About this place

Nearly all of the rivers in China empty into the East China Sea. The only exception is the Ertix River, which lies to the north of the Dzungarian Basin in the Altai region of Xinjiang. Unlike the other rivers of China, the Ertix river flows northward to empty into the Arctic Ocean. Along the way the Ertix meets with many tributary streams as it meanders out of China from the southeast to the northwest, eventually even entering Kazakhstan. It joins the Ob River in Russia, and flows northward to the Arctic Ocean. The Ertix River is the largest river in Xinjiang, stretching over 4,248 kilometers, and is second only to the Ili River in water capacity.