Desert Taklamakan

China / Xinjiang / Kuche /
 desert, invisible
The Taklamakan (also Taklimakan) is a desert of Central Asia, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the People's Republic of China. It is known as the largest sand-only desert in the world, and dominates much of the Tarim Basin which occupies an area of more than 400,000 km². The basin's northern boundary is the Tian Shan mountain range and its southern is the Kunlun Mountains on the northern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. The Silk Road, a series of trade routes through regions of Asia, splits into two routes: the North Silk Road along the northern edge and another along the southern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. A middle route was deserted in the sixth century. Some references fancifully state that Taklamakan means "if you go in, you won't come out"; others state that it means "Desert of Death" or "Place of No Return". "Makan" is a Uyghur word meaning "place", of Arabic origin: the word may mean something different if treated as original Uyghur.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taklamakan
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   38°59'55"N   82°54'54"E

Comments

  • Sehr schön
  • cubay wrote: very nice. But it's even nicer!