Capturing the Enchanting Sunrise at Mount Muzhert in Ili

Exploring the Sunrise Scenery and Photography Tips of Muzart Snow Mountain in Yili

by Me (a person who moved posts from Xiaohongshu to my blog)

Let me tell you the story. This July, I drove from the county seat of Zhao Su headed west, took over an hour on paved roads, then bounced on gravel roads for forty minutes, parked the car, climbed a small slope, and looked up to be mesmerized by Muzart: a massive gray-white wall topped with leftover snow, stretching across the grasslands, like a scene straight out of a Miyazaki drawing. That day, to catch the sunrise, I squeezed into my sleeping bag at four in the morning, dozed off for twenty minutes, then rolled out of bed, braving the faint light to hike up to the viewing platform. My phone said the altitude was about 3560 meters. Just a couple of minutes after standing there, my fingers were numbing from the cold—summer nights are around seven or eight degrees, not to mention the wind pouring down my collar.

What We Saw That Day

4:49 AM The sky first showed a dirty pink, like a palette with uncooked vermilion;
5:03 AM A beam of golden light suddenly sliced down from the left ridge, instantly dividing the entire mountain into light and shadow;
5:07 AM The rocky walls below the snowline were dyed a clear honey color, as if someone had quietly spilled golden paint.
I was holding my Canon 70-200mm and completely forgot to press the shutter, just staring at the layers of weathered textures being illuminated by the morning light, like dynamic rock paintings flipping in front of my eyes.

How I Shot It

Lens: 70-200 mm f/2.8, on a tripod the whole time
Focus: Manual focus to the snowline, then slightly back (the snow is a highlight, and auto-focus can go haywire)
Mode: M mode, f/8, ISO 100, single exposure from 1/60 to 1/125 nonstop testing
Exposure Compensation: -0.3 to -0.7, to avoid blowing out the golden mountain
I took a set in both portrait and landscape formats, cropping out the dried grass in portrait, which highlighted the layers. After that, I quickly switched to a wide-angle lens for a panoramic shot to wrap it up as a “been here” photo.

What Muzart Looks Like at Different Times

Time Period	Light Direction	Mountain Color	Best Position	Shot Characteristics
Sunrise (05:00–07:00)	Diagonal from the left	Gold → Orange → White	Far left of the viewing platform	Most defined layers, highlights in gold, shadows in blue
Morning (07:00–10:00)	Soft light from the front	Grayish-white	Move forward about twenty meters	Clear textures, great for close-up details
Evening (17:00–19:00)	Backlight	Silhouette + Gold edges	Center of the viewing platform	Great for silhouettes and preparing for star trails

My personal favorite is the ten minutes of backlit sunset. When the sun dips behind the mountains, the edges get this orange “flame” effect, and the ground sheep turn into little black dots. Just placing the subject at any intersection in the grid can get a great shot.

Transportation & Gear List (Just the Essentials)

• Where to Stay: Any guesthouse in Zhao Su that can whip up a quick breakfast will do, it’s 48 km from the viewing platform, which takes just over an hour by car. Type in “Muzart Daban” for directions to the viewing platform.
• Car: A sedan can just about make it to the parking lot, but the last 600 meters is all gravel—if you’re worried about the undercarriage, just park at the road and walk five minutes.
• Warmth: Fleece + lightweight down jacket + raincoat, it can get windy enough to knock over tripods.
• Food: Thermos + two energy bars, there’s no hot water available at the viewing platform.
• Other: Sunscreen for your face, a hat to keep your bangs down from flying sand; munch on a couple of glucose tablets to ease altitude sickness jitters.

Little Surprise

As I was leaving, I casually took a wide shot with my 24 mm lens to post on social media, and a friend DM’d me asking “Did you add CG?” I just tossed him the original shot parameters. He replied with a bunch of “???” emojis—turns out, the mountain just comes with its own filter, no editing needed.