航拍中国之新疆系列英文解说（六）

作者：佚名
朗诵：郎郎乾坤
制作：Lotus

At the heart of the Tarim Basin is the largest desert in China. The desert is the size of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces combined. In Uygur, Taklimakan means “you can get in but can’t get out.” In this extremely dangerous environment 80% of the sand dunes are constantly shifting, blown by the wind. In the course of the past millennium the desert has expanded by a hundred kilometers southward. 

North of the desert we continue along the Tarim River, to its end. The Tarim is the longest inland river in China. Almost half of Xinjiang’s population lives in its drainage area.

The desert poplar forest in autumn is one of the most spectacular scenes in Xinjiang. More than half of the desert poplar trees on Earth are found here. Their unique characteristic is that they grow towards water. Without sufficient water, they abandon their bodies above ground, allowing the roots underground to stay alive. A seemingly dried-up desert poplar will sprout again once it finds a new water source.

Thus does life in the desert adapt to survive the arid conditions. Camels can live for a week in a desert without water. Their real water tanks are not their humps but their body fluid systems. For a 500kg camel, its body fluid provide at least 125kg of water.

In drought conditions the Goitred Gazelle relies more on hard work than instinct. In winter the snow water keeps them hydrated. But summer involves a constant search for moisture-bearing plants to fill their stomach while quenching their thirst.

The aquamarine lake in Lop Ner contains salt water. Drawn from underground reservoirs, it forms naturally crystallized salt under heat. The saltwater lake constitutes only a small portion of Lop Nur. A far greater part is the vast Gobi Desert, which, when seen from above, looks like an extraterrestrial planet. Lop Nur was once a huge lake fed by the Tarim River. Sixty years ago it dried up after the Tarim River ran dry downstream.

On the northwestern edge of Lop Nur lie the ruins of Loulan City. Many official documents have been unearthed by this wall, leading experts to conclude that this may have been a government repository for official files in ancient times. Cities grew up along the Silk Road with many taking their name from a nearby river.

This ancient city was built on a willow-leaf shaped eyot bordering two crossing rivers. Hence the name, Jiaohe, which means River-Crossing City. 

A unique building method was employed here. By digging downward from the subsoil layer they created streets, houses and finally the whole city. Jaohe City sits quietly in its place.

Our journey takes us over the ruins of many lost cities. Built beside rivers, they were laces where merchant caravans travelling on the Silk Road would stop to replenish their supplies. Without these ancient cities, trade and even civilization, would not have extended this far.