A trip to Southern Xinjiang, the most beautiful China-Pakistan Highway and Pamir Plateau

If someone asks me what the most unforgettable scenery of my second trip to Southern Xinjiang is, I will answer without hesitation that it is the Pamir Plateau, the China-Pakistan Highway, and the Khunjerab Pass. Those who drive on this road will be shocked by the magnificent scenery along the way. In Tajik, the Pamir Plateau means "the roof of the world" and "the ancestor of all mountains." It is located in the southeast of Central Asia and the westernmost part of China, spanning many countries. It is vast, with huge mountains, an average altitude of over 4,500 meters, and the main peaks are over 6,000 meters. Its eastern part is in the Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture and Kashgar Prefecture of Xinjiang, China, and is an important land route from China to Central Asia and other places. Today, the Khunjerab Pass is the main port between China and Pakistan, and the China-Pakistan Highway is the only traffic artery. The China-Pakistan Highway is also known as the "Karakoram Highway" or the "China-Pakistan Friendship Highway." It is 1,032 kilometers long, with 416 kilometers in China and 616 kilometers in Pakistan. It starts from Kashgar in the north, crosses many mountains, with a minimum altitude of 460 meters and a maximum of 4,733 meters, and winds through four major mountain ranges. The highway is full of beautiful scenery. Entering the Pamir Plateau, you can see many high peaks such as K2 and many large glaciers. The ethnic minorities living here have left rich cultural imprints. The Tajik, Kirghiz, and other ethnic groups live by nomadism, are simple and enthusiastic, good at singing and dancing, and their regional culture and ethnic customs are the highlights of tourism. However, the China-Pakistan Highway is located in an earthquake-prone area, with frequent earthquakes of various sizes, landslides and floods in the rainy season, ice and snow in the winter, and low temperatures, and bridges and roads are often damaged. The construction is extremely difficult. It was first built in the 1960s, and the two countries built it separately, with China also assisting Pakistan, and finally, the entire line was completed. This project is a great one, comparable to the "Eight Wonders of the World," and the road builders paid a huge price. In November, I traveled to Southern Xinjiang and set foot on the China-Pakistan Highway. From Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County to the Khunjerab Pass, the mountains are majestic, the snow-capped mountains follow, and the scenery is so beautiful that it is breathtaking, worthy of the name "the highest and most beautiful highway in the world!" It is an awe-inspiring plateau road on earth. The Pamir Plateau section is covered with snow all year round, extremely cold in winter, and closed for part of the year. Due to the high mountains and dangerous roads, it is rated as one of the "Top Ten Dangerous Roads in the World" and was highly anticipated during construction.