Spatial Framework & Civilizational Geography · Prefecture-level
Tiemenguan
Named after the ancient Iron Gate Pass near Korla, the city guards the corridor from the southern Tianshan into the Tarim Basin.
Regional story
A place shaped through time
Tiemenguan lies south of the Tianshan on the eastern side of the Tarim Basin, next to Korla, at a crossroads between the southern Tianshan and the northern slopes of the Kunlun. It takes its name from the nearby Iron Gate Pass, counted among the twenty-six famous passes of old, which commanded the road through the Kongque River gorge into southern Xinjiang. Silk Road travellers once crossed the Tianshan here to reach the oases of the basin. Today its territory reaches south into the oases and lakes of the basin interior. The name of one ancient pass ties the place to the mountain routes of the Silk Road era.