Standing in Central Asia, the Pamir Plateau is connected with the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in the southeast, extending five major mountain systems, the Tianshan Mountain Range in the northeast, the Kunlun Mountain Range in the southeast, the Karakoram Mountain Range, the Himalayas, and the Hindu Kush Mountain Range in the southwest, which geographers call the Pamir Knot, which is also the flat-roofed house in Persian, and the Buzhou Mountain in the Mountain and Sea Classic.
In different times and spaces, civilizations such as China, ancient India, Central Asia, Persia, and even ancient Rome and ancient Greece have left their marks on the Pamir Plateau, and have also shaped today's diverse and deep southern territory.
China's frontier is the center of Asia
If you compare Asia to a spread palm, you will find that there are five world-class mountains gathered in the palm of your hand:
The little finger is the Tien Shan Mountains, the ring finger is the Kunlun Mountains, the middle finger is the Karakoram Mountains, the index finger is the Himalayas, and the thumb is the Hindu Kush Mountains.
These five mountains converge at one point and tie a solid knot, and the center of this knot is the plateau.
Ancestor of Ten Thousand Mountains · Pamirs,
The westernmost point of China
Further west is the country, where Tajikistan and Afghanistan are truly the Westworld.
Compared to the Tibetan Plateau, this plateau is geographically and psychologically more distant and less popular.
It is high and far away, infinitely vast, but it has exhausted the imagination of the world for thousands of years.
It's a breathtakingly beautiful place
It is an important town on the ancient Silk Road, a place where Eastern and Western cultures blend, a paradise for explorers chasing through the ages, a paradise for photographers, Zhang Qian, Fa Xian, Marco Polo, Tang Xuanzang have all set foot.
01
The Kunlun Mountains, which are pregnant with myths
The Kunlun Mountains, which span western China, are the highest average elevation and extend a large area on earth.
From the eastern part of the Pamir Plateau in the west, across Xinjiang and Tibet, and extending to Qinghai, the total length is about 2,500 kilometers, the average altitude is 5,500-6,000 meters, the width is 130-200 kilometers, the west is narrow and the east is wide, with a total area of more than 500,000 square kilometers.
It is a veritable ancestor of ten thousand mountains, the king of all mountains, and the true backbone of the Chinese land.
In the mysterious land of Kunlun Mountain, there are legends of Nuwa making up the sky, Jingwei reclaiming the sea and Chang'e running to the moon. As the mountain of ten thousand ancestors, what does Kunlun Mountain look like, you also want to go and see!
02
Hidden Sky Mirror White Sand Lake
Baisha Lake, located on the plateau, means "lake at the foot of the mountain" in the Kirgiz language.
It is a virgin land that has not been developed into a scenic spot, the water level does not increase or decrease throughout the year, hidden in the desert, surrounded by sand mountains, like a blue pearl, embedded in the yellow-white earth.
The mysterious Baisha Lake Scenic Area is not only beautiful in mountains and rivers, but also has many historical landscapes, but also cultural landscapes can be found everywhere.
03
"Father of the Iceberg" Mushtag
Its mountain looks soft and thick, almost a perfectly rounded bowl shape, and it stands at the top of the mountains, is the most important landmark of the Pamirs, and is known as the "father of glaciers".
Among the world's snow-capped mountains at an altitude of more than 7,000 meters, Mushtag is one of the easiest to climb. During the climbing season (June to August), the Buren Meadows at the foot of the peak are full of climbers.
Covered with snow all year round and with glittering silver streams hanging from the mountains, Mushtag is also an ideal place for alpine skiing, where climbers can ski 2,500 meters to the top.
04
Lake Karakuli at the foot of Mushtag
At the foot of the "father of icebergs" Mushtagpeak, Lake Karacuri is reflected in the lake's water.
The sky gradually cleared, and the Mushtag Peak in the distance gradually revealed its true face.
Blue sky, white clouds, snowy mountains, lakes, yaks, travelers...
The combination of sky, light, clouds and shadows is too perfect, and the excitement of travel strikes instantly, forgetting hard work, forgetting fatigue, forgetting everything, and only the current plateau world in your eyes.
05
The golden Tahman wetlands are everywhere
Known locally as the "breeding place of divine flowers", Tahman Wetland is the largest wetland in Taxian County.
This wetland is also located at the foot of the "father of icebergs" Mushtag Peak, on the shores of Lake Karakuli, where snow-capped peaks, streams, green grass and beautiful scenery are beautiful.
The "Tahman Wetland" is low, and countless mountain springs gather here, forming the largest grassland base in Tashkurgan, the wetland. Tahman Wetland is about 1 hour's drive from the county seat of Taxian County.
In summer, mountain springs gather here, flowers are all over the four fields, green grass is green, and birds live here; In autumn, the entire wetland is like a huge golden blanket spreading.
06
Stone Town from history
Stone City is a famous ancient city site in southern Xinjiang, one of the three most famous stone cities in the history of mainland China, and the intersection of the middle and southern roads of the ancient Silk Road.
Kashgar, Shache, Yingjisha and several passages from Yecheng to the Pamir Plateau converge here, and Fa Xian, Xuanzang, Sven Hedin and others have left footprints here. The castle in Stone Town was built on a high hill, and the situation was extremely precarious.
There are multi-storey or intermittent walls built outside the city, according to the situation of Shigang, built with stones and earth, undulating and twisting, slightly square, because it has been abandoned for many years, the current stone city stone hills overlap, forming a unique stone city scenery.
Although only ruins remain, Stone Town is surrounded by snowy peaks, grass beaches, rivers, and is also a Tajik ethnic settlement known as the eagle of the plateau, which naturally exudes a rugged and bold beauty.
07
The rolling dragon Panlong Ancient Road on the plateau
From the county seat of Tashkurgan on the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang, about 20 kilometers in the direction of Hongqirap, over the ridge, a road winds down and lies across the Kunlun Mountains.
This is the Panlong Ancient Road, and the whole road is like a dragon entrenched on many peaks of the Pamir Plateau, hence the name Panlong Highway.
Although it is only 30 kilometers long, it rises sharply from 3,000 meters to 4,200 meters.
The road has over 600 S-bends, most of which are over 180 degrees, some even 270 degrees!
The curved and dark asphalt road is set off by the surrounding green or brown mountains, which will make people feel adrenaline rushing from the visual impact to the driving experience.
There is a signboard on the mountain of Panlong Ancient Road, basically everyone who has come will take pictures of its appearance, and the signboard has a few big words: Today has gone through all the detours of life, and life is a smooth road from now on.
Since the completion of the Panlong Ancient Road in 2019, many people have come to see the demeanor of the road.
08
Xuanzang took the road to the east, Tasha Ancient Road
The Tasha Ancient Road is a magical secret place preserved for thousands of years in southern Xinjiang, from Tashkurgan County to Shache County, along the Tashkurgan River in the Kunlun Mountains, a total distance of nearly 420 kilometers.
Datong Township is located along the Tasha Ancient Road, in the valley of Tashkurgan, and more than 90% of the villagers are Tajiks.
Here the canyon is deep, isolated from the world, the folk customs are very simple, the village houses are like chickens and dogs, like a paradise.
Every year in March and April, the apricot blossoms of the Pamirs are in full bloom, and Datong Country also ushered in its most beautiful time of the year.
Apricot blossoms bloom between the plateau river valleys, the Yarkand River Basin is rich in water and grass, and the century-old apricot blossom trees begin to bloom, and a feast of colors begins.
Cold snow-capped mountains and desolate canyons surround the apricot blossom forest, creating a visually strong contrast that is breathtakingly beautiful.
09
"Peach Blossom Source" Tajik village under the iceberg
The Pamir Plateau is known for its cold, bleak and desolate scenery, and if you want to experience the traditional Tajik way of life, you must visit the village.
In the nearly 300-kilometer-long Tashkurgan River Valley, every spring, the apricot blossoms in the valley bloom, so in the Pamir Plateau, there is an apricot blossom village hidden everywhere, forming a spectacular apricot blossom corridor.
In summer, there are no apricot blossoms, but the southern Xinjiang style is still so abundant.
Seeing Tajik villagers who are different from yourself, making friends with them, a smile is the best translation.
Every moment of every day in Taxiang, you remember the sentence: see the scenery in northern Xinjiang, and look at the style in southern Xinjiang.
10
Kashgar, an important town on the Silk Road
Kashgar, the westernmost city on the mainland, was once an important town on the Silk Road, with a history of more than 2,000 years, walking in the old city of Kashgar, you will see traces of historical stays.
Kashgar Ancient City is one of the largest existing earthen buildings in the world, and it is also the most traditional historical district with the characteristics of the ancient Western Regions preserved in the mainland, and has become the most beautiful, prosperous, poetic and legendary city on the Silk Road since the Han and Tang Dynasties, known as the "soul of Kashgar".
Walk through the alleys of various bazaars, listen to the melodious tunes of Muqam in the distance, smell the spices and tea smells in the air, and all the fireworks that belong to Kashgar slowly ferment around you.
I don't know the vastness of the world without Pamir.
I don't know the richness of the Western Regions.
All the way to the west,
Take the China-Pakistan Highway, cross the Kunlun Mountains,
Look at lakes, wetlands, glaciers,
Come to Tashkurgan County.
The green of Baisha Lake, the white of Mushtag,
The blue of Lake Karakuli is all beautiful to the point of being poor.