Better conditions

Paiyike is said to be a transliteration of a Kirgiz phrase, meaning "the highest mountain". The police station is located at an altitude of 3,780 meters in a village where most residents are members of the Kirgiz ethnic group.

The station sits at the eastern end of the Wakhan Corridor. Its jurisdiction borders Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, so the police officers' daily patrols are especially important to help prevent illegal border crossings.

The patrols, which take place at an average altitude of 4,600 meters and often in howling winds and deep snow, only make the police officers' work more daunting.

"I found it particularly difficult to breathe," Murat said about the altitude sickness he endured when he first started participating in patrols. "Whenever I came back to the police station, I would feel dizzy, nauseous and extremely exhausted."

After finishing every patrol, Murat takes a two-hour break in the station's sunroom, which is filled with lush plants and equipped with an oxygen generator and a heating system. Here, officers can read books, have tea and snacks, and even sing karaoke.

The station also has a canteen, a gym and double rooms for its officers to live in. The rooms are equipped with a bathroom, a washing machine, a boiler, a TV, an oxygen generator and Wi-Fi, aiming to make the officers' lives on the plateau easier.

But things were rather different more than a decade ago.

Ablimit Awut, born and raised in Urumqi, a city more than 1,000 kilometers away, first came to work at the station for about 10 days in the winter of 2008, when he was 20.

At that time, the station was only a one-story building with a yard, and no heating or running water.

At night, Ablimit slept in a bunk bed, sharing the room with several others. "It was so windy at night, and I had to use the stove to keep warm," he said.

The water had to be fetched from a river nearby by a donkey cart. Due to the cold weather and limited water resources, he wasn't able to take a shower while working there.

"I felt the time go by so slowly. I had never experienced such hardship growing up," Ablimit said, recalling that he "almost began to cry" when he learned he would once again be appointed to work at the police station in 2012.

During his second stint at Paiyike, he lived in a double room in a new building near the one he had lived in years ago and found the conditions had "improved a bit".

A boiler was installed to provide heating, but the station still lacked stable power and water supplies.

Police officers had to save solar power while working by turning on only one of a dozen or so computers and avoiding to use electric boilers in the dorms. In addition, the water pump often failed to work in the freezing conditions.

But Ablimit said he had developed an emotional bond with the local people during his nearly two years of working there. He left after being dispatched to work in neighboring Yecheng county.

The bonds he forged were so strong that when he was up for redeployment in March 2023, he took the initiative and applied to return to Paiyike, where he was surprised by the "dramatic changes" at the station.

Sometimes, the 37-year-old still struggles with altitude sickness and feels overwhelmed when he wakes up to the view of gargantuan mountains, but he said he is very proud to be participating in the border protection work in the area.

"I respect everyone who works at Paiyike. It's not easy being here," he said, adding that only those who have a strong will can bear staying in such a challenging environment for a long period.