Mount Gongga (Minya Konka), towering over Sichuan's Kangding region, captivated Western explorers for decades as a potential "world's tallest peak." Early sightings by travelers like William Gill (1877) and Bela-Szechenyi (1879) hinted at its staggering height – estimates ranging wildly from 7,600m to a mythical 10,000m. This cartographic enigma, marked as blank space or contradictory symbols on maps, drew ambitious expeditions.

The modern exploration era began in 1929 when botanist Joseph Rock reached Gongga's western slopes, publishing dramatic accounts in National Geographic and igniting global fascination. His rough measurement of 7,802m fueled speculation. Almost simultaneously, Theodore Roosevelt Jr.'s expedition placed a tantalizing "30,000 feet" mark near "Koonka" on their map. Scientific rigor arrived in 1930 with Swiss geographer Eduard Imhof and geologist Arnold Heim's Sino-Swiss expedition. They conducted systematic surveys, named peaks (including Mount Sunyatsen), published the first dedicated book (Minya Gongkar), and proposed heights around 7,590m.

The climax came in 1932 with the American Sikong Expedition (Burdsall, Emmons, Moore, Young). Battling political turmoil and economic depression, they achieved the first ascent via the northwest ridge and established the definitive altitude of 7,590m through precise theodolite measurements. Their triumph ended the "world's tallest" debate but cemented Gongga's legacy as a mountaineering icon and a pivotal chapter in China's exploration history, setting the stage for its symbolic role as the birthplace of modern Chinese mountaineering in 1957.