Tacheng

Tacheng 塔城市 • شاۋەشەك قالاسى • چۆچەك شەھىرى (Chinese) • (Uyghur) • (Kazakh)
County-level city
"Ruins in Chuguchak" by Vasily Vereshchagin (1869)
Location of Tacheng City (pink) in Tacheng Prefecture (yellow) and Xinjiang
Tacheng Location of the city centre in Xinjiang
Coordinates: 46°45′N 82°59′E / 46.750°N 82.983°ECoordinates: 46°45′N 82°59′E / 46.750°N 82.983°E
Country	China
Region	Xinjiang
Prefecture	Tacheng
Area
• Total	4,007 km^2 (1,547 sq mi)
Population (2003)
• Total	160,000
• Density	40/km^2 (100/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	834700

Tacheng (Qoqek/Sawesek) or Chöchek is a county-level city (1994 est. pop. 56,400) and the administrative seat of Tacheng Prefecture, in northern Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang, one of the autonomous regions of China.

The city was sometimes called Tarbaghatay or Tarbagatai (Mongolian: 'having marmots') and was once known in European languages as Chuguchak (based on its name in the Mongolian language). The current Uyghur name is Qöqäk Xäĥri.

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.

The city suffered harshly in 1865, during the fighting between the Qing forces and the Dungan and Uyghur rebels.

Border crossing

The Bakhtu border crossing 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. The border has been closed since 2009 for traffic both ways.

• 

  Kazakh-Chinese border near Tacheng

Climate

Climate data for Tacheng (1971−2000)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	−4.1 (24.6)	−2.3 (27.9)	4.1 (39.4)	17.0 (62.6)	23.4 (74.1)	28.4 (83.1)	30.8 (87.4)	29.9 (85.8)	24.1 (75.4)	15.0 (59)	4.3 (39.7)	−2 (28)	14.05 (57.29)
Average low °C (°F)	−15.6 (3.9)	−14.1 (6.6)	−7 (19)	3.6 (38.5)	9.2 (48.6)	13.6 (56.5)	15.7 (60.3)	14.1 (57.4)	8.5 (47.3)	1.9 (35.4)	−5.6 (21.9)	−12 (10)	1.03 (33.85)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	16.5 (0.65)	14.4 (0.567)	15.6 (0.614)	32.4 (1.276)	31.7 (1.248)	24.5 (0.965)	29.8 (1.173)	16.3 (0.642)	14.0 (0.551)	26.9 (1.059)	34.3 (1.35)	25.9 (1.02)	282.3 (11.115)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	8.9	8.5	9.3	8.2	9.4	7.9	8.4	6.3	6.0	7.5	10.0	9.7	100.1
Source: Weather China

Tacheng
Chinese name
Chinese	塔城市
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Tǎchéng Shì Wade–Giles T'a3-ch'eng2 Shih4
Uyghur name
Uyghur	چۆچەك شەھىرى
Transcriptions Yengi Yeziⱪ Qɵqək Xəⱨri Siril Yëziqi Чөчәк шәһири
Kazakh name
Kazakh	شاۋەشەك Шәуешек Şäweşek

See also

• Makan Map

References

• Khālidī, Qurbanʻali, Allen J. Frank, and Mirkasym Abdulakhatovich Usmanov. An Islamic Biographical Dictionary of the Eastern Kazakh Steppe, 1770-1912. Brill's Inner Asian library, v. 12. Leiden: Brill, 2004.
• Light, Nathan. "Qazaqs in the People's Republic of China: The Local Processes of History". Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana Center on Global Change and World Peace, Occasional Paper No. 22, June 1994. ISBN 1-881157-24-5.
• Light, Nathan. "Kazakhs of the Tarbaghatai: Ethno-History Through a Novel". The Turkish Studies Association Bulletin, 17/2 (1993): 91-102.
• Saguchi Toru. "Kazak Pastoralists on the Tarbaghatai Frontier under the Ch'ing." In: Proceedings of the International Conference on China Border Area Studies. Lin En-hsien [Lin Enxian], ed. Taipei: National Chengchi University, 1985, pp. 953–996.
• Wiens, Herold J. "Change in the Ethnography and Land Use of the Ili Valley and Region, Chinese Turkestan". Annals of the Association of American Geographers, Vol. 59, No. 4. (Dec., 1969), pp. 753–775.

External links

• Map of the City of Tacheng (Chinese)
• Webpage on the Bakktu border crossing in Xinjiang's Land Ports and Border Trade website