Aksu River (Xinjiang)

For other uses, see Aksu (disambiguation).

The Aksu River (Uyghur: ئاقسۇ دەرياسى, romanized: Aqsu deryasi; simplified Chinese: 阿克苏河; traditional Chinese: 阿克蘇河; pinyin: Ākèsù hé; means "white/clear water" in Turkish) is a transboundary river in the Xinjiang province in China and Ak-Suu District of Issyk Kul Province of Kyrgyzstan. In Kyrgyzstan it is known as the Saryjaz River (Kyrgyz: Сарыжаз). The total length of the river is 282 km, of them 197 km in Kyrgyzstan. The Aksu River is the only one of the Tarim's source rivers to run throughout the year.

Course

The river takes its roots at the north west slopes of Kan Tenir mountains in Kyrgyzstan. From here it first runs towards the west, before turning south and breaking through the high mountains and into Xinjiang in the northern parts of the Tarim Basin. At the city of Aksu it meets its main tributary, the Toshkan, which flows in from the west. After the confluence the river continues south and enters the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert, where it joins the Tarim River.