The pass has an elevation of 4,362.7 metres (14,313ft)[6] and opens from the north to the southeast, and is 500m wide from north to south and 1km in length from east to west with a gentle incline not exceeding 20 percent. On the Tajik side, the pass is 80km by road to Murghab and about 850km to Dushanbe. On the Chinese side, the pass is 13.9km from Karasu (卡拉苏口岸), a port of entry on the Karakorum Highway which leads to Tashkurgan (60–70km) and Kashgar (220km). In the past, the pass used to be open from the 16th to the 30th day of each month from May to November. In most recent years it is open all weekdays all year round (except for national festivities).
The pass was closed for many years due to political tensions between the Soviet Union and China, and then the Tajikistani Civil War. In 1997, China and Tajikistan signed an agreement to develop a commercial corridor between the two countries through the pass. The opening of the pass reduced cargo travel time between the two countries by ten to fifteen days, obviating lengthy detours into Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.