Southern Tarim route

node · earth · Tarim Basin, Xinjiang

The corridor running west from Dunhuang along the southern rim of the Taklamakan, at the northern foot of the Kunlun, through Miran, Niya, Khotan and Yarkand to Kashgar. Like the northern route it hugs the desert edge rather than entering it, following streams that run north off the Kunlun and die in the sand. Khotan, on this route, was the source of the nephrite jade traded east into China long before silk moved west. Several of its oases, including Niya and Loulan, were abandoned as water courses shifted, and the sand preserved them.