Pamir Plateau
Muslim Travel Guide China: Southern Xinjiang Tajik Muslims, Pamir Plateau and Shia Heritage
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Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.
Muslim Travel Guide China: Southern Xinjiang Tajik Muslims, Pamir Plateau and Shia Heritage
Articles • yusuf908 posted the article • 0 comments • 22 views • 6 days ago
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.
Muslim Travel Guide China: Southern Xinjiang Tajik Muslims, Pamir Plateau and Shia Heritage
Articles • yusuf908 posted the article • 0 comments • 24 views • 5 days ago
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.
Muslim Travel Guide China: Southern Xinjiang Tajik Muslims, Pamir Plateau and Shia Heritage
Articles • yusuf908 posted the article • 0 comments • 22 views • 6 days ago
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode. view all
Reposted from the web
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.
Summary: This Muslim travel guide to southern Xinjiang follows a 12,000-kilometer Northwest road trip, focusing on Taxkorgan, the Pamir Plateau, Tajik Muslims, Shia heritage, border permits, mountain scenery, and local Muslim culture.
A Southern Xinjiang Mosque Tour: The Shia Tajik People is presented here as a firsthand travel account in clear English, beginning with this scene: On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The account keeps its focus on Urumqi Halal Food, Hui Muslims, Xinjiang Travel while preserving the names, places, food, and historical details from the Chinese source.
On June 20, 2023, I left Beijing and drove a loop through the great Northwest. I traveled through Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Ningxia, Qinghai, and Xinjiang. The total distance was over 12,000 kilometers, taking 27 days, and I returned to Beijing on July 16.
The first purpose of this trip was to meet my clients far in the west. Many of them bought insurance online and we had never met. To thank them for their trust, I felt it was necessary to visit them in person. The second purpose was to visit Islamic historical sites in the west. Unlike traditional tourist routes, a halal-focused trip naturally follows a halal route and focuses on halal elements. The last purpose was to enjoy the magnificent landscapes of the Northwest. I enjoyed the scenery along the way, but did not go out of my way for it. I had already visited every provincial-level administrative unit in the People's Republic of China before I turned 30, so this Northwest trip was just a revisit. During this time, I also celebrated my 36th birthday, which is my zodiac birth year.
Because the trip lasted nearly a month, I experienced so many stories on the road. It was like playing a role-playing game; every region felt like a new chapter. Much of the content is worth recording separately, so I plan to publish it in several articles with photos. This first article introduces the Tajik people who live on the Pamir Plateau in the far west of our country and follow Shia Islam.
Chinese tourists need to apply for a border permit in advance to go to Taxkorgan. It is free and only requires an ID card. Many police stations in southern Xinjiang can issue them. We got ours at the police station next to the Id Kah Mosque square in Kashgar. It took one minute to issue and is valid for one week. You must have this permit to enter the border town. If you do not have one, you cannot apply on-site and will be turned back at the checkpoint.
Starting from the old city of Kashgar, it takes about 400 kilometers and 5-6 hours of driving to reach the Pamir Plateau in the Kashgar region of southern Xinjiang, the westernmost part of China. This is Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, where about 50,000 Tajik people who follow Shia Islam live.
Taxkorgan has the Khunjerab Pass, our country's westernmost border crossing, which borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
Many travelogues say that northern Xinjiang is for scenery and southern Xinjiang is for culture. This actually ignores the magnificence of the Pamir Plateau in southern Xinjiang. Southern Xinjiang has all the snow-capped mountains, grasslands, lakes, and even deserts that northern Xinjiang has. In fact, northern Xinjiang lacks the vast plateau landscapes found in the south. If you have limited time and want to experience the beauty of Xinjiang as much as possible, I suggest coming to southern Xinjiang first, and the Pamir Plateau is a must-visit.
Although the drive to Taxkorgan is long, the journey is not monotonous. Less than two hours after starting, you can see Baisha Lake and the snow-capped mountains in the distance. If you want to get close to the lake at the Baisha Lake scenic area, you have to pay. Following the principle of appreciating the world created by Allah without spending money, we just stood in the rest area to look at Baisha Lake from afar. This scene felt like being in Tibet. I have seen this color tone of plateau lakes, blue skies, and white clouds in Tibet before.
The average altitude of the Pamir Plateau is over 4,000 meters, and the distant Muztagh Ata peak is over 7,000 meters high, so it is inevitable that some people will have altitude sickness. The two of us men did not have obvious altitude sickness, just a little shortness of breath when walking. The county seat is at an altitude of about 3,500 meters, similar to Lhasa. It is best to choose a hotel with oxygen-supplied rooms in case you feel unwell and need to use oxygen.
Taxkorgan County borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, so you can see the scenery of four countries here.
You can enjoy these views for free at the rest areas. When you drive through high-altitude snow-capped mountains and suddenly see a vast green grassland, all the fatigue from your journey disappears.
Tajik people are divided into lowland Tajiks and highland Tajiks. Both are descendants of Persian Aryans. Lowland Tajiks mostly live in the Transoxiana region and speak Tajik dialects of the Western Iranian branch of Persian, which includes many Turkic words but remains mutually intelligible with Persian. The Tajik people in Taxkorgan are highland Tajiks. They belong to the Mediterranean type of the Caucasian race and speak Pamir dialects of the Eastern Iranian branch. They speak Wakhi in Pakistan and Sarikoli in China. During the Soviet era, Pamiris and Wakhis were considered independent ethnic groups before being required to register as Tajiks. They cannot communicate with people from Tajikistan because their languages are different. In Taxkorgan, Uyghur is the common language.
Highland Tajiks are easy to identify by their appearance, as they have high-bridged noses. If not for the redness caused by high-altitude UV rays, their skin is actually snow-white. For example, the waitress at the restaurant where we ate looked so European that I would have mistaken her for one if she hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin.
The 1963 black-and-white film Visitors on the Icy Mountain tells the story of how the Tajik people on the Pamir Plateau helped the People's Liberation Army fight bandits. The sincere and difficult love story between the two young Tajiks, Amir and Gulandam, is very moving. The song Why Are the Flowers So Red, adapted from the Tajik folk song Gulibita, is still popular today.
Every evening in the county square, people dance, and it is a square dance with a local ethnic flair.
The country with the largest Tajik population in the world is Afghanistan, with 8.8 million people, which is more than the 6.4 million in Tajikistan, the country with the second-largest population.
You can see many graveyards in the villages along the way. The decorations on the Tajik tombs still show traces of ancient Persian culture.
Shia Islam spread to Taxkorgan in the 17th century. It was first introduced by the Persian Sayyid Shah-i-Khan, who brought the Bohora branch of the Ismaili sect of Shia Islam here. In the mid-20th century, the Taxkorgan region converted to the Aga Khan branch. Aga Khan IV visited China twice, in 1981 and 2012.
These are Tajik tombs. Almost every grave has a fire pit in front of it. The Ismailis light fires before the annual Barat festival and offer dua in front of them, which seems to be a remnant of the Persian Zoroastrian fire-worship ritual.
Tajik people place the headwear worn by the deceased during their lifetime on their graves. This custom is the same as that of the Turks during the Ottoman Empire, and you can still see this decoration in Turkey today.
The shape of the headwear looks like an eagle, which is the totem of the Tajik people.
Besides headwear, you will also see fresh flowers, and some are artificial flowers. This is also a reflection of Persian culture.
I took a rough look at the ages of the deceased, and most were not over 50 years old.
Lower Bazaar Mosque in Taxkorgan
I learned from the herdsmen that there are two mosques in Taxkorgan County, but neither can be found on the map. I only found this one near the Taxkorgan County Hospital, and it was not open. You can see Central Asian features in its square roof. Asking about mosques in southern Xinjiang is very difficult, and it is hard to get a useful response.
When the environment is unfavorable to their faith, Shia Muslims tend to hide their beliefs, so we did not see many religious traces in Taxkorgan. Also, because the Shia tradition encourages combined prayers—meaning most Shia Muslims only pray three times a day, combining Dhuhr and Asr, and Maghrib and Isha—and they do not emphasize congregational prayer or Friday Jumu'ah, the importance of the mosque is much lower, and it is only busy during holidays.
Other places worth visiting in Taxkorgan County include the Khunjerab Pass border gate and the Wakhan Corridor, passing through the Panlong Ancient Road with its more than 600 bends.
You can take an international bus from the border gate to Afghanistan, and it is recommended to carry your passport with you.
The Wakhan Corridor is located between the Pamir Mountains and the Hindu Kush range, connecting China and Afghanistan. Tang Seng also passed through here on his journey to the West to seek Buddhist scriptures. The altitude here is over 4,000 meters. It is windy and the summer temperature is cool, so remember to bring a jacket.
On the way back to Kashgar from the Wakhan Corridor, you can pass through the Waqia Highway, which is the famous Panlong Ancient Road. Although it is only 36 kilometers long, it has more than 600 bends and takes three to four hours to drive. You could say there is a bend every 20 meters. The highest point of the mountain road is 4,200 meters above sea level. Fortunately, it is a one-way street, so it is not dangerous to drive.
The plateau scenery and wildlife along the way are beautiful. That cute animal in the distance is a marmot (hanta), which you can see everywhere on the highland grasslands.
The signature food in Taxkorgan is highland yak hot pot. However, I did not see any restaurants displaying a halal sign throughout southern Xinjiang, so I had to go inside and ask the staff. We walked into another shop where the server claimed it was halal, but I left immediately when I saw duck blood on the menu.
The staff at this shop told us very firmly that they were halal and that they did not sell any of those forbidden items.
It was a coincidence that I met an online friend in Taxkorgan who was here on a business trip, so we had a happy meal together. A great joy of traveling is meeting new friends and hearing different stories. Meeting someone thousands of miles away like this is all part of Allah's decree (qianting).
The Taxkorgan yak hot pot has two layers: you drink the soup from the top and cook vegetables in the bottom. The yak meat is chewy and comes pre-cooked, and it tastes great. My halal trip through southern Xinjiang ends here for now, so please stay tuned for more in the next episode.