Area Code 901 – Tacheng, Xinjiang

Overview of Area Code +86 901

The telephone country code +86 belongs to the People's Republic of China, and the area code 901 is a geographic National Destination Code (NDC) assigned to the city of Tacheng (also known as Qoqek) and its surrounding administrative region in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Tacheng is a prefecture-level city located in the northern part of Xinjiang, bordering Kazakhstan. The area code 901 is used for fixed-line (PSTN) services within this region, including the urban districts and rural counties under Tacheng's jurisdiction.

Geographic Coverage and Administrative Jurisdiction

The 901 area code covers the entire Tacheng Prefecture, which includes the county-level city of Tacheng itself, as well as counties such as Emin (Dorbiljin), Shawan, and Toli. It also serves the urban and rural communities within these areas. As a geographic code, it is tied to the physical location of the subscriber's line, and calls to numbers with this prefix are routed to the Tacheng region.

Dialing Formats and Instructions

For callers within China, dialing a Tacheng fixed-line number requires the national trunk prefix 0 followed by the area code and the local subscriber number. For example, if the local number is 1234567, a domestic caller from another city would dial 0901 1234567. For callers within the same area code, local dialing typically omits the area code, so only the 7-digit subscriber number is required.

For international callers, the format is: +86 901 1234567 (or 0086 901 1234567 when using the international access prefix). The leading 0 of the domestic trunk prefix is not used when dialing from outside China; instead, the country code +86 is used.

Overlay and Numbering Considerations

As of the latest ITU-T E.164 guidelines, the 901 area code is not part of an overlay complex; it is the sole area code for Tacheng. However, due to the growth of mobile services and VoIP, fixed-line numbers in Tacheng are increasingly used by businesses and government offices, while mobile numbers in the region use the non-geographic prefixes 13x, 15x, 18x, etc., assigned to mobile network operators.

Caller Instructions

• Domestic callers (outside Tacheng): Dial 0 + 901 + local number.
• Local callers (within Tacheng): Dial the local number directly (7 digits).
• International callers: Dial your country's exit code (e.g., 011 from the US) + 86 + 901 + local number.

When calling from a mobile phone within China, the same domestic rules apply: dial 0901 followed by the local number. For international SMS or calls to Tacheng fixed lines, ensure you use the +86 country code and omit the leading zero.