Qitai County

Qitai County (simplified Chinese: 奇台县; traditional Chinese: 奇台縣; pinyin: Qítái xiàn; Xiao'erjing: ٿِتَیْ ﺷِﯿًﺎ; Uyghur: گۇچۇڭ ناھىيىسى‎, ULY: Guchung Nahiyisi, UYY: Guqung Nah̡iyisi^?), historically known as Gucheng (古城), is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China under the administration of the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture. It covers an area of 16,641 square kilometres (6,425 sq mi) and as of the 2002 census had a population of 230,000.

Qitai County's county seat is in Qitai Town. Gucheng Township is nearby.

History

Located on one of the main routes of the Silk Road, the old Gucheng (often referred in the European writing of the past as "Ku Ch'eng-tze" etc., using Wade-Giles or Postal Romanization systems), was the western terminal for one of the caravan routes across the Gobi Desert. Owen Lattimore in The Desert Road to Turkestan leaves an account of his travel along this route in 1926-27.

Climate

Transportation

In 2009, the Ürümqi–Dzungaria Railway was constructed through the Jiangjun Gobi desert in the northern part of the county. It terminates at a coal mine in Jiangjunmiao.