The Wakhjir Pass, also spelled Vakhjir Pass, is a mountain pass on the Afghanistan–China border, between the Hindu Kush and Pamir Mountains at the eastern end of the Wakhan Corridor. It is the only potentially navigable pass between Afghanistan and China in the modern era. It links the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan with the Tashkurgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang, China, at an altitude of 4,923 m (16,152 ft). As of 2025, the pass has no official border crossing point. With a difference of 3.5 hours, the Afghanistan–China border has the sharpest official change of clocks of any international frontier (UTC+04:30 in Afghanistan to UTC+08:00, in China). China refers to the pass as South Wakhjir Pass (Chinese: 南瓦根基达坂), as there is a northern pass on the Chinese side.
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👉 Wakhjir Pass in the context of Afghanistan–China border
The Afghanistan–China border is a 92-kilometre-long (57 mi) boundary between Afghanistan and China, beginning at the tripoint of both countries with the Pakistan's federally administered territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, following the watershed along the Mustagh Range, and ending at the tripoint with Tajikistan. This short border is in the far northeast of Afghanistan, distant from much of the country or urban areas in either country, at the end of the long, narrow Wakhan Corridor. The Chinese side of the border is in the Chalachigu Valley. The border is crossed by several mountain passes, including Wakhjir Pass in the south and Tegermansu Pass in the north.
Both sides of the border are protected areas: Wakhan National Park in Wakhan District, Badakhshan Province on the Afghan side and Taxkorgan Nature Reserve in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County, Kashgar Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on the Chinese side.
Wakhjir Pass in the context of Wakhan River
Wakhan River (Dari: آب واخان Āb-i-Wākhān; Pashto: واخان سیند Wākhān Sīnd; Tajik: واخاندريا Vaxondaryo) is the name of the Sarhadd branch of the Panj River along its upper length in the Wakhan District of Badakhshan Province of Afghanistan.
The river rises in the Hindu Kush. It is formed by the confluence of the Wakhjir River and the Bozai River near Kashch Goz and Bozai Gumbaz, some 40 km west of the Wakhjir Pass. Shortly thereafter, the Little Pamir comes to an end, and the conjoined river contracts into a narrow, deep, rapid river, delimited by cliffs and steep hills. From here the banks have grown birch and juniper trees. 40 km west at Sarhad-e Broghil the river flows in a dramatic basin 3 km wide. Little if any vegetation, except dwarf willow, grows in the area.