Suyingayke Glacier

Suyingayke Glacier

Suyingayke Glacier

Suyingayke Glacier is located on Mount Muztagh Ata on the eastern side of the Pamir Plateau, 60 kilometers from the county town. Here, towering mountains stretch continuously, symbolizing the ancestral home of all mountains, and the Suyingayke Glacier is also the largest glacier in the Xinjiang region, approximately 50 kilometers in length and varying between 5 to 10 kilometers in width. Gazing at the glacier from afar, its icy crown stands majestic and imposing, glittering brilliantly under the sunlight and emitting a dazzling white glow—immediately bringing to mind Tajik girls in green dresses and white scarves, sacred and pure. One cannot help but be enchanted by the miraculous wonders of nature.

Like other glaciers, the Suyingayke Glacier primarily blocks moisture from the Arctic Ocean and the Atlantic, creating precipitation and serving as an inexhaustible natural reservoir for the arid regions of southern Xinjiang. It is also the water source for numerous lakes of various sizes in the Pamir Plateau region, such as Karakul Lake and Lügong Lake. In this sense, the Suyingayke Glacier becomes the guardian deity of southern Xinjiang, a protector of our lives, playing a particularly important role in regulating the ecological balance of flora and fauna and maintaining normal climatic conditions.

Precisely for this reason, in the legends of our Tajik people, this glacier is imbued with mythological meaning and is worshipped with deep reverence.