What good places are enviable in the 440,000-person territory of the outer northwest that Tsarist Russia forced the Qing Dynasty to cede?

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, China entered modern history, and a history of humiliation began. In 1840, the Opium War broke out and the Qing Dynasty failed and signed the Treaty of Nanjing. In 1856, the Second Opium War broke out. In 1860, the war ended and the Qing Dynasty was defeated again. Due to the Qing Dynasty's internal and external troubles, Tsarist Russia forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the "Sino-Russian Beijing Treaty". Tsarist Russia gained more than one million square kilometers of territory and negotiated the delineation of the northwest border. The Qing Dynasty was dissatisfied with Tsarist Russia's lion, but the Qing Dynasty could not defeat Tsarist Russia. In October 1864, Tsarist Russia forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the "Treaty of Demarcation of the Northwest Boundary", which ceded 440,000 square kilometers of territory to the Qing Dynasty. In 1884, Tsarist Russia forced the Qing Dynasty to sign the "Treaty of Renewal of the Kashgar Boundary" , so that the entire northwest region belonged to Tsarist Russia, and now we call this area the outer northwest. Looking back at history, how many great places are there in this area worth exploring? I have to say that the outer northwest is really a geomantic treasure land with many enviable scenery. What are some of them? 1: Lake Balkhash. As a lake that China once owned, now it can only be seen. Lake Balkhash is located in Kazakhstan, covering an area of ​​18,200 square kilometers, with an average water depth of 6 meters, and is the fourth longest lake in the world. The Ili River is the main water source here. What is even more surprising is that the east and west parts of Balkhash Lake have different water resources. The west is a freshwater lake and the east is a saltwater lake. The west is mainly fed by the Ili River, so it becomes fresh water, and the east is a saltwater lake. No. In ancient China, Lake Balkhash was called the Yibo Sea. When the Han Dynasty established the Western Region Protectorate, Lake Balkhash was the natural dividing line to the northwest of the Han Dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty pacified the Junggar Khanate, Lake Balkhash became a lake within the territory of the Qing Dynasty. Throughout the Balkhash Lake Basin, there are mountains, rivers, grasslands, forests, lakes and deserts. In the Ili River Basin, the water and grass are fertile and the water resources are crystal clear. Especially the Ili River, known as the Ili of the south of the Yangtze River, is picturesque and a rare place to see. 2: Lake Issyk-Kul. Known as the ""Pearl Forgotten by God"", this is an ice-free lake located in Kyrgyzstan. There is a saying in Kyrgyzstan: If you have not been to Lake Issyk-Kul, you have not been to Kyrgyzstan. It can be seen that this lake is very important to Kyrgyzstan. How important is Stan? This lake once belonged to China. It was called Qingchi, Tuschi, Rehai, etc. in ancient China. It covers an area of ​​6,280 square kilometers and is located on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains, separated from Issyk-Kul by China. The lake is surrounded by mountains. Due to the mountainous climate, the annual precipitation here is not bad. As a closed inland lake, the environment here is very good. It is an important grain and livestock area in Kyrgyzstan. It is also the groundwater on the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains. Ke Lake is filled with abundant water resources, and the water surface is crystal clear. The forests here have many animal and plant resources, and there are 200 species of birds alone. Master Xuanzang also visited this place during the Tang Dynasty. The name "Chi" was also introduced into the Central Plains at this time. 3: Ala Lake. It is located in Kazakhstan, east of Balkhash Lake, about 30 kilometers away from Alashan Pass in Xinjiang, China. It also originally belonged to China and was later ceded. The lake area It is a salt lake with an area of ​​2,650 square kilometers. Its geographical location is also very important. To the southwest is the Kazakhstan steppe, which is a typical arid and semi-arid area with a large temperature difference between day and night and the most wind and sand nearby. The beautiful scenery is still at dusk. The dusk of Ala Lake is very beautiful, and there are many fish in the lake. In summer, the surrounding environment of Ala Lake is lush and unforgettable. 4: The Pamir Plateau is also a famous area in western China. There is another name we are familiar with: Congling. Starting from the Western Region Protectorate in the Han Dynasty, Congling was included in the jurisdiction of the Central Plains Dynasty. During the Qing Dynasty, the Western Regions were reunified, and Congling also became the Pamir Plateau. . The Qing Dynasty ruled here and divided it into eight pamirs, from north to south: Heshkuzhuk Pamir, Sarez Pamir, Langkuli Pamir, Alchuer Pamir, Great Pamir, and Little Pamir. , Taktun Bashi Pamir, Wakhan Pamir.

Today, of the Pamir Plateau, only part of the Langkuli Pamir and the Taktun Bash Pamir belong to China, and the rest have been removed. The largest part is located in Tajikistan, and a small part is located in Afghanistan. This is the only place that China's ancient Silk Road must pass through. Many canyons are nourished by glacial water and become high-quality grasslands. There are many lakes here, the ecological environment is very good, and there are rich animal and plant resources. It is one of the main pastoral areas in Tajikistan. These places used to be Chinese territory, but now they have missed out on China and will no longer be able to access these places. What caused this result was: Tsarist Russia's ambitions, for the so-called "freeze-free" port, unlimited annexation and expansion, not to mention the feelings of other countries, forced the signing of various unequal treaties against the backward Qing Dynasty, and ceded large areas of territory , but also saw the outcome of a weak country without diplomacy. Taking history as a lesson, we must be wary of Tsarist Russia’s ambitions.