Silk Road lost & found

• Source: The Global Times
• [22:40 May 12 2009]
• Comments

The Karasu Pass: as the sign indicates, this checkpoint is your ticket out of Tashkurgan county into Tajikistan. Photo: Zhang Nanyi

The tourism plan doesn't appear to impress a 40-year-old guesthouse and small grocery store owner surnamed Ma, who declined to give her full name.

Ma and her family migrated from Hanzhong county in Shaanxi Province 10 years ago.

"The business here brings in a relatively low income because the tourism season is only half a year due to the harsh plateau weather," said Ma. "I'll wait until my son's college graduation, then move back home."
Outside Ma's shop, the eagle has landed: a statue in the center of the downtown square represents the ethnic spirit of the Tajiks, according to town publicity director Lalihan.

314 Highway: also known as Karaloram Highway to the rest of the world, this long and winding road can take you to Pakistan. Photo: Zhang Nanyi

Tashkurgan used to be a one-street town: "One trumpet blast fills the whole town. One street lamp lights up the whole town. One rotation of a rolling naan bread can cross the whole town," as the old local saying goes.

Change has come to the county town since construction began across a 434,000 square-meter urban area in 1998. Modern buses move down eight broad new boulevards with trees planted in the center divider, bathroom-white tile shiny shops and restaurants lining the sidewalks.

The construction has benefited Sichuan migrant worker Shi Xianglu, one of a team working on a new symbolic gateway at the Khunjerab Pass to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of New China. He came here six years ago and found no shortage of work. "I don't have any plan to leave in the near future," said Shi. "My income increases every year. I'm happy with it."