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Has it already been completed? I only heard that 2022 was the target. It's definitely a bit of a shame. Luckily, it seems that the region that the airport serves--Tajikistan, the Afghanistan corridor and northern Pakistan--is not that heavily trafficked. And mostly wilderness preserve. We'll see what the future holds.

@@ABCDEFGHdumbo yes, there is the Tashkurgan Kunjerab Airport now as mentioned (the landing strips are there but the airport won't be complete until June 2022 supposedly). The process of the Chinese road building project is a much larger endeavor and may never be finished but the airport is basically (almost) there. I only hope that one of the world's last natural wonders is not destroyed because of all this.

@@colingallagher4848 Good luck to China and trying to civilise the landscape of Xinjiang, as well as its attempts to "do so" to its people.

@@ABCDEFGHdumbo I think it would have been better if the Chinese had never built roads / airports there. But there is an inevitability about it, they are going to build it. I don't think it is a good idea though and I don't support imposing communism on people (not to mention the genocidal tactics they use on Uyghurs). In the end the Chinese will build the airport but the larger "Belt & Road" project that is supposed to go all the way from China through Afghanistan and beyond, I suspect this will eventually meet stiff resistance; Afghanistan has never been taken over by a foreign aggressor. As you know, Tashkurgan (town) is close to the borders of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan. The road the Chinese wish to run from China to Afghanistan (with part through Tashkurgan) as part of the Belt and Road project will get hopelessly bogged down as it should.

@@colingallagher4848 So you want there never to be any transportation built to connect the Tajik people to the broader world? Do you want them to stay poor and forever innocent from other opportunities except being a herdsman? You only wish it to be you or a few rich adventurers to tour there, to greet them like you are some superior modern foreigner who just discovered an ancient pearl that is so isolated from other parts of the world? Have you ever thought it is unfair to the locals to keep being isolated just for you to fulfill your "noble love of nature and culture"? Do you really believe that the Tajiks could pass down their beautiful culture by simply staying isolated, not having schools to go to, not having modern medical services, and not having chances to trade with the outside world? If so, do you consider your idea a form of genocide? I get that you want to preserve an ancient culture, but that is exactly what China is doing. Bringing more opportunities to the people there, improving the education rate, relocating them to the well-heated and free-of-charge apartments in the town while keeping their old homes in the mountain, and building roads to attract tourists to promote their culture. Over the last decades, the local officials have tried hard to bring the isolated Tajiks from the mountain out to the town to receive free education with room& board. Do you know that when transportation is limited, the Tajik people can only go to Uygur schools even though they want to learn Mandarin and even though the Uygur language has nothing similar to their language? Btw, Mandarin literally means "common language" in China. Please don't confuse "modernization" with "genocide," and you don't have to stay poor to preserve nature! All Chinese people live in a considerably modernized society, but they didn't forget their cultural heritage from thousands of years ago! Different cultures intermingle throughout the history of human civilization. You can't force one group of people to stick with only one ancient culture and stay isolated! Has any cultural heritage in Xinjiang been intentionally destroyed by the new China? On the contrary, do you need me to tell you who stole the beautiful ancient cave paintings and sold them all over the world? So, enough of this sinophobia! The Uyghur genocide is misinformation spread by paid think tankies who have never read about what Uyghur culture is. Instead, they believe being Muslim is the sole representation of Uyghur culture, and they can't even tell the difference between Turkic and Turkish. So, I suggest you at least read narratives on both sides and make an educated, evidence-based opinion. Or, go to Xinjiang after the pandemic, see by yourself, talk to all the 46 ethnic minority groups there, and boost their local economy! What do you mean by "imposing communism"? You don't need to be a communist to enjoy the infrastructure and the policy incentives. You only need to be a citizen. And do you even know what communism is? Basically, the government regulates the economy to reduce the rich and poor gap. China is only a socialist country still trying to achieve communism. I'm not "imposing" you to like it, but it is not pure evil. "Afghanistan has never been taken over by a foreign aggressor"??? Sure, the Taliban likes your recognition of their hard-fought war, bro~ Let's hope they follow your wish to refuse the opportunity of "Belt & Road" that could help their economy. LOL

انا طاشغورغاني نحن اذا قلنا لاحد اننا طاشغورغانيين اننا اسماعيلية سوف يكون مصيرنا كمصير الكلاشا او ما شابه الطاجيك مثلهم مثل طالبان لا فرق بين طالبان واحمد مسعود ان تكون طاشغورغاني اسماعيلي ليس عيب اتمنى ان يفعل كل الطاجيك الاسماعيلية مثلي ينسون لغتهم لغته السنه الطالبانيين طالبان = احمد مسعود = د........ = الاحزب الاسلامي = باكستان

They are Pamiran

I want to see this small city...

I've been to Thashkorgan 6 times in the late 1988 and 1996 when it was a small town

Are you Tajik, Bro

Actually, the language they're speaking is different from the languages that the Tajiks in Tajikistan speak. In China, it's called "Sarikholi." Even the people, themselves, are different from the Tajiks in Tajikistan. They're an extension of Pamiri people who became both the Sarikolis and the Wakhis. However, the Tajiks in Tajikistan and China have one thing in common: They're both Iranian peoples. 🇹🇯🇨🇳

They speak a descendant of an ancient eastern iranian language that used to cover much of central asia before the muslim/arab conquests. The iranian language they speak descends from ancient eastern iranian which diverged from western iranian (now modern persian/farsi) in 2000BC. The 'Tajik' people you see in the video themselves are ethnically and linguistically different to the majority tajik population of tajikistan (which are turkic and speak turkic languages) the people you see here are the minority (iranian descended) pamir people of eastern rural mountainous tajikstan and western xinjiang in china that speak their own version of the isolated eastern iranian languages known as 'Sarikholi' - numbers around 20,000 people. Mandarin is used as a lingua franca in the region owing to it being a part of China and used as communication in wider Chinese society.

@@thesmokeycloud I never knew these before. Thank you so much for all the info. I think now I know more about the Tajik people in China, :-)

@@nicolasgoldring7128 thank you very much for your informative comment. I just today heard that these people are ancient Iranian people from an Iranian professor Dr. Zartosht Sotoodeh and you confirmed his talk.

How come? Were you not curious about your ethnic minorities? Did you not see, hear, watch, read and listened to stories and reports about ethnic minorities? These are widely available in state media.

这是电影冰山上的来客故事背景发生地。还有一首著名的钢琴曲 -阳光照耀着塔石库尔干，也取材于当地音乐。新疆塔吉克人非常忠于国家，很多人世世代代以守边卫国为生。