Yining (Chinese: 伊宁), also known as Ghulja (Uyghur: غۇلجا) or Kulja (Kazakh: قۇلجا), is a county-level city in northwestern Xinjiang, China. It is the administrative seat and largest city of Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. Historically, Yining is the successor to the ruined city of Almaliq in neighbouring Huocheng County. Yining is the third largest city in Xinjiang after Ürümqi and Korla.

The city of Yining is a county-level administrative unit located along Ili River. As of 2015, it has an estimated population of 542,507, with a total land area of 629 km (243 sq mi). It is the most populous city in the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture.

The land area and population of the City of Yining saw an increase in 2003; the increase resulted from the transfer of two villages with some 100 km (39 sq mi) of land from the adjacent Yining County, which is a separate administrative unit from the city.

Yining's population is primarily Uyghur, Han, Hui, and Kazakh, along with smaller numbers of people of Mongolian, Xibe, Uzbek, Russian, or other ethnicity.

From the 13 to 15th century it was under the control of Chagatai Khanate. Another Mongol empire—the Zunghar Khanate—established around Ili area. In the 19th and early 20th century, the word Kuldja (from Russian: Кульджа) or Ghulja was often used in Russia and in the West as the name for the entire Chinese part of the Ili River basin as well as for its two main cities. The usage of 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica is fairly characteristic; it defines Kulja as a "territory in north-west China" bounded by the Russian border and the mountains that surround the Ili basin. It also talks about two major cities of the region:

• Kulja (i.e. today's Yining) or more specifically Old Kulja (elsewhere, also called Taranchi Kulja), which was the commercial center of the region.
• Suidun (i.e. Suiding, now called Shuiding) or more specifically New Kulja, Manchu Kulja or Ili (elsewhere, also Chinese Kulja), the Chinese fortress and the regional capital.

Until the 1860s, Huiyuan to the south of Suiding was the regional capital.

The fort of Ningyuan (寧遠城) was built in 1762 to accommodate new settlers from southern Xinjiang. The forts of Huining (惠寧城) and Xichun (熙春城) built later in 1765 and 1780 were also located within the modern Yining City.

The Sino-Russian Treaty of Kulja 1851 opened the area for trade.

In 1864–66, the city suffered severely from fighting during the Dungan Revolt. The city and the rest of the Ili River basin were seized by the Russians in 1871 during Yakub Beg's independent rule of Kashgaria. It was restored to the Chinese under the terms of the Treaty of Saint Petersburg (1881). In 1888, the Ningyuan County was established.

The Geographical Magazine in 1875 by Sir Clements Robert Markham stated:

What little industry Kulja possesses is all due to the Chinese, who transplanted the taste for art, assiduity and skilfulness of their pigtailed race, even to these western outskirts of "the celestial flowery dominion of the Middle." Had the Taranjis and Kalmuks been left to themselves, or had they remained in a preponderating majority, Kulja would not be a bit farther advanced than either Yarkand or Aksu. The principal trades are the following:— founders, manufacturing kettles, plates, and other implements of a very primitive form; paper-makers, whose productions do not seem to be superior to the paper manufactured at the present time after Chinese patterns at Khokand and Samarkand. There are, moreover, some confectionaries in which cakes of all shapes are baked of rice and millet, overlaid with sugar; also maccaroni-makers, the Taranjis being notoriously very fond of dried farinaceous food. In Eastern Turkistan there still exist many similar trades, and although their products are not equal to European articles of the same kind—I mean here the fabrics of the formerly western Chinese provinces— they are still said to be profitable. Finally among the tradesmen we may mention millers, vinegar manufacturers and potters. The number of factories amount to-day at Kulja to 38, wherein over 131 hands are occupied. To this of course other tradespeople have to be added, such as 169 boot-makers, 50 blacksmiths, 48 carpenters, 11 brass-founders, 3 silversmiths, 26 stone-cutters, and 2 tailors.

In 1914, the Ningyuan County was renamed Yining County to avoid confusion with other places in China named Ningyuan.

Yining became a separate city from Yining County in 1952. In 1962, major Sino-Soviet clashes took place along the Ili River.

In 1997, in what came to be known as the Gulja Incident or massacre, the city was rocked by two days of demonstrations or riots followed by a Chinese Communist Party government crackdown resulting in at least 9 deaths following the execution of 30 Uyghur activists.

Yining (Gulja)
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     18     −2 −15     19     0 −12     20     9 −3     28     20 6     27     25 10     29     29 14     20     31 16     14     30 14     15     26 9     26     18 3     28     9 −3     25     1 −10 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °C █ Precipitation totals in mm Source: CMA
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.7     28 5     0.7     32 10     0.8     48 28     1.1     69 42     1.1     77 50     1.1     83 57     0.8     88 60     0.6     87 57     0.6     78 49     1     64 37     1.1     48 27     1     34 15 █ Average max. and min. temperatures in °F █ Precipitation totals in inches

Yining is located on the northern side of the Ili River in the Dzungarian basin, about 70 km (43 mi) east of the border with Kazakhstan and about 710 km (440 mi) west of Ürümqi. The Ili River valley is far wetter than most of Xinjiang and has rich grazing land.

The City of Yining borders on Huocheng County in the west and the Yining County in the east; across the river in the south is Qapqal Xibe Autonomous County.

Yining (Gulja) has a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), without the strong variation in seasonal precipitation seen across most of China. Dry and sunny weather dominates year-round. Winters are cold, with a January average of −8.8 °C (16.2 °F). Yet the influence of the Dzungarian Alatau to the northwest and Borohoro Mountains to the northeast helps keep the city warmer than more easterly locales on a similar latitude. Summers are hot, with a July average of 23.1 °C (73.6 °F). Diurnal temperature ranges tend to be large from April to October. The annual mean temperature is 8.98 °C (48.2 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 53% in December to 73% in August and September, sunshine is abundant and the city receives 2,834 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from −40.4 °C (−40.7 °F) on 29 January 1969 to 39.2 °C (102.6 °F) on 30 July 2024.

The administrative divisions of Yining include eight subdistricts, 4 towns, and 5 townships:

Name	Simplified Chinese	Hanyu Pinyin	Uyghur (UEY)	Uyghur Latin (ULY)	Population (thousand)	Area km2	Number of communities
Subdistricts
Saybuyi Subdistrict (Sayibuyi Subdistrict)	萨依布依街道	Sàyībùyī Jiēdào	سايبويى كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Sayboyi Kocha Bashqarmisi	57.7		13
Döngmehelle Subdistrict (Dunmaili Subdistrict)	墩买里街道	Dūnmǎilǐ Jiēdào	دۆڭمەھەللە كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Döngmehelle Kocha Bashqarmisi	30		7
Ili Deryasi Road Subdistrict (Yilihe Road Subdistrict)	伊犁河路街道	Yīlí Hé Lù Jiēdào	ئىلى دەرياسى يولى كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Ili Deryasi Yoli Kocha Bashqarmisi	21.7		6
Qazanchi Subdistrict (Kazanqi Subdistrict)	喀赞其街道	Kāzànqí Jiēdào	قازانچى كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Qazanchi Kocha Bashqarmisi	28		8
Döletbagh Subdistrict (Doulaitibage Subdistrict)	都来提巴格街道	Dōuláitíbāgé Jiēdào	دۆلەتباغ كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Döletbagh Kocha Bashqarmisi	21.3		9
Chongköwrük Subdistrict (Qiongkeruike Subdistrict)	琼科瑞克街道	Qióngkēruìkè Jiēdào	چوڭ كۆۋرۈك كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Chong Köwrük Kocha Bashqarmisi	43.6		14
Herembagh Subdistrict (Ailanmubage Subdistrict)	艾兰木巴格街道	Àilánmùbāgé Jiēdào	ھەرەمباغ كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Herembagh Kocha Bashqarmisi	66.1		15
Azatliq Road Subdistrict (Jiefang Road Subdistrict)	解放路街道	Jiěfàng Lù Jiēdào	ئازادلىق يولى كوچا باشقارمىسى‎	Azatliq Yoli Kocha Bashqarmisi	42		10
Towns
Bayanday Town (Bayandai Town)	巴彦岱镇	Bāyàndài Zhèn	بايانداي بازىرى‎	Bayanday Baziri	31	262.36	8
Penjim Town (Panjim Town)	潘津镇	Pānjīn Zhèn	پەنجىم بازىرى‎	Penjim Baziri	25.3	105.5	7
Yëngiyer Town (Yingye'er Town)	英也尔镇	Yīngyě'ěr Zhèn	يېڭىيەر بازىرى‎	Yéngiyer Baziri	16.5	100	5
Dadamtu Town (Dadamutu Town)	达达木图镇	Dádámùtú Zhèn	دادامتۇ بازىرى‎	Dadamtu Baziri	25.2	57.5	6
Townships
Xenbing Township (Hanbin Township)	汉宾乡	Hànbīn Xiāng	خەنبىڭ يېزىسى‎	Xenbing Yézisi	14	18.7	4
Tashköwrük Township (Tashekeruike Township)	塔什科瑞克乡	Tǎshékēruìkè Xiāng	تاش كۆۋرۈك يېزىسى‎	Tash Kowruk Yézisi	12.9	10.9	6
Qaradöng Township (Ka'erdun Township)	喀尔墩乡	Kā'ěrdūn Xiāng	قارادۆڭ يېزىسى‎	Qaradöng Yézisi	10.2	26.7	5
Toghraq Township (Tuogelake Township)	托格拉克乡	Tuōgélākè Xiāng	توغراق يېزىسى‎	Toghraq Yézisi	9.1	26	4
Këpekyüzi Township (Kebokexuzi Township)	克伯克圩孜乡	Kèbókèxūzī Xiāng	كېپەكيۈزى يېزىسى‎	Képekyüzi Yézisi	7	16	3
Other
Yining Border Economic Cooperation Zone	伊宁边境经济合作区	Yīníng Biānjìng Jīngjì Hézuò Qū	غۇلجا چېگرا ئىقتىسادىي ھەمكارلىق رايونى‎	ghulja chégra Iqtisadiy hemkarliq rayoni
Ili River South Bank New Area	伊犁河南岸新区	Yīlíhé Nán'àn Xīnqū	ئىلى دەريا جەنۇبىي قىرغىقى يېڭى رايونى‎	Ili derya jenubiy qirghiqi yéngi rayoni

The city's nominal GDP was approximately 20.9 billion RMB (US$3.1 billion) as of 2015 with an annual increase of 7.6%.The nominal GDP per capita was approximately 38,805 RMB (US$5976). Yining is the chief city and the agricultural and commercial center of the Ili valley. It is an old commercial center trading in tea and cattle and it is still an agricultural area with extensive livestock raising. It has fruit orchards. Iron, coal and uranium are mined nearby.

• Regular bus service is available to other cities in the region and taxis are available locally.
• Yining Airport is located several kilometers north of the city.
• The Jinghe-Yining-Horgos Railway, an electrified railway from Ürümqi to Yining to Khorgos on the China-Kazakhstan border was finished in the late 2009. Daily passenger service – an overnight Ürümqi-Yining train service began on July 1, 2010.
• China National Highway 218
• China National Highway 312

As of 2014, Yining had a population of 559,700. The city is inhabited by 38 ethnic groups, including 269,700 Uyghur people, 204,000 Han people, 26,200 Kazakhs and 39,600 Hui people, accounting for 48.19%, 36.45%, 4.68% and 7.08% of gross population respectively.

Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Museum, opened in Yining in 2004, is one of Xinjiang's most important museums. In fact, at the time it opened it became, in the words of a Western scholar, the "only modern museum" in Xinjiang. (Xinjiang of course also has the provincial museum in Ürümqi; but at that time point, its old building had been demolished, while its replacement was still under construction). The museum houses archaeological and ethnological artefacts from throughout the prefecture.

Batul Mosque (for Uyghur people), Tatar Mosque (for Tatar people) and Shaanxi Grand Mosque (for Hui people) are considered the three main mosques in Ili.

• Muyesser Abdul'ehed
• Dawut Abdurehim
• Edham Mamet
• Masud Sabri
• Sanubar Tursun
• Shohrat Zakir
• Behram Abduweli

• Media related to Yining at Wikimedia Commons
• Yining City Government Archived 2007-02-08 at the Wayback Machine (in Chinese)
• Map of the City of Yining (Borders shown as they were before the annexation of the villages of Dadamutu (达达木图乡 on the map) and Panjin (潘津村 on the map) in 2004) (in Chinese)