Wakhjir-Pass

The Wakhjir Pass (Chinese瓦赫吉尔 山口/瓦赫吉尔 山口, Pinyin Wǎhèjí'ěr Shānkǒu ) is a high mountain pass, with a summit elevation of 4923 m at the transition between the Hindu Kush and Pamir at the eastern end of the Wakhan Corridor. It is the only mountain pass between Afghanistan and China. It connects the Wakhan in Afghanistan with Taxkorgan in Xinjiang, China. In 1895 the British Empire and Tsarist Russia increased the pass fixed as border crossing between China and Afghanistan, although this agreement was accepted neither by the Chinese nor the Afghans to the year 1964. At this boundary, there is considerable change in the measurement of time of 3 ½ hours difference between China and Afghanistan, which is a world record.

The pass can not be entered, but only on foot, horse or be crossed by pack animals. On the Afghan side only performs a unpaved road to Sarhad -e Wakhan ( Sarhad -e Broghil ) over a distance of 100 km, which can not be driven. On the Chinese side there is a 15 km long runway that can take the wheel- driven vehicles. This road leads to 80 kilometers away Karakorum Highway.

The Wakhjir Pass is five months a year because of ice and snow is not passable. On the Afghan side is located at an altitude of 4554 m, a glacier with an ice cliff, which feeds the Wakhjir and the Amu Darya, also called Oxus flows. The ice that is broken down by Amu Darya Eisbruchs out and used for cooling.

The area is inaccessible and there are few reports on a successful crossing of the pass by foreigners. It is believed that Marco Polo committed this path, although he does not report from this pass. The Jesuit priest Benedict Goes crossed it from Wakhan to China 1602-1606.

Another report of a crossing is from the time of the Great Game in the late 19th century.

1868 worked the Indian surveyors and explorers Mirza on the trigonometrical survey of India and crossed the pass. More crossings found in 1874 by Captain TE Gordon of the British Army held in 1891 by Francis Younghusband and 1894 by Lord Curzon, the Viceroy of India later. In May 1906 Sir Aurel Stein reported that at that time this pass could be crossed in a year only up to a maximum weight of cargo that corresponded to the carrying capacity of 100 ponies. In 1947 HW Tilman crossed the pass successfully.

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• Map of the border area with registered Wakhjir Pass ( on page 2)