Semo La
[''La'' means "pass" in Tibetan] (; bo, བཟར་མོ་ལ) is a
mountain pass situated in
Coqên County,
Ngari Prefecture
Ngari Prefecture () or Ali Prefecture () is a prefecture of China's Tibet Autonomous Region covering Western Tibet, whose traditional name is Ngari Khorsum. Its administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Shiquanhe.
History
Nga ...
in the central part of
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
and gives access to the
Changtang
The Changtang (alternatively spelled Changthang or Qangtang) is a part of the high altitude Tibetan Plateau in western and northern Tibet extending into the southern edges of Xinjiang as well as southeastern Ladakh, India, with vast highlands and g ...
region. It is found on the so-called Northern Route, north of
Raka and south of
Town of Coqên in Central Tibet. Travellers use this route as an alternative access route to western Tibet and
Mount Kailash
Mount Kailash (also Kailasa; ''Kangrinboqê'' or ''Gang Rinpoche''; Tibetan: གངས་རིན་པོ་ཆེ; ; sa, कैलास, ), is a mountain in the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It has an altitude of ...
, especially when mud makes access by the more southern route difficult.
The road crossing the pass was once an old unsurfaced track travelled only by a weekly bus and trucks heading west to avoid the boggy parts of the south of the country.
The construction of paved road through the pass, Tibet Provincial Road S206, was finished in late 2015.
Elevation
The height according to the Tibet Department of Transportation is ;
however, the signage at the road rounded it up to . In 2005, a Catalan cartographic expedition certified the height to be .
At , Semo La may be the
highest asphalted road in the world.
Khardung La
Khardung La () or Khardung Pass is a mountain pass in the Leh district of the Indian union territory of Ladakh.
The pass is on the Ladakh Range, north of Leh, and connects the Indus river valley and the Shyok river valley. It also forms the ...
was once thought to be the world record holder at ; in reality, according to modern surveys, it measures , less than previously thought.
See also
*
List of extreme points of China
This is a list of the extreme points of China, compared both globally and within the country.
Global extreme points in China
Altitude
* The highest point on Earth measured from sea level is the summit of Mount Everest, Tibet Autonomous Region o ...
References
Mountain passes of Tibet
Mountain passes of China
Transhimalayas
Tibetan Plateau
Ngari Prefecture
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