Artux Tianmen Natural Arch 阿图什天门

About Artux Tianmen Natural Arch

The arch is shaped like the symbol “∩”. The Artush City Culture and Tourism Bureau's item describes it as 地球上最高的天然石拱门, the highest natural stone arch on earth, and says it formed through long-term wind erosion, weakly cemented conglomerate (砾岩) being worn away by wind in a dry climate. The city government's page describes the setting as 雄踞在天山与昆仑山交界之处, with Kunlun behind and Tianshan in front, at 海拔3000米 and 宽约100米. The Xinjiang Daily report places the arch on the Pamir and records that its 厚度无法丈量, its thickness cannot be measured.

On the arch itself, the bureau's item records stone cavities in the right wall shaped like a honeycomb, where a child speaking inside produces an echo, and a left wall surface it likens to 一幅千奇百怪 的壁画, a mural of strange forms; the Xinjiang Daily report records the same cavities and that speech or a knock on the rock produces an echo. Along the route are landforms the bureau's item says were eroded by wind and rain about 2.6 million years ago, which it names 金猴守岁、日月门、天地轮回、一线天、小天门 and others. In the higher parts of the scenic area it records 大片的高山草甸, extensive alpine meadow. The city government's page for the site is headlined 阿图什天门景区（4A）.

What to look for

• The arch itself, about 100 metres wide, at about 3,000 metres.
• The honeycomb-like stone cavities in the arch's right wall, where speech or a knock on the rock echoes.
• The left wall surface, which the city's culture and tourism bureau likens to a mural of strange forms.
• The named eroded forms along the route — 金猴守岁, 日月门, 天地轮回, 一线天 and 小天门 among them.
• The alpine meadow the bureau's item records in the higher parts of the scenic area.

Location & getting there

Getting to Artux Tianmen Natural Arch

Use an authorised visitor route. Cave sections, geological sites and access roads can close independently, so confirm the area that your ticket covers.

• Search for 阿图什天门 with 克孜勒苏柯尔克孜自治州 and 阿图什市.