Discover China's largest desert, a place that is considered 'easy to enter, hard to return'

As the largest desert in China today, Taklimakan has long been famous as a place "easy to enter but hard to return".


Explore China's largest desert from above.

The Taklimakan Desert is a desert located in Central Asia, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China.

Known as one of the largest deserts in the world, the Taklimakan covers hundreds of square kilometers of the Tarim Basin, with sand dunes up to 300 meters high.

Picture 1 of Discover China's largest desert, a place that is considered 'easy to enter, hard to return'
The majestic, vast Taklimakan desert from above

At the northern and southern edges of this desert are two branches of the ancient "Silk Road" , once discovered by traders, following the Taklamakan belt and oases to avoid the arid lands.

Picture 2 of Discover China's largest desert, a place that is considered 'easy to enter, hard to return'
Surreal beauty in China's largest desert

Why is Taklimakan called "a place easy to enter, hard to return" ? Actually, this comes from its name. In the Uyghur language, this place is roughly understood as "you can enter, but never leave". This is also the largest desert in China today .

Picture 3 of Discover China's largest desert, a place that is considered 'easy to enter, hard to return'
The sand dunes here can be up to 300m high.

In the past, camels were used to transport goods across this desert. It was also part of the "Silk Road" route - a trade route connecting Europe and Asia more than 2,000 years ago. Therefore, since ancient times, the Taklamakan Desert has played an extremely important role in Asia-Europe trade.

For a long time, archaeological sites have existed in Taklamakan. But they are all covered by sand. Many ancient temples and houses are located in the middle of a vast sea of ​​sand…