Balykchi city

Balykchi, a town. It is located on the west of Lake Issyk-Kul. It owes its appearance to the establishment of a regular postal service between Pishpek and Karakol. Having appeared in 1871 as the post station of Kutemaldy, it consisted of two shanty houses for people passing by and a keeper’s yurt.
In the mid-1880s, a retired soldier Mikhail Bachin built a farm here, began fishing and organized a fishing cooperative. In addition to service at the track post and fishing, residents were also engaged in transportation of wood. By 1907 in the village lived 100 families of fishermen, and it became known as Bachino, and in 1909 was renamed in Rybachie – as part of Przhevalsk County, Semirechensk region Turkestan Governor-General.
It received the status of town in 1954.
In Soviet times, the city has developed as a major transport and industrial center (processing of wool and agricultural products, shipping, rail terminals and transport interchange), but lost most of its economic base after the Soviet Union, due to closure of almost all its industrial facilities.
After independence, in 1991 the city was renamed Issyk-Kul, but this caused confusion, and in 1992 it was named Balykchi (“balik” – fish). Here is the terminus of the railroad from Bishkek, and the turn of the highway to China, as well as the connection of the northern and southern shores of Lake Issyk-Kul