Northern Xinjiang
More actions
| Northern Xinjiang | |
|---|---|
| ActiveCannabis last recorded here in 2026 | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 43.83, 87.62 |
| Country | China |
| Provinces/States | Xinjiang |
| Area | 307,000 km² |
| Primary Rivers | Ili,Irtysh |
| Primary Mountains | Tian Shan,Altai |
| Growing history | |
| Dated accessions | 1928–1931 |
| Dated news reports | 2023–2026 |
| Conservation | |
| Populations | none documented yet |
Northern Xinjiang is the growing region of Xinjiang, China, that lies north of the Tian Shan: the valley of the Ili, Bortala, Tacheng and Altay along the frontier with Kazakhstan and Mongolia, and the foothill belt of Changji and Ürümqi on the southern edge of the Dzungarian basin. Cannabis grows wild there, and police and border forces report clearing its stands across the region, from about 100 plants at a time to more than 250,000.[1][2] The psychiatrists Hu Hongxing, Zhang Guanbai and Hao Wei wrote in 2015 that Indian hemp can also be grown in northern and eastern Xinjiang, but that the smoking-mixture máyān (麻烟) made there is much poorer than the southern product, so that few people make it.[3] The region's growing areas are the Ili Valley and Bortala.
Geography
The Tian Shan runs east to west across the middle of Xinjiang, between the Altai on the north and the Kunlun on the south, and divides the region into southern Xinjiang (南疆, Nánjiāng) and northern Xinjiang (北疆, Běijiāng).[4] The south is the Southern Xinjiang growing region.
The region is drawn on the prefectures north of the range: the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, with the prefectures of Tacheng and Altay that it administers, the Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture and the city of Ürümqi, with the cities of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps that lie among them. The city of Karamay, which lies among them, is not drawn in. Ground above 4,000 m, glaciers, lakes and the bare parts of the Gurbantünggüt Desert and the Junggar Gobi are left out, which leaves about 307,000 km².
Herbarium specimens
David Hummel of the Sino-Swedish Expedition collected cannabis in the Bogdo Ola (Bogda Shan), east of Ürümqi, in the summer of 1928. His number 874, from a meadow in the upper Mou-choul-go valley at about 1,300 m, carries the note cult. ?, a query whether the plant was cultivated.[5] Numbers 908 and 909 come from a meadow in the Losan-Go valley at about 1,700 m, gathered on 31 August.[6] Older sheets come from the Ili and the Bortala: Larionov 65 (1876), from the river Chulak-terek in the environs of Kuldja,[7] and Regel s.n., Bortala (1878), from the lower Bortala.[8]
Wild stands and eradication
Xinjiang's regulations on cannabis, passed in 1991 and amended in 1997, require local governments and village committees to organise the prompt eradication of wild plants.[9]
Ili and Bortala. In the Ili valley the forestry office of Gongliu County and the county's drug-control office cleared more than 250,000 wild plants from the mountain forests, slopes, ditches and riverbeds of Aketubieke town in June 2026.[2] The border force of Bortala, clearing 108,000 plants in the summer of 2016, said that the climate of the Bortala border area suits wild cannabis and that it cleared the stands every summer and autumn.[10]
Ürümqi and Changji. In a report of 1 July 2026 the police of Midong district of Ürümqi, searching the district's hills, waste ground and slopes on foot, found a continuous stand of more than 200,000 wild plants on the hillsides around Baiyanghe (柏杨河).[11] The district police, the township government and the procuratorate cleared it together, by machine and by hand.[12] On 26 June 2025 nearly 100 police officers in Hutubi County cleared more than 20,000 wild plants in one morning.[13] In Changji city the police found nearly 100 wild plants along the ditches of farmland near the Laolonghe new district in June 2022. After asking the people working the nearby farms, they ruled out planting.[1] In June 2025 residents of Jianguo Road subdistrict in the same city reported more than 300 plants; the police identified them as wild cannabis, ruled out planting and removed them.[14] In a report of June 2022 the police of the Eighth Division at Shihezi cleared wild plants after a tip from an internet user.[15]
Tacheng. On 27 July 2023 a resident near the Baktu port reported plants at the edge of a field, and the border police there removed more than 800 wild plants.[16] In May 2024 the drug-control brigade of Tacheng city searched field margins and irrigation ditches, marked the coordinates of each place it cleared, and pulled up more than 2,000 wild seedlings.[17] On 3 August 2026 two children told the Qibalagashi border police station of plants growing on the village's outlying land. With the village committee, the police cleared more than 5,000 wild plants.[18]
Altay. On 16 August 2023 the border police at the Jeminay port cleared more than 20,000 plants in a remote forest belt.[19] On 14 June 2026 the Aral border police station of the Altay border detachment found a stand beside a farm irrigation canal by the road, growing at random with no sign of planting, and cut and burned more than 20,000 plants.[20] In the same month the Chonghuer border police and the pupils of a boarding school in Chonghuer town, Burqin County, cleared more than 1,000 wild plants round the school.[21]
Growing Areas
Accessions
| Accession ID | Name | Collected | Locality | Area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hummel 908 (1928) | Hummel 908 herbarium specimen, Bogdo Ola (1928) | Losan-Go valley, Bogdo Ola | ||
| Hummel 909 (1928) | Hummel 909 herbarium specimen, Bogdo Ola (1928) | Losan-Go valley, Bogdo Ola | ||
| Liou 3403 (1931) | Liou 3403 herbarium specimen, Sinkiang (1931) | Bortala |
Recent news
| Article | Date | Category | Area | Locality | Plants |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| News:2026-07-01/Eradication/urumqi-authorities-eradicate-200-000-wild-cannabis-plants-on-a-hillside-in-midong-district-xinjiang | Eradication | 200,000 | |||
| News:2023-06-18/Eradication/yili-border-police-eradicate-more-than-50-000-wild-cannabis-plants-at-abandoned-courtyards-xinjiang | Eradication | 50,000 |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 马玉娇 (29 June 2022). "市公安局铲除焚毁近百株野生大麻" [City police clear and burn nearly 100 wild cannabis plants]. 昌吉市人民政府 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "全域踏查除毒源 守护巩留绿水青山" [Surveying the whole county to clear drug plants in Gongliu]. 网易 (in 中文). 巩留县融媒体中心. 22 June 2026. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ Hu, Hongxing; Zhang, Guanbai; Hao, Wei (2015). 中国新疆大麻使用及相关问题的历史与现状 [History and current status of cannabis use and related problems in Xinjiang, China]. 中国药物依赖性杂志 [Chinese Journal of Drug Dependence] (in 中文) (4): 241–243, 287. ISSN 1007-9718. Retrieved 3 October 2026 – via 杜新忠戒毒网.
- ↑ "新疆概况" [Overview of Xinjiang]. 新疆维吾尔自治区人民政府网 (in 中文). 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ "Occurrence 1095994974: Cannabis L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ "Occurrence 1095994991: Cannabis L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ "Specimen MW0736231: Cannabis sativa L." Moscow Digital Herbarium. Moscow State University. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ "Occurrence 731731223: Cannabis sativa L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 新疆维吾尔自治区人民代表大会常务委员会 (2 November 1991). "新疆维吾尔自治区禁止大麻毒品条例" [Regulations of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region on the Prohibition of Cannabis Drugs] (as amended 11 December 1997) (in 中文). Retrieved 3 October 2026 – via Wikisource.
- ↑ "新疆博尔塔拉边防铲除野生大麻10万余株" [Bortala border force in Xinjiang clears more than 100,000 wild cannabis plants]. 新民网 (in 中文). 中国新闻网. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "乌鲁木齐20万株野生大麻被铲除！绿化带竟藏"毒隐患"？这个知识要了解→" [200,000 wild cannabis plants eradicated in Ürümqi]. 南方网 (in 中文). 1 July 2026. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ "乌鲁木齐20万株野生大麻被铲除：不留一株、不留根茎、不留隐患" [200,000 wild cannabis plants cleared in Ürümqi]. 新浪新闻 (in 中文). 羊城派. 1 July 2026. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "呼图壁县开展"6·26"国际禁毒日主题活动 铲除野生大麻2万多株" [Hutubi County marks the International Day against Drug Abuse and clears more than 20,000 wild cannabis plants]. 中新网新疆 (in 中文). 28 June 2025. Retrieved 13 October 2026.
- ↑ 张楼; 周美玲 (5 June 2025). ""报告！我发现了大麻，野生的！"" ["I've found cannabis, wild!"]. 昌吉市人民政府 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "见到大麻快报警，非法种植会判刑" [Report cannabis when you see it: illegal planting is punished]. 兵团广播电视台 (in 中文). 8 June 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 朱溶键 (2 August 2023). "塔城移民管理警察铲除野生大麻800余株" [Tacheng immigration police clear more than 800 wild cannabis plants]. 新疆法制报 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 段亚茹 (7 May 2024). "铲除野生大麻 清除源头"毒"害" [Clearing wild cannabis at the source]. 搜狐 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 刘行 (4 August 2026). "新疆："小孩哥"慧眼识"毒"，协助民警铲除野生大麻植株" [Xinjiang: two children spot wild cannabis and help the police clear it]. 中国新闻网 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ "新疆民警铲除野生大麻原植物20000余株" [Xinjiang police eradicate more than 20,000 wild cannabis plants]. 央视网 (in 中文). 18 August 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2026.
- ↑ 杨帅; 刘雄星 (17 June 2026). "一株不留！戍边民警铲除野生大麻原植物2万余株" [Border police clear more than 20,000 wild cannabis plants]. 民主与法制时报 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.
- ↑ 古扎丽·阿布都热西提; 赵全康 (16 June 2026). "民警带学生识别铲除千余株野生大麻" [Police and students identify and clear more than 1,000 wild cannabis plants]. 阿勒泰新闻网 (in 中文). Retrieved 21 October 2026.