The Bortala River, which flows through Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has entered its most captivating season. Autumn light gives the water a luminous green sheen, while the riverside trees have traded summer green for autumn gold. This is a season best enjoyed slowly: the light shifts hour by hour, the colors deepen toward evening, and every bend in the river offers a different view. For travelers, it is a brief but memorable window to see the Bortala Valley at its most picturesque.