Dzungarian Gate
In China the Tian Shan starts north of Kumul City (Hami) with the U-shaped Barkol Mountains, from about east of Ürümqi. Then the Bogda Shan (god mountains) run from east of Ürümqi. Then there is a low area between Ürümqi and the Turfan Depression. The Borohoro Mountains start just south of Ürümqi and run west-northwest separating Dzungaria from the Ili River basin. Their north end abuts on the Dzungarian Alatau which runs east northeast along Sino-Kazakh border. They start east of Taldykorgan in Kazakhstan and end at the Dzungarian Gate. The Dzungarian Alatau in the north, the Borohoro Mountains in the middle and the Ketmen Ridge in the south make a reversed Z or S, the northeast enclosing part of Dzungaria and the southwest enclosing the upper Ili valley.