Located in the north of Tashkurgan County of Xinjiang Province, Tashkurgan which literally means Stone City in Turkish Language is an ancient city with development history of over 2000 years. Strategically situated at the junction of the middle route and southern route of the ancient Silk Road, it is also perfectly laid at the place where roads from nearby towns to the Pamirs meet. As for its strategic locations within the most important route during ancient time, Tashkurgan Stone City was made the capital of Puli County in Western Han Dynasty. Later, the administrative offices were established during Tang Dynasty. The ancient architecture within the Stone City was repaired and the size of the city was enlarged during Yuan Dynasty. Anyway, within the reign of late Qing Dynasty, a new city was built slightly to the south of Stone City and therefore the entire Stone City was abandoned.
Although most of the architecture within the city like city gates, city walls and residences were collapsed when time goes by, you may still find the ruins of the city which surrounded by mountains, grasslands and rivers.