Fukang is a

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. Its area is and its population in 2007 was reported as approximately 1.5 million. Fukang is located in Northern Xinjiang in

Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture ( zh, s=昌吉回族自治州; ug, سانجى خۇيزۇ ئاپتونوم ئوبلاستى) is an autonomous prefecture for Hui people in the middle north of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Western China. The ...

, north of

Ürümqi Ürümqi ( ; also spelled Ürümchi or without umlauts), formerly known as Dihua (also spelled Tihwa), is the capital of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the far northwest of the People's Republic of China. Ürümqi developed its ...

History

As early as the Han and Tang dynasties, Fukang was an important stopover on the ancient

Silk Road The Silk Road () was a network of Eurasian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over 6,400 kilometers (4,000 miles), it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and rel ...

. The

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

established it as a county in 1776. Its status was changed to a city in November 1992.

Climate

Economy

In 2007, Fukang City's GDP was 4.822 billion yuan, 2.3 times that of 2002, an average annual increase of 17.6%. Per capita GDP reached 30,000 yuan, 2.1 times that of 2002, an average annual increase of 16.5%. Fukang's economy relies primarily on

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

, agriculture and tourism. Among the tourist attractions in the area are

Bogda Peak Bogda Peak or Bogda Feng (; cf. mn, Bogd Uul, sometimes referred to as ''Mount Bogda'') is the highest mountain in the Bogda Shan range, in the eastern Tian Shan mountains, China, at and the northernmost 5,000 m (16,400 ft) or higher peak in E ...

and the Heavenly Lake of Tianshan.

Bogeda Biosphere Reserve The Bogeda Biosphere Reserve (, mn, Богд шим мандлын нөөц газар, Bogd shim mandlyn noots gazar), also known in English as Bogda Biosphere Reserve, is located in the eastern region of the Tianshan Mountains in China's Xinji ...

, in the east part of the Tianshan Mountains, was designated a member of UNESCO's Man and Biosphere reserve in 1990. Irrigated agriculture in the Fukang is enabled by streams flowing from the Tian Shan mountains, as well as by the eastern branch of the

Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal The Irtysh–Karamay–Ürümqi Canal (), also known as the Project 635 () Canal, is a system of water-transfer canals and reservoirs in the northern part of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region. It transfers water from the Irtysh River (whi ...

, which crosses the

Gurbantünggüt Desert The Gurbantünggüt Desert ( kk, Құрбантұңғыт шөлі; ug, قۇربانتۈڭغۈت قۇملۇقى, Qurbantüngghüt Qumluqi; zh, s=古尔班通古特沙漠 , t=古爾班通古特沙漠, p=Gǔ'ěrbāntōnggǔtè Shāmò) occupies a l ...

, bringing to Fukang water from the

Irtysh River The Irtysh ( otk, 𐰼𐱅𐰾:𐰇𐰏𐰕𐰏, Ertis ügüzüg, mn, Эрчис мөрөн, ''Erchis mörön'', "erchleh", "twirl"; russian: Иртыш; kk, Ертіс, Ertis, ; Chinese: 额尔齐斯河, pinyin: ''É'ěrqísī hé'', Xiao'e ...

Transport

China National Highway 216 China National Highway 216 (G216) is a highway in Xinjiang and Tibet, China. With the 2013 National Highway Network Plan, the route was extended north to Hongzhanzui in Fuhai County on the border with Mongolia, and extended south to the boundar ...

Special facts

In 2000 a 925 "gemstone meteorite", a

pallasite meteorite The pallasites are a class of stony–iron meteorite. Structure and composition It consists of centimetre-sized olivine crystals of peridot quality in an iron-nickel matrix. Coarser metal areas develop Widmanstätten patterns upon etching. Mino ...

known as Fukang meteorite, was found near Fukang. It is considered a large and a rare of meteorite. In 2008 the main mass was offered for sale at

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

for a value of US $2 million. However the lot remained unsold.Fukang Meteorite Auction Bonhams
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References

{{authority control County-level divisions of Xinjiang Populated places in Xinjiang Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture