| Karatash Koshan, Ku'shan Ho | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Etymology | fromTurkic: 'Black Stone' River |
| Location | |
| Country | China |
| State | Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | Kongur Tagh Range |
| Mouth | |
• location | Taklamakan Desert,China |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • left | Chimgan River |
| • right | Kizmak River |
TheKaratash River (Koshan,Ku'shan Ho) is south ofKashgar in theKongur Tagh Range (also referred to as the 'Kongur Shan', or 'Kongur Alps') of theXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region ofChina. It runs from near the eastern side of the 'Old Karatash Pass' (which is about 30 km southeast ofKarakul lake), to the east and then northerly through the smallKhirghiz villages of Shargut, Chat, Chimgan and Khan-Terek, flowing out into theTaklamakan Desert about halfway betweenKashgar andYangi Hissar.
"In a sense, the Karatash was very well-known historically, but only in its upper reaches. These lie on what seems to have been a standard trade route fromYarkand toLake Karakul and beyond."[1]
The lower gorges are very steep, narrow and rough. The British Consul-General in Kashgar, Clarmont P. Skrine, described them in a letter of 1922 as "mysterious and terrible."[2] In the upper valley, near the village of Chat, a community surrounded by wheat fields, of about "three dozen mud-brick houses, a school and a sizeable 'club' whose veranda is decorated with wall paintings," the valley is quite open and easy to travel. The river is fordable just above Chat.[3]
The highest peak in the Kongur Shan isKongur Tagh orKongkoerh (Mongolian:Хонгор Таг;Chinese:公格尔峰;pinyin:Gōnggé'ěr Fēng) (also referred to asKongur), 7,649 m (25,095 ft), is the highest peak of theKunlun Mountains in China, and the highest peak with its summit wholly within theXinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Sometimes it is considered to be a part of thePamir Mountains.
| Yangtze system | |
|---|---|
| Yellow system | |
| Pearl system | |
| Heilongjiang system | |
| Huai system | |
| Hai system | |
| Liao system | |
| Endorheic systems | |
| Other major rivers | |
| Major canals | |
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