The Chinese cemetery in Danyor, about 10 km from Gilgit city across the river, holds the graves of Chinese engineers and workers who died building the Karakoram Highway. It was laid out in the early 1970s while the road was still under construction, it is free to enter, and a visit takes about twenty minutes. Locally it is called China Yadgar; its formal name is the Gilgit Chinese Memorial Cemetery.
This guide covers who is buried here and how many, why the figures you read differ, the ceremony held each April, and how to reach the site and behave once there.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Location | Danyor, on the far bank from Gilgit city, beside the Karakoram Highway |
| From central Gilgit | About 10 km, 15 to 20 minutes by car |
| Established | Early 1970s |
| Size | About 1,600 square metres |
| Graves | 88 |
| Annual ceremony | 4 April |
| Entry | Free |
| Time needed | 15 to 20 minutes |
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Who is buried here, and how many?
The cemetery holds 88 graves. Each headstone carries an epitaph in Chinese characters, and a central monument marks the site as a whole.
The numbers around those 88 graves are less settled, and it helps to know why before you read a plaque or a news report:
- Dawn, reporting the 2025 ceremony, says 200 Chinese engineers and workers died on the highway, that 88 of them are buried at Danyor, and that the bodies of the others were never recovered.
- Wikipedia's entry for the cemetery lists 88 graves but 140 interments, and the state news agency APP also speaks of "over 140" Chinese workers who died between 1966 and 1978.
- For the highway as a whole, the commonly quoted figure is about 810 Pakistani and about 200 Chinese dead. A senior Gilgit police officer at the 2025 ceremony put the Pakistani toll at 900.
What all the accounts agree on is the cause. Most of the men died in landslides, rockfall, avalanches and falls, spread over years of work, not in one disaster. Some were never found, which is why the number commemorated is larger than the number of graves.
The Pakistani dead are not buried here. The Pakistani side of the road was built by the Frontier Works Organisation with the army's Corps of Engineers, and its dead are remembered separately. Our history of the Karakoram Highway covers that side of the story.
The road behind the graves
The Karakoram Highway links Gilgit-Baltistan with Xinjiang over the Khunjerab Pass and is Pakistan's only road link with China. Joint Pakistani and Chinese work on it is usually dated from 1966. The road was completed in 1979 and opened to the public in 1986.
The cemetery dates from the middle of that period: it was established in the early 1970s, while crews were still working on the road north of Gilgit.
The ceremony on 4 April
A remembrance ceremony is held at the cemetery every year on 4 April, at the time of the Chinese tomb-sweeping festival. Dawn's report of the 2025 ceremony describes what happens:
- A delegation arrives from the Chinese embassy and the Overseas Chinese Association, sometimes with relatives of the men buried here.
- Relatives lay wreaths and place candles, food and gifts at the graves, and a silence is observed.
- A Gilgit-Baltistan police contingent presents a salute and both national anthems are played.
Earlier visits have left their own marks on the site. A delegation of retired People's Liberation Army soldiers who had worked on the road came in August 2011. At the April 2013 ceremony, Chinese officials pledged to pay for a renovation, and the Express Tribune reported that June that the work was due to be finished by October of that year. Karakoram International University, whose campus is close by, held its own tribute here in 2023.
If you are in Gilgit on 4 April you can expect the cemetery to be busy and closely policed for the morning. On any other day it is quiet.
How to get there
From central Gilgit the cemetery is about 10 km by road; a routing check gives a little over 9 km from the city centre, which is fifteen to twenty minutes in normal traffic. Cross the river towards Danyor and follow the Karakoram Highway; the cemetery is in Danyor town, a short way off the main road, and every local driver knows it as China Yadgar.
- By taxi or hired car. The simple option. Agree a return fare with waiting time before you set off, since there is no taxi rank at the cemetery.
- By public transport. Danyor is a suburb of Gilgit and is served by local vans. We have not verified a current fare or the nearest stop, so ask at your hotel before relying on it.
There is no ticket booth and we found no published opening hours. If the gate is locked, ask at the nearest shop for the caretaker; do not climb the wall.
What else is nearby?
Three other stops lie within a few minutes of the cemetery, and together they make a good half day:
- The Danyor suspension bridge and tunnel. The bridge is more than fifty years old and leads into a single-lane tunnel that local people cut themselves, without proper engineering equipment.
- The Danyor rock inscriptions, in the Chikas neighbourhood. Our guide to the Danyor rock inscriptions explains what they record.
- The shrine of Shah Sultan Ali Arif, on the hillside above the tunnel.
Our one day in Gilgit plan fits all of these around the city's own sights, and the guide to places to visit in Gilgit city covers the rest.
Visiting etiquette
This is a burial ground, and the families of the dead still travel from China to visit it.
- Keep the visit short and quiet. Walk the rows, read what you can, and leave.
- No food, no picnics, no music.
- Photograph the site, not yourselves posing on it. Do not sit or lean on headstones.
- Leave offerings alone. After the April ceremony there may be fruit, sweets, candles or small gifts on the graves.
Is it worth the stop?
Yes, if you are about to drive the Karakoram Highway north, or have just come down it. Twenty minutes here puts a human cost against a road most visitors think of only as scenery.
It is not a sight in the usual sense. It is a small walled burial ground, the inscriptions are in Chinese, and there is nothing to do beyond walking through. If you have a single evening in Gilgit, choose the Kargah Buddha first and add Danyor only if time allows.
The Gilgit to Danyor stretch is not part of the section of the highway that the UK government warns against, which runs from Mansehra to Chilas, well to the south.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Chinese cemetery in Gilgit?
In Danyor, about 10 km from central Gilgit on the opposite bank of the river, close to the Karakoram Highway. Locals call it China Yadgar.
Who is buried at the Chinese cemetery?
Chinese engineers and workers who died building the Karakoram Highway in the 1960s and 1970s, most of them killed by landslides, rockfall, avalanches and falls.
How many graves are there?
There are 88 graves. Dawn reports that about 200 Chinese workers died on the highway in total and that the remains of the rest were never recovered; other sources give 140 as the number commemorated here.
Is there an entry fee or a ticket?
No. Entry is free and there is no ticket office. If the gate is closed, ask locally for the caretaker.
When is the annual ceremony?
On 4 April each year, with Chinese embassy officials, relatives of the dead, the Overseas Chinese Association and Gilgit-Baltistan police taking part.
Can I combine it with other sights?
Yes. The Danyor suspension bridge, the tunnel and the Danyor rock inscriptions are all within a few minutes' drive, and the four together take about half a day from Gilgit.
