Xinjiang Border Pass Guide: How to Get Permits for Tashkurgan and the Pamirs
Some of Xinjiang’s best scenery sits in border-control zones — the Pamir Plateau around Tashkurgan, the frontier village of Baihaba near Kazakhstan, and stretches of the Karakoram route. To enter these areas as a foreign visitor you need a border permit (边境管理区通行证), and the checkpoint will turn you back without it. This guide covers the practical side so the paperwork doesn’t cost you a trip.
Note: rules for foreign nationals change, and Chinese citizens from elsewhere have a different process. This is written for foreign tourists; always reconfirm current requirements before you travel.
Where You Need One
Tashkurgan (Taxkorgan) County — the Pamir base town, including Karakul Lake, Muztagh Ata, the Stone City, and the Khunjerab gateway. This is the most common permit need.
Baihaba Village — the border village near Kanas, on the Kazakhstan frontier. Requires a separate permit obtained in Burqin or Altay.
Parts of the Karakoram Highway — the Gez checkpoint south of Kashgar is the control point before the plateau.
How to Apply (Tashkurgan)
The standard process: apply in Kashgar at the public security bureau’s border-permit office (边境管理支队), with:
– Your passport and a valid China visa (with at least the days you’ll be in the zone)
– A passport photo (sometimes)
– Your planned route and dates
– Often, proof of onward arrangements (a hotel booking in Tashkurgan helps)
Processing is usually same-day; arrive in the morning. Some travelers arrange it through a licensed tour company or hotel, which can smooth the paperwork and is the common route for those without Mandarin.
The checkpoints, honestly
They are short, they are not hostile, and the whole process for a foreign plate takes longer than for a local one because the officer has to make an entry. Keep passport and car documents in the glovebox rather than the boot so you are not unpacking in front of a queue. Nobody has ever been rude to me at one of these. Write down the address of tonight’s accommodation, because that is the question they ask. They are tedious rather than dangerous, and the driver’s document pack is the only thing that makes them quick. You will stop at checkpoints. More on the other end of that day is in our [[xinjiang-border-pass-permit-tashkurgan-guide|Xinjiang Border Pass Guide: How to Get the…]].
Fuel, and the gaps where there is nothing
The bad news is the distance between them through the middle sections, enough that a full tank is arithmetic rather than paranoia. Fill before you leave anything with a city name on the map, even if the next is only ninety minutes out. I have been on a road in this region where the next fuel was two hours back, the reason being a closure, and the only thing that got me moving was a trucker with a spare can. Every town on this route has a station and every station takes cards, which is the good news. Where most people get the logistics wrong is covered in our [[xinjiang-border-permit-tashkurgan-guide|Xinjiang Border Permit (边防证): How to Visit…]].
Where to sleep on the road and where to park
Ask for a room away from the yard, since the yard is where the trucks sleep. In Tashkurgan the hotels cluster along the through road and the value one is usually the second block back, five minutes from the misnamed central place and half the price. The county town on this route is where to overnight, not the scenic stop, because the scenic stops have no quiet parking and no kitchen open after eight. That stretch of the trip is described in our [[xinjiang-border-crossings-guide|Crossing Xinjiang’s Borders: Khorgos,…]] too.
Important Caveats
Rules shift. Which nationalities are eligible, and whether independent travel is allowed, changes with policy. Confirm with the Kashgar PSB or a reputable agency within a week of travel.
Carry it always. The Gez checkpoint and random road stops will ask. Keep the paper copy; photos are not always accepted.
Plan buffer. If your permit is delayed, your Pamir days slip. Build a flex day into the southbound itinerary.
Khunjerab itself. Crossing into Pakistan requires a Pakistan visa and is a different process entirely; most foreign visitors only drive to the gateway and back.
Bottom Line
A border permit is a small hurdle that unlocks the most dramatic landscape in the region. Sort it in Kashgar before you head south, carry the paper, and the Pamirs open up. The permits-and-logistics sections of our Xinjiang Travel Guide track the current process, but treat any guide as a starting point and verify with the authorities — the plateau is worth the paperwork.
