Shu ( kz, Шу / Şu / شۋ), is a city in

Jambyl Region Jambyl or Zhambyl Region ( kk, Жамбыл облысы, translit=Jambyl oblysy; russian: Жамбылская область, Zhambylskaya oblast), formerly known as Dzhambul Region (russian: Джамбульская область, Dzhambulska ...

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a transcontinental country located mainly in Central Asia and partly in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental coun ...

. The city is located on the

Shu River Shu River () is a river of China. It is part of the Yellow Sea basin. See also *List of rivers in China This incomplete list of rivers that flow through China is organized according to the body of water into which each river empties, beginni ...

, and is populated by approximately 35,000 people.

Transportation

Shu is an important transportation hub for the southern Kazakhstan / northern

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

region. This is where the east-west Turkestan-Siberia railway is joined with the railway running north to Kazakhstan's new capital,

Nur-Sultan Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

and

Petropavl Petropavl ( kk, Петропавл, Petropavl ) or Petropavlovsk () is a city on the Ishim River in northern Kazakhstan close to the border with Russia. It is the capital of the North Kazakhstan Region. Population: 218,956. The city is also k ...

, a city on the

Transsiberian railway The Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR; , , ) connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway line in the world. It runs from the city of Moscow in the west to the city of Vladivostok in the ea ...

. There is no direct railroad from Shu to Bishkek serviced by Kazakhstani trains. This means that every day a large number of passengers travelling from Astana to Bishkek for example arrive in Shu by train and transfer to

minivans Minivan (sometimes called simply as van) is a North American car classification for vehicles designed to transport passengers in the rear seating row(s), with reconfigurable seats in two or three rows. The equivalent classification in Europe i ...

and taxis to continue into Kyrgyzstan. Though it is possible to travel through Shu and on to Bishkek on Kyrgyz trains, it is much longer than transferring to a minivans for the 1.5 hour ride from Shu to

Bishkek Bishkek ( ky, Бишкек), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of ...

rather than the 5 to 6 hour train option. While functioning as a large transportation hub form passengers, Shu's central location makes it a natural large hub for rail freight as well. All rail freight coming through Shu is resorted and new freight trains are assembled.

Sources

Places in Kazakhstan starting in Shu

External links

Official site
{{Jambyl Region Populated places in Jambyl Region