Hotan Taklamakan Desert Travel Guide

The Taklimakan is the largest, driest and highest desert in China, filling the Tarim basin between the Tianshan mountains to the north and Kunlun mountains to the south. Taklimakan desert is the world's second-largest flow desert that just smaller than Sahara desert in Africa . The whole desert east-west is about 1000 km long and south-north is 400 km which is cover 330,000 square kilometers. The average annual precipitation is not over 100 mm and lowest is around 5 mm, but the average evaporation reach up tp 2500-3400 mm. The pyramid shade dunes is over 300 m above the plain. The storm could blow the sands three times over it. The dunes moves due to the wind. Few plants could survive in the desert which has strong root system in order to draw the water from underground. The animals living in the desert will go into aestivation when hot summer comes.