 At its peak, the fortress held up to 3500 soldiers and was surrounded by a Chinese trading quarter, or "Maimaicheng".In March 1755, a Qing dynasty army departed from Uliastai as the vanguard in the Qianlong Emperor's final push against the Dzungar Khanate to the south west.During the Outer Mongolian Revolution of 1911 the Military Governor of Uliastai, his staff, and military guards, fled the Uliastai fortress under the protection of Cossack troops.