Mazar Pass (), also called Sailyak Pass() is a long

mountain pass A mountain pass is a navigable route through a mountain range or over a ridge. Since mountain ranges can present formidable barriers to travel, passes have played a key role in trade, war, and both Human migration, human and animal migration t ...

with numerous hairpin turns along

China National Highway 219 China National Highway 219 (G219; Chinese language, Chinese: ''Guódào219'') is a highway which runs along the entire western and southern border of the People's Republic of China, from Kom-Kanas Mongolian Ethnic Township, Kom-Kanas Mongolian et ...

(G219), the highway connecting

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' ...

and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

. The mountain pass crosses the

Kunlun Mountains The Kunlun Mountains constitute one of the longest mountain chains in Asia, extending for more than . In the broadest sense, the chain forms the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau south of the Tarim Basin. Located in Western China, the Kun ...

. It is between the villages of Kudi and Mazar in Kargilik County in southwestern Xinjiang. Western sources often refer to it as Chiragsaldi Pass. The pass is located from the northern terminus of the G219 highway. At about long, it is the longest mountain pass on the Xinjiang-Tibet highway. The highway was first completed in 1957, and fully asphalted in 2013. The small village to the south ''Mazar'' was so named because it was the site of two Uyghur

mazars Forvis Mazars is an international audit, accounting and consulting business formed in June 2024 by an agreement between Mazars and Forvis. Combined, the firms operate in the US and over 100 other countries, being among the top 10 global audit f ...

. The village contains a Chinese army service station. In recent decades, it also serves as a

truck stop A truck stop (known as a service station in the United Kingdom, a travel center by major chains in the United States and a roadhouse in rural Australia) is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made f ...

for the G219 highway and stop for expeditions en route to K2. ''Chiragsaldi Pass'' was the name used by British explorers during the late 1800s, likewise, Mazar village which at the time was only a caravan campsite was referred to as ''Chiragsaldi''. This name means "the lamp blew out" referencing the windiness of the campsite. French army map from early 1900s showed Chiragsaldi Pass (Tchirak-Soldi) and Sailyak Pass (Sarrakh) were different mountain passes, one going west and other going east from the same valley.

References

{{Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of China Mountain passes of Xinjiang Kunlun Mountains