The Jinghe County is a county within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and is under the administration of the Börtala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture

Börtala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture

Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture , short for Bortala , is a Mongol autonomous prefecture in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It has an area of 27,000 square kilometers. Bole is its capital...

. It contains an area of 11181 square kilometres (4,317 sq mi). According to the 2002 census, it has a population of 120,000.

Geography and climate

Jinghe has a desert climate

Desert climate

A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...

 (Köppen

Köppen climate classification

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

 BWk), with a mean total of only 102 millimetres (4.02 in) of precipitation per annum and great seasonal differences in temperature, with long, very cold winters, and hot, dry summers. As spring and autumn are short, winter and summer are the main seasons. Temperatures can easily fall below −20 °C in winter or rise above 35 °C (95 °F) in summer. Monthly daily averages range from −15.2 °C in January to 25.5 °C (77.9 °F) in July; the annual mean is 7.78 °C (46 °F).

Transport

Jinghe is served by China National Highway 312

China National Highway 312

China National Highway 312 , also referred to as Route 312 or The Mother Road, is an important highway that runs east-west across the breadth of People's Republic of China. It begins at the port city Shanghai and ends at Khorgas in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it...

. It is a railway junction for the Northern Xinjiang

Northern Xinjiang Railway

The Northern Xinjiang Railway or Beijiang Railway is a railway in Xinjiang, China between Urumqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang and Alashankou on the border with Kazakhstan...

, Second Ürümqi-Jinghe

Second Ürümqi-Jinghe Railway

The Second Ürümqi-Jinghe Railway or Wujing Line No. 2 is a double-track railway in Xinjiang, China between Ürümqi, the regional capital of Xinjiang and Jinghe...

 and Jinghe-Yining-Horgos Railways.