The Duku Highway takes its name from its two ends, Dushanzi in the north and Kuqa in the south, and it is the only road that crosses the main Tianshan range between Urumqi and the far south of Xinjiang. It is a little over 560 kilometres long, was cut across the mountains between the mid-1970s and 1983, and climbs to a pass at roughly 3,400 metres in the middle. Because of deep winter snow the road is normally closed from late October or November until it is cleared in late spring; the exact dates change every year.
The northern half
From Dushanzi the road climbs quickly out of the plain into a series of gorges, running beside glacial rivers through spruce and birch and past the open northern flank of the range, where Kazakh herders move their animals up to summer pasture and set up yurt camps beside the road. Above the tree line the country turns to alpine meadow, scree and snow patches, and the pass itself is often cold even in July. This is the part of the drive most people photograph.
The middle and the southern descent
Beyond the pass the road crosses the Bayanbulak basin, a high grassland of flat, wet meadow with the Kaidu river winding through it and swans nesting in the marshes. South of that it drops off the plateau into the dry side of the Tianshan, running through the Tianshan Grand Canyon and down to Kuqa on the northern edge of the Taklamakan. The change from wet alpine grassland to bare red rock desert happens over the course of two or three hours, and it is the most striking thing about the route.
Practical notes
Most people drive it in two days with a night at Bayanbulak or in Kuqa, using a car and driver, since the road demands attention, fuel stops are far apart and the weather can turn quickly. Take warm layers regardless of the season in the valleys below. Altitude sickness is not usually a problem at these heights but the pass can feel thin if you have come straight from sea level. If you plan side trips towards the border country, check the current permit rules before you set out, as some of the districts along the range are restricted.
