Shipton's Arch
| Uighur name | |
|---|---|
| Arabic-Persian (Kona Yeziⱪ) : | تۆشۈك تاغ |
| Latin (Yengi Yeziⱪ) : | Tɵxük taƣ |
| Cyrillic ( Soviet Union ): | Төшүк тағ |
| other spellings: | Töshük tagh, Shipton's Arch |
| Chinese name | |
| Abbreviation : | 阿图什 天 门 |
| Transcription in Pinyin : | Ātúshí Tiānmén |
| Wade-Giles transcription : | A1t'u2shih2 t'ien1men2 |
Shipton's Arch ( Chinese 阿图什 天 门 , Pinyin Ātúshí Tiānmén , literally “Heavenly Gate of Artux ”; Uighur تۆشۈك تاغ, literally "Lochfelsen") is a rock gate in Xinjiang , China . The rock gate is located in the Kyrgyz Autonomous District of Kizilsu, northwest of Kashgar , near Artux, at an altitude of 2925 m above sea level. With a total height of the arch of approx. 360 m above the valley floor, it is the highest rock gate in the world.
The rock gate lies on the edge of a deeply cut valley. The span of the arch is approx. 60 m, the height of the rock gate approx. 360 m, measured from the valley floor on the north side of the arch. On the south side there is a scree slope, on which a viewing platform has now been installed. The height of the arch above the viewing platform is still approx. 60 m.
The Felsentor has been known locally for a long time; the local Uighur name simply means "holed rock". The internationally used English name goes back to the British mountaineer Eric Shipton , who was stationed as consul in Kashgar in the 1940s and who undertook numerous expeditions in the area. In 1947 he first made the rock gate known to a wider public outside the region in his book Mountains of Tartary . The rock gate was listed in the Guinness Book of Records for a long time , but was later deleted because the exact location could not be verified due to missing information. It was not until 2000 that an expedition of the National Geographic Society visited and measured the rock gate . It has since become a tourist attraction. Day trips are regularly offered from Kashgar, and a visitor center, stairs and paths have been installed to facilitate the multi-hour hike to the rock gate.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tushuk Tash (Shipton's Arch) . The Natural Arch and Bridge Society. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
- ↑ Jeremy Smith: Journey to Shipton's Lost Arch . In: National Geographic . December 2000.
- ↑ Shipton's Arch: World's Tallest Arch . FarWestChina.com. June 30, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2017.
Coordinates: 39 ° 38 ′ 37.8 ″ N , 75 ° 31 ′ 24.8 ″ E