Baihaba villagers prepare to receive guests. IC

Autumn adds gold accents to the birch trees of Baihaba Village. by Jianghu Renwu/CFP

Baihaba villagers of the Kazakhstan ethnic group craft a wool blanket. by Wei Xin'an/CFP

Nestled alongside the Haba River, the natural border between China and Kazakhstan, is Baihaba Village, known by some as the “No.1 Village of Northwest China.”
At 31 kilometers west of Kanas Lake, and 33 kilometers south of the Naren Grassland, the village of Baihaba is situated in northwestern-most China, a part of Tiereketi Township, Habahe County, the Altay Region, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The tranquil place is mainly inhabited by the Kazakhstan ethnic group and Tuwa people, one branch of the Mongolian ethnic group. A nomadic ethnic group, the Tuwa primarily follow Lamaism, and for centuries they have resided on the fertile grasslands in the Altay region near the Haba and Kumu Rivers, and Kanas Lake.
The Tuwa maintain a close cultural connection with, and are influenced by, the Mongolian ethnic group, including with respect to their religious belief and daily way of life. They carry on their own language, Turkic, although they mainly communicate in Mongolian.
Remote and isolated, Baihaba Village maintains ancient traditions, modest customs and a primitive natural environment. The village maintains its original style and features, much the same as in centuries past. Water melted from the ice-capped mountains converges into the Baihaba River – the “White River” in Mongolian. It flows through the village, dividing the greater community into two parts. The Kazahkstan residents are on one side, and the Tuwa people are on the other. Although separated by the river, the two groups get along well, sharing this fertile and bucolic land and enjoying their peaceful life.

Baihaba villagers of the Kazakhstan ethnic group erect a yurt. by Wei Xin'an/CFP

The town’s signature structure is a freestanding house featuring steeple roofs, with the walls and ceilings constructed of logs. The space between the roof and ceiling ventilates the attic and here meat and feed is stored. The inner house is elaborately decorated, with floral blankets on the kang (a heatable brick bed), embroidered tapestries on the wall, and a delicate stove at the center. The layout strongly reflects an ancient ethnic local style.
Like a scene lifted from the pages of a fairytale, in the morning the village is bathed in a soft mist, the wooden houses cozy within. The rising sun disperses the mist and a beautiful scroll seems to unfold. The lively river dances through the village and on the nearby meadow robust cattle and horses peacefully graze. At the end of the meadow is a forest, within which mingle birches and pines. Like an oil painting come alive, in autumn the shimmering golden leaves adorn the white trunks, contrasting with the green pines. Mountains afar seem drip-dyed by the pastel leaves; snow remains, capping the peaks; and this spectacular visage of nature is almost surreal in its extreme beauty.
In autumn the temperature drops to below zero Celsius, but the cold does not dissuade the photographers who traveled here from within China and without. On a chilly morning, they are seen on the eastern slope of the village, overlooking the pastoral setting, angling to capture an image bathed in the sun’s morning glow.
The beautiful landscape is large part of what is driving increasing levels of tourism in Baihaba Village. Some locals, once herdsmen, have opened family hotels and restaurants featuring local ethnic flavors. Villagers also run horse rental business, and many are enjoying an increasingly comfortable way of life.