Pamir Stone City and Golden Grassland 帕米尔旅游区石头城与金草滩

About Pamir Stone City and Golden Grassland

The regional culture and tourism department's entry, filed under its national 5A scenic-area section, gives the area a total of 3.1 square kilometres and describes it as made up of five parts — the Stone City scenic area, Golden Grass Beach, the Tajik folk village, a general service centre and a tourist shopping centre — on the ancient Silk Road's southern and middle routes towards West and South Asia and Europe. It records that the National Tourism Administration gave the area the title of national international high-plateau-culture tourist destination (国际高原风情旅游目的地) in 2014. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's data service lists the area under 5A-grade tourist attractions with 2019 as the rating year and places it in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County.

The county government's own account of its sights explains the name: Tashkurgan means stone city in Uyghur, the county taking its name from the ancient stone fortress north of the town. It describes the Stone City as irregularly square-round in plan, with boulders strewn over the ground inside and divided into an inner and an outer city; the outer city is badly damaged, leaving stretches of wall, gun platforms and house remains. It places Arol Golden Grass Beach wetland (阿拉尔金草滩湿地) on the outskirts of the county town, on both banks of the Tashkorgan River. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism's data service records that the Stone City site is more than 2,000 years old, that Golden Grass Beach wetland park is lush in summer, gold in autumn and snow-covered in winter, and that the Tajik folk village shows local traditions including eagle dance (鹰舞).

The regional people's congress records that on 26 March 2025 it passed the Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County Stone City Site Protection Ordinance (塔什库尔干塔吉克自治县石头城遗址保护条例), an ordinance of 26 articles on the site's protection, management and use, and describes the site as a major historical and cultural site protected at national level (全国重点文物保护单位). Neither the county government nor the regional department states which parts of the Stone City are open to visitors, and none of the cited sources says how the tourist area is administered.

What to look for

• The Stone City (石头城) itself: the county government describes an irregularly square-round plan with boulders strewn inside, an inner and an outer city, and an outer city reduced to stretches of wall, gun platforms and house remains
• Arol Golden Grass Beach wetland (阿拉尔金草滩湿地), which the county government places on the outskirts of the county town on both banks of the Tashkorgan River, and which the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's data service records as lush in summer, gold in autumn and snow-covered in winter
• The Tajik folk village (塔吉克民俗村) within the tourist area, which the ministry's data service records as showing local traditions including eagle dance (鹰舞)
• The snow-covered peaks the ministry's data service records around the area, among them Muztagh Ata (慕士塔格峰)
• The Stone City site's standing as a major historical and cultural site protected at national level, and the county ordinance of 26 articles that the regional people's congress passed for its protection on 26 March 2025

Location & getting there

Getting to Pamir Stone City and Golden Grassland

Check which interiors and courtyards are accessible. Active places of worship and protected monuments may have different visitor rules.

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