Usu

Usu lies on the northern side of the Tian Shan, west of the Kuytun River. Its older name, Kur Kara Usu, has been explained as “cold black water”, referring to the river and the watered ground at the edge of the Dzungarian plain. The area passed into Qing hands during the campaigns against the Dzungars in 1757–1758. It later became the seat of a Qing frontier official responsible for the surrounding district.