[爸、媽，我上了傳說中的喀喇崑崙山！]
Up in the Karakorum
5月23日，我從喀什前往「新疆中的新疆」，塔什庫爾干塔吉克自治縣（簡稱塔縣）。講這個地名可能沒什麼人聽過，不過要是說我去的是傳說中的「喀喇崑崙山」，大家可能就會有點印象了，畢竟這是個台灣以前的地理課一定會提到的地名啊！這裡是中國、巴基斯坦、阿富汗、塔吉克交界處，山峰高度在5000到7000公尺間（但是公路最高只有到4000左右，不要緊張）。
（講到這裡先補充一下，喀喇崑崙山不是崑崙山喔！以為兩者一樣的請回去找以前的地理老師罰寫10遍先XD）
馬蜂窩是中國知名旅遊評論網站，如果去上面看看他們對於塔縣的評價，大多會用各種網紅慣用的華麗詞藻告訴你那裡的山有多壯觀，還有那裡的塔吉克人因為有歐洲血統，個個都是帥哥美女（這個講法其實不太正確，後面會說明）。老實說我決定要去的原因基本上類似，去看自然風景和族群文化，但我當然不是只看這些——正如我想要寫旅遊文的初衷，我想把旅途中真實的相遇，特別是那些旅遊書和部落客不會寫的事情寫下來；至於風景，大家自己去看照片就好啦。
那麼，我們開始吧！
Went to Tashkurgan county on May 23. It's one of the remotest counties in the country. Karakorum, a mountain range drawing the border of China, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Tajikistan, goes through the entire county. The peaks reach the height of 5000-7000 meters, although the highway led me there only goes up to 4000 meters.
This region is known for its alpine landscape and Tajik culture (which is related to Persian and relatively distant from the rest of China), and these are also my reasons of coming here. However, as always, I love to share things that you won't find on lonely planet or blogs. (As for the natural wonders, my pictures depict them much better than my words.) Therefore, here are what I was there:
1. 新疆目前是三步一小檢、五步一大檢的狀態，到處都是警察、到處都要安檢，在邊境更是密集，到什麼程度？喀什到塔縣300公里，我坐的大巴得停下來8次，平均每40公里一次；加油站全部設門禁，以鐵絲網和拒馬封鎖，如果要加油，乘客先全部下車，司機持身分證通過安檢後進入加油站，然後還要再刷一次身分證才能加油。
更耐人尋味的是安檢的原則：多數情況下，只有「民族人士」（指少數民族身分者）需要被安檢，漢人可以坐在車上慢慢等，不用出示證件也不用下車，而其他人則每次都必須帶著證件和邊境許可下車檢查，有時一去就20分鐘。
1. Security check is currently omnipresent in Xinjiang. Within the 300 km from Kashgar to Tashkurgan, my bus had to stop 8 times; in addition to that, all gas stations are guarded. Passengers are asked to get off, and the driver needs to be checked before entering the station. Another check is required when the driver picks up the gas pump.
More interestingly, not everyone needs to be checked every time. Most of the time, Han Chinese (which consists 90% of China's population) is waived, whereas people of minority groups are checked carefully. While the former sit and wait on the bus, the latter has to get off and be checked at security office.
2. 塔縣的確很美，但也的確是個窮鄉僻壤。那裡的海拔高、地勢起伏大加上植物很難生長，土地生產力非常薄弱，當地居民在面不大的高原上以放牧維生。我在這裡第一次見到了傳說中的犛牛，草原上也可以見到綿羊和駱駝。
除了這些少見的平地之外，沿路所見大致上都是險惡的溪谷，兩側盡是崩塌地，和台灣南投信義鄉的新中橫公路非常像，可以想見降雨量較大時泥流滾滾的樣貌。這些地方沒有什麼居民，但卻可以見到不少礦場、水利發電廠與砂石場，仔細一看，這些全部是來自其他省份的投資——在新疆這幾天發現，幾乎各種設施上面都會出現某某省投資或援助的字樣，整個行政區像是中國各省的捐款芳名錄。
2. Tashkurgan is very beautiful, but also very poor. Its uneven and alpine terrain make it unproductive. In its limited flatland, nomading has been their traditional way of living. I saw yaks, lambs and camels along the way.
In the valley, landslides and cliffs were seen throughout my ride there. It's essentially uninhabitable, but now has water power plants, mines and construction material firms. If you look closely, they are all investments from other Chinese provinces. Attribution to other provinces can be seen at many facilities in Xinjiang.
3. 塔縣的當地人的確和其他族群非常不同，不過他們並沒有所謂的歐洲血統，正確來說是：塔吉克人和今天的伊朗人有共同的祖先，是古代居住在中亞的波斯人被突厥入侵之後的遺留群體，因此他們的語言也和波斯語一樣，屬於印歐語族（Indo-European language family），和印地語、英語、西班牙語同是古印歐語演變而來，但語言和歐洲有關並不表示他們有歐洲血統。
至於他們的面貌究竟如何？是否都姑娘美如水少年壯如山（誤）？想知道的就自己去google吧，我沒有打算要用照片來回答這個問題。
3. Many Chinese tourists are interested Kashkurgan due to its Tajik culture, and consider the Tajiks are good looking than themselves. Some said it's because they are the only European ethnicity in China, but actually, they are not.
Before Turks entered central Asia, Persians dominate the region; after the Turkic invasion, the Persians moved westward, but some remained in central Asian mountains and made up today's Tajiks in Tajikistan and China. The Tajik language is therefore related to Persian, and to Hindi, English, Spanish, etc in the Indo-European language family, but that doesn't mean they are European.
As for their look, please google it. I chose not to take pictures of them.
4. 最後，這幾天來身邊鋪天蓋地的都是各種標語，而且是非常誇張的多（相較之下，以前台灣眷村那種根本就不算什麼）。有的死板、有的創新、有的隱晦、有的直白，我一直都盡量不帶成見、抱持著欣賞公共藝術的心情去讀這些標語；不過，當我看到以下這句話之後，真的覺得不把它引用上來不行了XDD
「各民族要像石榴籽一樣，緊緊抱在一起。」
4. Slogans are everywhere in Xinjiang, and they are usually about policies, Chinese communism, obedience to authorities, etc. I have been trying to read and comprehend them without personal opinion. However, as soon as I saw the following one, I couldn't help but quote it in this post:
"All ethnic groups should be like pomegranate seeds, embrace each other tightly as one."
5. 除了這些當然還看到、聽到了更多，不過為了我的人身安全著想，有些事還是等旅行結束再說吧XD
5. There are more stories I can share, but let's wait until I complete the journey ;)
