Taking advantage of the opportunity of cooperation between China and Kazakhstan, North Harbin Province is using the Imantao Shalqar Resort as a pivot to overcome infrastructure bottlenecks. The ecological hotels and bird watching camps that operate throughout the year will fill the gap in cross-border tourism. It is expected that the annual reception capacity will increase by 40% after completion in 2027, becoming a new gateway for Chinese tourists to explore the ecological secrets of Central Asia.

The latest data shows that the number of tourists in the state exceeded 134000 in the first nine months of this year, with most of the 7000 inbound tourists coming from China. With the progress of the 8.5-kilometer road renovation and 5G network coverage plan, this tourism corridor connecting western China and Central Asia is accelerating its formation.

In the North Kazakhstan Oblast of Kazakhstan, just a step away from the northwest border of China, a hot scene is unfolding on the construction site by Lake Imantao. Local herder Ayipol pointed to the ecological hotel under construction and sighed, "Five years ago, there were only migratory birds and reed marshes here. Now, more than 100000 tourists come for vacation every year, and my son is also preparing to return to his hometown to open a homestay." This once quiet wetland is undergoing an unprecedented transformation.

The magnificent turn of the desert oasis

The government of North Kazakhstan recently announced that the construction of the Imantao Shalakhar Resort, with a total investment of 3.3 billion tenge (approximately 50 million yuan), has been fully accelerated. 15 ongoing projects include ecological hotel clusters, starry sky tent campsites, and the largest bird tower in Central Asia. The specially designed underground hot spring system will achieve year-round operation in extremely cold weather of -30 ℃. Murat Yellanov, the director of the state tourism bureau, revealed that the project draws on the operational experience of China's Changbai Mountain Ski Town and will open direct charter flights to major cities in China in the future.

The last mile of the digital Silk Road is completed

Faced with a 16% increase in tourist numbers, North Harbin is taking a dual approach to solving infrastructure problems. In 2024, 990 million tenge has been invested in the renovation of 12.1 kilometers of main roads, and all 7 resort areas along the Shalkar Lake will be connected to gigabit fiber optic cables. The most striking thing is the digital upgrade of Kekeshetao National Park - the scanning code entry system enables Chinese tourists to pass the customs in seconds through Alipay, and the forest area monitoring drone transmits real-time animal migration images to tourists' mobile phones. Keywords: Humanities and Information

The golden channel for cross-border tourism

This is not only a resort area in Kazakhstan, but also a key node in the China Kazakhstan tourism circle, "said Alina Zhumagliyeva, the representative of the project investor, pointing to the planning map. The project has specially set up a Chinese catering area and a Chinese tour guide center, and in the future, it will jointly develop cross-border hiking routes with the Kanas Scenic Area in Xinjiang. With the encryption of the Astana Urumqi route, the North Kazakhstan region plans to implement a 15 day visa free policy for Chinese citizens, and it is expected that the number of Chinese tourists entering the country will exceed 30000 by 2028.Editor/Yang Meiling