The Taklamakan Desert, vast and boundless!

The Taklamakan Desert is a large desert located in the center of the Tarim Basin in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. It is situated between the Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Altun Mountains, and the Pamir Plateau. The desert stretches over 1100 kilometers from east to west and 550 kilometers from north to south, covering an area of approximately 337,600 square kilometers. It accounts for half of China's desert area and is the largest desert in China. The average annual precipitation in the Taklamakan Desert does not exceed 100 millimeters, with the lowest being only four to five millimeters; the average evaporation rate is as high as 2500-3400 millimeters. The pyramid-shaped sand dunes in this area stand 300 meters above the plain, and strong winds can blow up sand walls up to three times their height. The sand dunes in the desert stretch endlessly and often move due to the influence of the wind. There are also a small number of plants in the desert, with root systems that are exceptionally developed, extending tens to hundreds of times longer than the above-ground parts to absorb underground water; animals there exhibit summer dormancy.