The Gilgit Chinese Memorial Cemetery (, ), locally known as the China Memorial (), is a

graveyard A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many death, dead people are burial, buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ...

located in

Danyor Danyor (Urdu:, Burushiski and ) is a city in the namesake sub-division in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of northern Pakistan. The city of Danyor is an administrative part of Gilgit District and lies across the Gilgit river on the outskirts of Gi ...

, Gilgit–Baltistan, about ten kilometres away from the capital city of

Gilgit Gilgit (; Shina language, Shina: ; ) is a city in Pakistani-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, Gilgit–Baltistan in the disputed Kashmir region.The application of the term "administered" to the various regions of Kashmir and a mention of the Kas ...

across the

Gilgit River The Gilgit River () is a tributary of the Indus River, flowing through various districts of Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan region, including Gupis-Yasin, Ghizer and Gilgit. The Gilgit River originates from Shandur Lake and proceeds to join the I ...

. The cemetery, established in early 1970, serves as the final resting place of

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

workers and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

s who died during the construction of the Karakoram Highway (KKH) in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The

tombstones A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

placed over the graves contain

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

inscriptions in

Chinese characters Chinese characters are logographs used Written Chinese, to write the Chinese languages and others from regions historically influenced by Chinese culture. Of the four independently invented writing systems accepted by scholars, they represe ...

. In August 2011, a

delegation consisting of retired

People's Liberation Army The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the military of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the People's Republic of China (PRC). It consists of four Military branch, services—People's Liberation Army Ground Force, Ground Force, People's ...

soldiers, journalists and a relative of a worker visited the cemetery to pay homage to the deceased. The visit was widely publicized in the

Chinese media The mass media in the People's Republic of China primarily consists of television, newspapers, radio, and magazines. Since the start of the 21st century, the Internet has also emerged as an important form of mass media and is under the direct ...

. Prior to their departure for Pakistan, they had also met the Pakistani ambassador to China,

Masood Khan Masood Khan () is a retired Pakistani-Kashmiri diplomat who served as Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States. Khan also served as the 27th President of Azad Kashmir. Khan joined the Foreign Service of Pakistan in 1980. From August 2003 to ...

, who was highly appreciative of their gesture. In April 2013, a ceremony was held at the cemetery in which key Chinese and Pakistani officials were present, including the

consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...

of the Chinese embassy in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, Zhang Lianyou, officials of the

China Road and Bridge Corporation China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC), is a Chinese state-owned construction and engineering firm that focuses on global infrastructure projects such as highways, skyways, rai ...

, members of the

Gilgit–Baltistan Legislative Assembly The Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly (GBA), formerly known as Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly (GBLA), is a unicameral legislature of elected representatives of the Pakistani territory (''de facto'' Pakistani province, province) of Gilgit-Baltista ...

and Pakistani law enforcement personnel. During the ceremony, tributes were paid to the deceased and a pledge was laid on behalf of the

Chinese government The government of the People's Republic of China is based on a system of people's congress within the parameters of a Unitary state, unitary communist state, in which the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) enacts its policies through people's ...

for a renovation of the cemetery. Pakistani officials present at the occasion lauded the contributions of the Chinese workers as a symbol of healthy and longstanding

bilateral relations Bilateralism is the conduct of political, economic, or cultural relations between two sovereign states. It is in contrast to unilateralism or multilateralism, which is activity by a single state or jointly by multiple states, respectively. When ...

between China and Pakistan.

Background and significance

The

Karakoram Highway The Karakoram Highway (, ), also known as the KKH, National Highway 35 (), N-35, and the ChinaPakistan Friendship Highway, is a National Highways of Pakistan, national highway which extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab p ...

is an international highway which runs across the

Karakoram The Karakoram () is a mountain range in the Kashmir region spanning the border of Pakistan, China, and India, with the northwestern extremity of the range extending to Afghanistan and Tajikistan. Most of the Karakoram mountain range is withi ...

mountain range and through the

Khunjerab Pass Khunjerab Pass (; ; ) is a mountain pass in northern Pakistan that lies at an elevation of above sea level. It is located in the Karakoram and holds a significant strategic position on the northern border of Pakistan, specifically in the Gilg ...

, thereby connecting

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

region with the neighbouring

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

administrative territory of Gilgit–Baltistan in the

Kashmir Kashmir ( or ) is the Northwestern Indian subcontinent, northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term ''Kashmir'' denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir P ...

region. It serves as the primary land transport link between Pakistan and China. Construction of the highway was carried out jointly between the governments of Pakistan and

from 1966 to 1979. The construction of the highway had created difficult conditions for

and

workers due to the high elevation of the mountain range and turbulent weather. Estimates for the highway construction's death toll ranges from around 1000–5000 people, of which nearly a third were Chinese workers who had died mostly in

landslides Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslide ...

avalanches An avalanche is a rapid flow of snow down a Grade (slope), slope, such as a hill or mountain. Avalanches can be triggered spontaneously, by factors such as increased precipitation or snowpack weakening, or by external means such as humans, othe ...

and accidental falls. Newer reports estimate the casualties to be higher than initially reported, and difficult to pinpoint due to the nature of the terrain in the region. The cemetery remains an important visitor attraction in

References

{{China–Pakistan relations Cemeteries in Gilgit-Baltistan China–Pakistan relations Chinese cemeteries Chinese diaspora in Pakistan Gilgit District

Background and significance

See also

References