Nalati, known in Kazakh as Narat, is a high grassland on the northern slopes of the Tian Shan in Xinjiang, in the far west of China, and it is one of those landscapes that looks like a painter's idea of mountain summer pasture. Rolling green meadows spread beneath snowy peaks, dotted with spruce forest and herders' yurts, and the air is cool and thin at around two thousand metres. The Kazakh herders who move their sheep, horses and cattle up here every summer are the people who made the grasslands what they are.
The Duku Highway, which runs from Dushanzi in the north to Kuqa in the south, is one of the most spectacular roads in China, and Nalati is on its northern half. The highway crosses the Tian Shan, in places through deep gorges and over high passes, and is known for its changes of scenery, from green meadows through canyons of red rock to desert in the south. It is the kind of road that closes in winter because of snow and avalanches, and is usually open only from about early summer to autumn, so check before you go.
The Ili valley below, to the west, is Xinjiang's fruit-growing heartland, famous for apples and apricots, and the wild apple forests that grow in the foothills are thought to be related to the ancestors of the cultivated apple. Yining, the main city, is a few hours away. This is a region of many peoples, with Uyghurs, Kazakhs, Han Chinese, Hui and others, and the food is correspondingly varied: lamb on skewers, hand-pulled noodles, flatbread from tandoor ovens and strong tea with milk.
Riding in China as a foreigner is complicated: it generally requires local licensing, a registered vehicle and often a guide, and checkpoints are common in Xinjiang, so this is a route that needs advance planning. Weather changes quickly in the mountains, with cold rain and even snow in summer. The meadows are at their greenest in June and July, and early mornings are cold.