Kashgar Stone City

Located on the north side of the county seat of Taxkorgan, which means stone city in Tujue language, the Stone City, stands 3100 meters high above the sea level, is a famous ruins of ancient city on the Silk Road in Xinjiang Province. It was the joint of both the middle route and south route of the ancient Silk Road.

Famous for its location at the junction of the middle route and southern route of the ancient Silk Road, the Stone City is also the place where roads from Kashgar, Shache, Yingjisha and Yecheng to the Pamirs meet. Because of its strategic importance, it was made the capital of Puli Country in Western Regions during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220). After the Western Regions were unified and ruled by the Tang Government, administrative offices were established here. Later in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) the Government repaired its old buildings and enlarged its area. It was in the late Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that the Government built a new city to the south and the Stone City was abandoned.

The Stone City has multilayer of constant or disconnected city walls which were constructed according to the terrain wit stones. The highest wall is high as 6 meters, and among walls are overlapped stones in a mess, which constitute a unique sight of the Stone City. Watchtowers were built in the four corners but unfortunately collapsed. On the outside city wall in the west and north, Mamian (a devil in the netherworld in Chinese Culture) carvings were found; while in the ruins of an ancient Buddhist temple, many a pottery, copper cash of Tang Dynasty, cloths, silk fabric, and a palm leaf manuscript in Sanskrit were excavated.

Built on a mound of 20 meters high (about 67 feet high), all that remains of the Stone City today are some parts of the periphery of city, such as the gate, city wall whereas the buildings inside the city had all collapsed. However you can still enjoy the view of the ruined city, the surrounding snow-crowned mountains, grasslands, rivers and even the flavor of national traits of the Tajik people.

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