Upal

Upal (simplified Chinese: 乌帕尔乡; traditional Chinese: 烏帕爾鄉; pinyin: Wūpà'ěr Xiāng) is a small town in western Xinjiang, China. The names comes from the Sanskrit: upál-, which means "a noble stone", sharing an Indo-European root to the Greek opallios (ὀπάλλιος), from which the English word opal is derived. The caste of the Indian traders who traditionally used to trade the precious stone is also called Uppal (sometimes spelled as Upal or Oppal). 39°18′N 75°32′E / 39.300°N 75.533°E / 39.300; 75.533Coordinates: 39°18′N 75°32′E / 39.300°N 75.533°E / 39.300; 75.533

Karakoram Highway

Today Upal is on the Karakoram Highway, which follows the old Silk Road route from China to Pakistan. Travelling from China, it is about 50 km southwest of Kashgar, or about 180 km north of Tashkurgan (which is about 120 km over the Khunjerab Pass from Sust in Pakistan).

Passenger road service between the Tashkurgan and the Pakistani cities of Sost and Gilgit already exists, and road service between Kashi and Gilgit (via Tashkurgan and Sust) starts in summer 2006. However, the border crossing between China and Pakistan at Khunjerab Pass (the highest border in the world) is open only from May 1 to October 15 of every year. During winter, the roads are blocked by snow.