Guchung

Guchengzi lies in the oasis country north of the eastern Tianshan, east of Beshbalik. Its Chinese name means “old town”, recalling ancient settlements in this corridor between the mountains and the Dzungarian basin. Streams descending from the mountains made cultivation possible along the northern foothills. The surrounding region formed part of the lands contested by Mongol rulers and, after the Qing conquest of Dzungaria, became a place of renewed settlement and trade.