Kanas is an area with beautiful scenery of mountains, grassland, forest, rivers, lakes, Mongolian life and wild animals. Kanas is located in northern Xinjiang by the border with Kazakstan, Mongolia and Russia by the Altay Mountains. Kanas is considered to be one of the most beautiful places in China and is called "Photography Paradise" in China. Kanas is Mongolian, meaning "beautiful and mysterious". The whole Kanas Scenic Area and the villages around Kanas Lake and Kanas River are in general, referred as Kanas. Kanas is also one of the most popular hiking places in China.

Kanas River

Kanas itself is a vast area including Kanas National Protected Area, Kanas National Geology Park, Baihaba National Forest Park, Jiadengyu National Forest Park, Kanas River, Hemu River, Naren Prairie, Hemu Prairie, Kim-Kanas Village, Kanas Village and Baihaba Village, the name goes on. Among these places the highlights are Kanas Scenic Area, Kom-Kanas Village and Baihaba Village. The hiking in Kanas are mainly in these three places. A lot of visitors to Kanas will usually consider to do at least one part of the hiking to explore its hidden beauty.

Highlights of Kanas Hiking

Baihaba Village

Baihaba Village is one of the scenic villages in Kanas and a main hiking destinations in Kanas. It is located 180km north to Burqin of Altay Prefecture. Baihaba is called "first village of the Northwest" in China due to its close distance with the border with Kazakstan. The village is less than 2 km to the borderline by the Kaba River, a river that is shared as the border between China and Kazakstan. People who live in Baihaba are mainly Tuvans and Kazakhs. The often picturesque scenery of Baihaba are due to the unique wooden pinnacles of houses and in the background snow-covered mountains, green or golden forests, rolling grassland and winding rivers.

Baihaba

Kanas Scenic Area

Kanas scenic area is a well-organized park with transfers available. Its main highlights include the turquoise Kanas Lake and Kanas River. Kanas Lake is a big lake that is around 25km long and by average 90 meters deep. Kanas is the core of the whole area. From the view spot by Guanyutai one can see the southern part of the whole lake of Kanas. Going along the Kanas River one can appreciate the changing views over the water along the winding road.

Kanas Lake

Kom-Kanas Village

Kom-Kanas Village is also called Hemu Village. It is the biggest village of all three villages. The whole village is built on the flat part by the valley. A river runs by and a forest on the other side. Tuvans believe in Buddhism and their houses are central asian style. Kim-Kanas has gained a lot of fame due to its photography-like sceneries in China in recent years.

Kom-Kanas Village (Hemu)

Tuvans in China can only be found here in Kanas. In China Tuvans are considered Mongolians. It is believed the Tuvans are living by god’s land and are called "Tribe of the Cloud" because of the beautiful landscape that Tuvans live in. It has a strong ambiance of peace, purity while hiking/traveling in Kanas. Visit a Tuvan family to drink milk tea, see their traditional hunting tools or if lucky, watch them play traditional Tuvan instrument.

How to Get to Kanas

Kanas is located in the northernmost part of Xinjiang Province in Altay Mountain Range. To get to Kanas one normally gets to Urumqi first. There are airports in Altay City as well as in Burqin. From Urumqi to Kanas is total 700km and by driving it takes over 10 hours. Some visitors use either train to get to Beitun from Urumqi and use car from Beitun to Kanas, or use flight to either Altay City or Burqin and then drive from there. Overall the transfer is relatively convenient from Urumqi to Kanas given the far distance between these two places. The key locations are Beitun, Altay City, Burchin County and Kaba County.

By Flight

There is daily flight (flights) from Urumqi to Kanas during travel season in Summer time. The flights takes only 1 hour from Urumqi. The airport itself is called Kanas Airport. It is located in Burqin County. The airport is located 50km south to Kanas and driving usually takes around 1 hour to get to the southern entrance of the park. This airport closes from each winter usually in October to the next June.

There is another airport in Altay City that has daily flight (flights) between Urumqi. The flight rate can to Altay City can be cheap. But from Altay Airport to Kanas it is another 230km drive that usually takes 4 hours. Altay city is a good alternative place to fly to especially when you plan to visit more places than just Kanas.

By Train

There is direct train from Urumqi to Altay Prefecture. There are total 3 trains each day from Urumqi to Beitun, 2 with "K" (normal train) and 1 with "Y" (tourist train). Both trains will take around 10 hours to get to Beitun. And from there one needs to use local transfer to Kanas for another 220km. From Beitun there are buses to get you to Burqin or Kaba County without trouble for 1.5 hours. From Burqin to Kanas there are tourist buses that take visitors to Kanas during the travel seasons. From Kaba County to Baihaba Village there are also local buses can take you there.

By Driving

One can also drive or hire a car to go to Kanas from Urumqi. Driving on the vast land of Xinjiang is also interesting experience. There are usually two ways. One is to go direct north to Beitun for around 700km via Beitun. The other is to go northwest via Karamay for around 800km. Or one can do one road in and the other out to make a full loop road trip.

To hire a car it is better to be done in Burqin than when you are already inside Kanas. Because Kanas itself is not a very busy place where you see local people around and can quickly find solutions for car use. From one village to another usually is far and services may not be as quick as when you are in cities such as Burqin County or Kaba County.

Kanas Hiking Season

The best hiking season to Kanas is from June to early October. The rest of the year most part of Kanas will be covered in snow and most parts of the hiking trails will be closed due to heavy snow and wild animals such as wolves and bears. From June the snow has melted and the mountain is green with many flowers. The usual flower season in Kanas is June. From end of August to September is the "golden season" of Kanas when the forest and trees will change color into yellowish, making the views of Kanas even more beautiful. A lot of people that come to Kanas choose to do hiking in the autumn season in September to early October. Temperature starts to drop from second half of September and possible snow will come. The shut off of mountains and hiking trails usually starts after the first week of October. September is usually one of the most popular season to travel to Kanas.

Kanas in Autumn

One normally experience big temperature difference between day and night while hiking in Kanas. By morning before sunrise the temperature can get to around -5C while during day time by midday temperature can get up to 27C. You are strongly to read weather forecast before you hike in Kanas and make proper preparations. The altitude difference for the hiking also adds on the temperature difference. The altitude of the hiking in Kanas is usually between 1000m and 2500m in general.

Kanas is geologically in the GMT+6 zone while still using GMT+8 time zone aligning with Beijing, which makes its day starts late by around 9am in the morning and ends late by around 8:00 by evening. There is slight time difference between here and the east/central part of China.

Permits and Entrances

Border permit is not required while traveling in Kanas except in Baihaba Village. A border permit is pre-arranged or applied on site by local authority in Kaba County. They have stopped issuing border permits to foreigners since long time ago. Baihaba is literally not open to foreigners because they don't give border permits to foreigners. To enter the scenic areas of Kanas one needs to pay an entrance fee by the check points.

Planning Ideas

Hiking in Kanas has good flexibility on planning due to its developed roads and tourism facilities such as lodges. Camping is not a must while you do hiking in Kanas. The only limit is its hiking season is relatively short that is only from June to early October each year. The three villages of Kanas including Kom Village, Kanas Village and Baihaba Village are not inter-connected by roads but rather by hiking trails. There is a park road connects Kanas Village to Baihaba Village.

Kanas has three major places of interest: Kom-Kanas Village(Hemu) by the east, Kanas River and Lake in the center and Baihaba Village by the west. A classic hiking trip goes from entrance of Kanas to Kom Village and then to Kanas Lake and River and by the end to Baihaba Village, or the other way round. One can choose to do only part of the hiking or some parts of the hiking.

The entrance of Kanas is called Jiadengyu, from where it is 28km walking along the Kanas River down to the confluence with Kom River and then up northeast to Kom Village. This part is 28km and is usually done in 2 days with an overnight by halfway in a lodge although some do this in one long day. This part is walked by many visitors to Kanas. There is road to Kom Village so Kom can be used as the starting location or ending location of your hiking.

From Kom Village to Kanas Lake it is around 36km hiking via the Small Black Lake. From Kom to Small Black Lake is around 20km and normally people spend one night here by the lodge before continue for another day for 15km hiking to Kanas Lake. This part of hiking is recommended to be guided since it will go to higher places and much wild land and there is chance to encounter wild animals such as bears or wolves. Please note Kanas Lake is inside Kanas Scenic Area (the tourist park) but you can still find lodges there. Kanas Lake and Kanas River are the highlight of this place so every hiker will also spend time inside the scenic area to appreciate the beauty of the lake and river of Kanas.

From Kanas Lake it is 18km hiking to Baihaba Village. This part one can also use a park bus transfer to save the hiking although by hiking the route is different than using vehicle. Baihaba Village is the western most location of hiking in Kanas. Some people also do the Baihaba North hiking from Naren Ranch by the north to Twin Lake and then to Kanas Lake and village for total 3 days and 70km. The Baihaba North is relatively walked by less people than the classic part of Kanas Hiking. There is road access to Baihaba Village too.

The classic hiking starts from Jiadengyu to Kom Village and then via Small Black Lake and then to Kanas Lake and Village. Some will add on one day hiking to Baihaba Village. Some will skip the 28km walking from Jiadengyu to Kom by directly starting from Kom. Some choose to spend more time here by doing the Baihaba North hiking to the Twin Lake and come back to Kanas Village.

A classic hiking plan of Kanas takes 7-8 days as follows:
• Day 01 Kanas arrival
• Day 02 Drive to Jiadengyu and start walking to Halfway for 14km
• Day 03 Hiking 14km and arrive Kom-Kanas Village
• Day 04 Hiking to Small Black Lake for 20km
• Day 05 Hiking to Kanas Village for 16km
• Day 06 Full day hiking to explore Kanas Lake and Kanas River
• Day 07 Optional Day hiking 18km to Baihaba Village
• Day 08 Drive out and departure

For a more leisure hiking, one can do the day hikes while in Kanas from Baihaba to Kanas for 18km, and one leisure day hiking inside Kanas village to see the lake and river, plus another long hike from Jiadengyu to Kom and ends your hiking there.

Kanas Hiking Terrain and Altitude

The terrain in southern Altay is usually gentle with rolling hills and gradual ascents and descents. Some parts of the hiking is on dirt and wide tracks that in dry and sunny days it can be dusty when horses passing by. Most of the time the hiking is on gradual land. The highest altitude of hiking in Kanas is at around 2500m by Small Black Lake and lowest altitude is by Kom Village (Hemu) at around 1300m. One normally doesn’t have risk of mountain sickness while hiking in Kanas. The day hiking from Kom Village to Small Black Lake has the biggest ascent of hiking in Kanas. Most hiking by the river valleys are at the altitude of around 1500m and 1600m except the hiking via the Small Black Lake.

Overnight: Lodges, Food and Supplies

In the villages of Kom(Hemu), Kanas and Baihaba there are good lodges and hotels for overnight with no problem. In these villages you can find lodges with different standards and different prices.

In Kom Village (Hemu) there are hundreds of hostels and lodges to choose with prices between 150 to 300 yuan per night. These rooms will also have bathrooms and hot water. Although there also homestays of bunks offered by local Tuvans that are usually cheap and will even cost less. Electricity is available in Hemu but not reliable. Internet service on your phone is also not reliable in Hemu Village. Some lodges also provide food.

In Baihaba there are less choices on accommodation than that of Kom Village. But in recent years due to development of domestic tourism there are more and more hostels available now. Price of a private room costs between 150 and 300 yuan per night and also there is shared bunk that costs only around 50-60 yuan per person. Food is available by the lodges in Baihaba.

Overall the lodges are acceptable. During busy travel season you may expect less choices or even sharing bunks and bathrooms. You are recommended to bring your own toiletries and slippers. Sometimes you will expect nights without electricity or even phone service in the villages. For the night on the ranches outside of the village you will spend nights in the yurts or wooden lodges own by local nomads people. There are lodges available for hikers on the hiking trails of Kanas.

Kanas Hiking

Food supply is available in the villages and even by the yurts in the mountains on the hiking route. Because Kanas is officially a park that lots of visitors come to visit, the supplies are plenty especially in the villages. One doesn’t have to carry food for the hiking but rather to buy from local while you are there.

One issue is the price of food is usually high. You can bring your own light-weight mountain food as a cheaper solution. For snacks and simple lunches you are recommended to buy from Urumqi or Burqin because in the small villages in Kanas there are no big shops.

Camping is allowed in Kanas in most places while hiking. In Kom Village (Hemu) and in Kanas Village you are recommended not to camp inside the residential are of the village but rather outside of the village with clean water source. Villagers in Kom and Kanas usually don’t allow camping by their houses anyway. The rivers and streams are very clean but recommended to purify or cook before drinking. There are plenty of spots for camping for any hiking trip in Kanas. It is pleasant to camp in Kanas while hiking: everywhere is beautiful and everywhere is clean.

Safety Issues

Wild Animal - Related

Bears and wolves are the two main wild animals that may pose threat to hikers in Kanas. One of the reasons the local authority closes off the mountain from October to the next June is because the active wild animals in there. While hiking, especially if it’s in June or September you still have chance of encountering bears in the forests. The part that is less walked between Kom Village to Black Lake there are some forest in between, that local people have seen bears in some of the forests.

You are recommended to not be hiking alone and to make noises while in the forests while hiking. Bears tend to be aggressive when startled. Local people usually wear bells on them to scare off the bears from far away. Food is recommended to be kept covered all the time when not in use. Wild animals usually don’t like the smell of metal or fire.

Changing Weather

Hiking in Kanas may expect a changing weather condition in the mountains. Summer and early autumn in Kanas may have very changing weather from sunny to runny in a day and sometimes foggy. You are recommended to be fully prepared for any changing weather.

Sun Burn

Sun Burn is possible while hiking in Kanas. Sunproof and sun lotion is recommended for hikers to protect you against the sun that sometimes can be strong and especially sunny days after snow.

Local Laws

Local Tuvans and Kazakhs live a half nomadic life in Kanas and some don’t speak Chinese. You are recommended to use a translator if your Chinese is not as good. Border Permit is required if you go to Baihaba. Local authority doesn’t issue border permit to foreigners as up to 2023. Non-Chinese nationals must be aware of this to avoid possible unexpectations from local authority.