Driving the brutal Qizil Dawān
Qizil Dawān is a high mountain pass at an elevation of 5.317m (17,444ft) above the sea level, located in the southwestern part of Hotan Prefecture of Xinjiang Autonomous Region, in China.
The road to the summit is totally unpaved. 4x4 vehicles only. There is a real risk of AMS (altitude-mountain-sickness) and death due to Pulmonary Edema and Cerebral Edema. Due to the high elevations and exposure, the road is subject to strong winds and rapid weather changes. Temperatures here in the winter are brutally cold. It plummets as low as -55 C in the winters. The weather deteriorates frequently with strong icy winds.