Tashkorgan County

Tashkorgan County, referred to as Taxian County, is located in the southeast of the Pamir Plateau. In the Han Dynasty, it was the Puli Kingdom of the Western Regions. Taxkorgan means "Stone City" in Uyghur because there is an ancient stone castle in the north of the city. name. It borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan externally, with a border line of 888.5 kilometers; internally it borders Yecheng, Yarkand, and Akto County of the Kizilsu Kirgiz Autonomous Prefecture. The county is 484 kilometers long from east to west and 329 kilometers wide from north to south, with a total area of ??25,000 square kilometers. Ta County is the place where the movie "Visitors from the Iceberg" takes place.

Because Ta County is located in the Taxkorgan Uplift Zone of the West Kunlun Fold Belt, which is the junction of the Karakoram Mountains, the Hindu Kush Mountains and the Alai Mountains, the territory has continuous snow peaks and crisscrossing ravines. The terrain slopes from southwest to northeast, and the mountains extend from southwest to northeast. The terrain mainly includes mountains, valleys, basins and hills. Ta County has a plateau alpine arid-semi-arid climate. The winter is long and cold, arid and rainless, with sufficient light energy and lack of heat; the spring and autumn are short and windy with a small amount of rainfall; there is no obvious summer. It can be roughly divided into cold and warm seasons.

Ta County *** has jurisdiction over 1 town, 10 townships, and 1 farm: Taxkorgan Town, Taxkorgan Township, Tizinafu Township, Taheman Township, Kirkya Kirgiz Nationality Township, and Dabdar Township , Kukoshilik Township, Bandil Township, Waqia Township, Maryang Township, Datong Township, and Mazar Sheep Farm. In June 2020, the county's total population was 41,000. Tajik County is a multi-ethnic place inhabited by Tajiks as the main body, with 14 ethnic groups including Tajik, Uyghur, Kirgiz and Han.

We are here to see tourism. What is there to see? There is a stone city in the northeast corner of Ta County. It is one of the three most famous stone cities in Chinese history. Stone City is in the shape of an irregular square shape. The city is full of rocks and is divided into two parts: the inner city and the outer city. The outer city has been severely damaged, and only the remains of city walls, forts and residential buildings can be seen. There are multiple layers of broken or continuous city walls built outside the city, with overlapping stone hills and piles of rocks between the partition walls. On June 25, 2001, the Stone City site was listed as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council.

There is a winding mountain road between Taxian County and Waqia Township, with an altitude of over 4,200 meters, a total length of 36 kilometers, and a maximum drop of nearly 1,000 meters. It is called the "Plateau Sky Road" by the locals. The winding and circling trend of the winding mountain road and the majestic and magnificent scenery around it together form a magnificent picture. This road, called the Wugeyati Winding Mountain Highway, was put into use in July 2019, making it easier for farmers and herdsmen in mountainous areas to travel.

On the China-Pakistan Friendship Highway, National Highway 314 ends at the Hongqi Lapu Port. The Hongqi Lapu Port is 4,733 meters above sea level and is the highest altitude port in the world. It is adjacent to Pakistan and 125 kilometers north of Taxkorgan County. It is a first-class port approved by the state and opened to the outside world. It was officially opened to personnel from third countries on May 1, 1986. Khunjerab has magnificent scenery, but is known as the Valley of Death due to its harsh environment. Historically, the Khunjerab Port has been the choke point for the ancient Silk Road to India, Central Asia, West Asia and Europe. It is also the gateway between my country and Southwest Asia and An important channel for European economic and cultural exchanges. Due to climate reasons, Khunjerab is a seasonal port. According to the agreement between China and Pakistan, it is open to tourists from May 1st to October 31st every year. The transit is limited to tourist groups, and the transit for individual tourists can be extended to November 30th. . From December 1st to April 30th of the following year, except for postal, trade and concession personnel from China and Pakistan, it is closed to other passengers. The port is a dual-purpose port for passengers and goods, and tourist buses run between the two ports. Khunjerab Port does not have any holidays during the normal opening and closing period in summer and implements 24-hour normal customs clearance.