Northern Tarim route

node · earth · Tarim Basin, Xinjiang

The corridor running west from Dunhuang along the northern rim of the Taklamakan, at the southern foot of the Tian Shan, through the oases of Turfan, Karashahr, Kucha and Aksu to Kashgar. It skirts the desert; it does not cross it. Each oasis exists because a stream descends from the Tian Shan, and the spacing of those streams sets the stages of the journey. This was the route of the Tang Anxi Protectorate garrisons and the corridor along which Buddhist cave complexes at Kizil and Bezeklik were cut.