The Taklamakan fills the Tarim Basin in southern Xinjiang and covers roughly 337,000 square kilometres, which makes it the largest desert in China and one of the largest sand deserts in the world. It is enclosed by the Tianshan to the north, the Pamirs and Kunlun to the west and south, and it is extremely dry: some parts of the central desert receive almost no rain at all.
What it looks like
Mostly it is dunes - long, regularly spaced ridges of fine sand, sometimes over a hundred metres high, running in parallel lines for kilometres. Between them are flat gravel plains, salt pans and dry riverbeds. The colour changes from pale yellow at midday to orange and then deep rose at sunset, and the dune shadows at low sun are what people photograph. Along the southern and northern edges, oases depend on rivers running down from the mountains, and the old Silk Road routes ran from oasis to oasis around the desert rather than across it.
The desert highway
A paved highway crosses the desert from north to south, about 520 kilometres long, completed in the 1990s. It is a remarkable piece of engineering: the road runs through a corridor of sand-fixing vegetation - straw grids and shrubs such as saxaul and tamarisk - planted and irrigated to stop the dunes from burying it. Driving it takes most of a day, with fuel and food stops at intervals, and a second highway now crosses further east. Crossing the desert by road is one of the great drives in China, and the emptiness is the experience.
Practical information
There is no public transport along the crossing that suits visitors; the highway is normally driven with a car and driver, either as a transfer between Hotan and Korla or as part of a longer southern Xinjiang route. Carry more water than you think you need, keep the fuel tank topped up and check conditions before setting out - sandstorms close the road, and summer daytime temperatures are extreme.
Should you camp
Camping in the dunes is possible with a licensed operator and is unforgettable, with total silence and exceptional stargazing. It is not something to attempt independently: navigation, water and vehicle recovery are genuine problems. Book through an agency that runs desert trips, and go outside the hottest months.
