Extreme Dangers of the Silk

The Taklamakan Desert of China

One of the most extreme dangers of Silk Road is the Taklamakan Desert - also known as 'The Land of No Return'.

Travelling across it is the hardest experience of all for all traders and travellers for they had no choice - to escape from the wastelands, they had to go through the formidable desert. The desert, composed of pebble-detritus deposits, covers 270 000 km2 of the Tarim Basin, and is surrounded by high mountain ranges - the Tian Shan towards the north, Pamirs to the west and the Kunlun Mountains to the south.

It has almost no water, and has very little vegetation.

Thus, travellers had to bring their own bottles of water and containers of food, making the trip much more difficult. Not only there was a lack of water, the desert also had a horrible climate. During the day, the climate is burning hot (to the 40s) but during the night it is freezing cold (-20°C) that can lead to brutal death. Sandstorms which took lives of innocent travellers also happen quite often in the desert. Thus, goods that are brought by traders are often buried. Treasures are found in the desert, buried deep under, caused by sandstorms.

Dust storm of Taklamakan - a satellite shot.

Mummies, over 4000 years old, could even be found! Some of the mummies are Europeans. This shows that many people of different races of different countries had passed through the Taklamakan Desert.

Mummy of a young woman - a sacrificial victim, found in the Taklamakan in 1989

Even lost kingdoms are found over the years they were buried - Loulan, swallowed up by the shifting sands of Taklamakan 1,400 years ago. Though located near a lake, it has already dried up now - its sudden disappearance was a huge blow to Ancient History. It (Loulan) had prospered, being a main trading centre - yet it vanished... without a trace. Till now, though dicovered, it still remains one of History's major puzzles.

The Taklamakan remains, till now, a curiosity, yet, a danger.