we can still see the Russian merchant ships that shuttled on this river, and we can still feel the prosperous years when Burjin Town was an important economic and trade port in western China.
It is precisely because of the special geographical location of the town of Burzin and the landing of a large number of Russian merchant ships and sailors here that the town left many Russian-style buildings in those years.
Today, in order to vigorously develop tourism, Burqin, a border town, on the basis of maintaining the original Kazakh national style, has now integrated mountains, water, and trees into the urban layout, and fully introduced the European architectural style into the urban construction, and there is a fairytale-like natural landscape of "city in the forest and water in the city" that we see today.
As the seat of the county capital, the town of Burzin is the hub and gateway to Kanas, and as the first scene of Kanas tourism, a tourist corridor has been formed between Burqin and Kanas.
In the middle of summer July, I walked through Burqin, a small town in the western part of the motherland, and in addition to appreciating its exotic architectural style, I also felt its tranquility, beauty and elegance. And when I sat on a small wooden chair in the birch forest by the Irtysh River, looking at the rolling river and blowing the quiet river breeze, I seemed to feel that the history of this fairytale border town has been solidified, and the fairy tale has been flowing in a hurry......