China's Vast 12 Percent
(Taklamakan Desert, Xinjiang, photographer @ Teng Hongliang)
(Badain Jaran Desert, Inner Mongolia, photographer @ Lin Likai)
Rugged as the Gobi of Saishiteng Mountain, Qinghai
(Gobi of Saishiteng Mountain in Qaidam Basin, Qinghai, photographer @ Yecao Ou)
(Gobi near Lop Nur, Xinjiang, photographer @ Wen Xinghua)
Concentrated in the northwestern regions of China
Together, they form the main landscapes of China's deserts
The desert area covers approximately 688,000 square kilometers
The Gobi area spans about 458,000 square kilometers
Totaling the size of 11 Zhejiang Provinces
Accounting for roughly 12% of China's land territory
(Data on desert and Gobi areas vary by statistical standards; this article references the "Atlas of Chinese Deserts" compiled by the State Forestry Administration and the "Dictionary of Geosciences" edited by Sun Honglie et al.; please view the following image horizontally: distribution map of deserts and Gobi in northern China; conventionally, sandy deserts in the western arid regions are called "deserts," while those in the eastern semi-arid and semi-humid regions are termed "sandy lands," and gravel or rocky deserts are referred to as "Gobi"; map by @ Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
Such vast desert and Gobi landscapes?
What extreme scenery do they present?
The Indian Plate subducts and collides with the Eurasian Plate
The Tibetan Plateau continues to rise rapidly
(Schematic diagram of the Tibetan Plateau uplift; the timing of plate collision remains debated, with 66 million years ago as labeled in the original data; map by @ Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
As a result, towering mountains rise in China's northwest
Between these mountains, large basins form due to relative subsidence
Creating an alternating distribution of high mountains and basins
(Please view horizontally, Topographic Map of Northwest China, mapped by Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
Blocking moisture from multiple directions
Coupled with the vast distance between the Northwest region and the major oceans
(Distribution of Annual Precipitation in China and Schematic Diagram of Moisture Blocked by Plateaus and Mountains from Multiple Directions in the Northwest, where Pacific moisture struggles to reach due to the distance; mapped by Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
Drought leads to sparse vegetation on high mountains
(Altun Mountains, photographed by Guo Quan)
Causing repeated thermal expansion and contraction of rocks
(The above process is called physical weathering, the primary mechanism for rock fragmentation on high mountains; the lower image illustrates the physical weathering process, including the two most common methods: thermal stress weathering and freeze-thaw weathering, mapped by Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
These are the material sources of the Gobi and deserts
Awaiting the arrival of "transporters"
(Tianshan Mountains along the Duku Highway in Xinjiang, photographed by Zhang Bo)
Flowing water first takes on the role of "transporter"
(Alluvial fan in the western section of the Qilian Mountains, photographed by Lu Yuchun)
The water gradually infiltrates and evaporates
The second "transporter," wind, begins its work
Wind carries away the lighter fine sand
Leaving only heavier gravel and coarse sand behind
Formed from deposits at the mountain front
(The term "Gobi" originates from Mongolian, meaning "a vast expanse"; the lower image shows the formation process of depositional Gobi, mapped by Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
Such as the Gobi located in the Qaidam Basin
The towering Kunlun Mountains and Altun Mountains loom ahead
And they are precisely the source of the scattered rocks covering the Gobi
(Please view horizontally, Gobi near Xiaosugan Lake on the edge of the Qaidam Basin, photographer @wzkdream)
The debris washed out from the northern foothills of the Qilian Mountains
Accumulates into gravel layers hundreds of meters thick
Vast expanses of Gobi develop atop them
(Gobi near the Singing Sand Mountains of Dunhuang, photographer @Cool Bird Wei Jian)
While eastern Xinjiang, the northwestern Hexi Corridor, and the Alxa Plateau
Extend into the vast territories of Mongolia
Form an even more expansive world of rubble
The total area of Gobi here reaches 1.3 million square kilometers
(Historically, the "Great Gobi" was also known as the "Vast Sea" or "Great Desert," dividing the northern grasslands into "South of the Desert" and "North of the Desert"; below is the Dahai Dao Gobi near Hami, Xinjiang, photographer @Liu Juan)
Besides the depositional Gobi formed in front of mountains
In low-elevation hilly areas with large exposures of bedrock
The surface becomes severely fragmented due to prolonged weathering and erosion
(Mazong Mountain Gobi in the northwestern Hexi Corridor, Gansu, photographer @Chen Jianfeng)
For example, the Heishan Gobi in the northwestern Qaidam Basin
Moisture on the surface of the rubble easily evaporates in the arid climate
While the minerals dissolved in the moisture remain
Forming a blackish "desert varnish"
Such a Gobi is therefore called the "Black Gobi"
(Please view horizontally, the Black Mountain Gobi in Qaidam Basin, Qinghai, photographer @wzkdream)
They are also sculpted by the wind into bizarre shapes
(Mushroom Rock in Haisentchulu, Inner Mongolia, named for its mushroom-like shape, photographer @Zeng Jianjun)
(Stone Hollow in Haisentchulu, Inner Mongolia, named for its eroded interior, photographer @Zeng Jianjun)
Meltwater from snow and ice on high mountains, along with precipitation
Once formed rivers and lakes with abundant water
Accumulated at the river and lake bottoms and gradually solidified
Under the relentless blowing of strong winds over the years
(Yardang is originally a Uyghur term meaning "steep hill"; the image below illustrates the formation of Yardang landforms, designed by @Luo Zihan/Planet Research Institute)
Yardang landforms often appear as rows and lines
With ridges roughly parallel to the dominant wind direction
Among them, the Lop Nur region is the most typical
Its ridges are densely distributed and neatly arranged
(Yardang clusters on the western side of Lop Nur, photographer @Liu Yusheng)
(Dragon City Yardang on the northern side of Lop Nur, photographer @Qian Wei)
Large areas of Yardang landforms are also distributed here
(Yardang in the northwestern part of Qaidam Basin, photographer @Sun Qi)
Wusute Yardang, also located in the Qaidam Basin
Was submerged by rising lake water from nearby lakes
Unique water-eroded yardangs have also formed
(Please view horizontally. The Wusute Water Yardangs, part of the Qaidam Nanbaxian Yardang Group, photographer @ Liu Ran)
Developed on older and harder rock strata
The surface is "gnawed" into relatively isolated small hills
(Wind-eroded remnants in the Urho Devil City, Xinjiang, photographer @ Cool Bird Wei Jian)
(Wind-eroded remnants in the Urho Devil City, Xinjiang, photographer @ Zhao Gaoxiang)
These are typical examples of such landforms
This place is like a devil-haunted alien land
(Urho Devil City, Xinjiang, photographer @ Zhu Jinhua)
Wind and water transport debris out of the mountains
And shape landscapes like the Gobi and yardangs
Some finer particles are blown away by the wind
And settle elsewhere, accumulating
Eventually forming vast landscapes that countless people yearn for
These tiny sand grains are carried by wind and water
During this period, lakes and rivers constantly vanish and reappear
(Please view horizontally. Sand dunes east of Qinghai Lake, formed from ancient lake sediments reshaped by wind, now covering the area where Qinghai Lake's water level was once ~100 meters higher, photographer @ Qiu Menghan)
Accumulating into an area of just 2,145 square kilometers
It is one of China's deserts closest to a city
(Shanshan County and the nearby Kumtag Desert, Xinjiang, photographer @ Du Wenming)
Sand grains originating from the Kunlun Mountains and Altun Mountains
in the Kumukuli Basin of southeastern Xinjiang
accumulated to form an area of 2,357 square kilometers
with an elevation above 4,000 meters
(Kumukuli Desert, with the Altun Mountains in the distance, photographer @ Li Xueliang)
In the basin of the central Alxa Plateau
they accumulated to form China's third-largest desert
covering an area of approximately 49,000 square kilometers
(Please view horizontally, sand dunes in the Badain Jaran Desert, photographer @ Wu Wei)
Sand grains originating from the Tianshan Mountains and Altai Mountains
accumulated to form China's second-largest desert
(Gurbantünggüt Desert, photographer @ Fei Xiang)
Sand grains originating from the Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, and Altun Mountains
accumulated to form China's largest desert
and the world's second-largest shifting desert
covering a vast area of 340,000 square kilometers
(Please view horizontally, the Taklamakan Desert and oil wells within it. The meaning of "Taklamakan" has multiple interpretations, one of which is "once entered, you cannot leave," photographer @ Wen Xinghua)
This is the smallest geomorphic landscape in the desert
(Sand ripples on the desert surface, photographer @ Xu Shuchun)
(Sand dunes in the Kubuqi Desert, photographer @ Huang Dengyi)
Most dunes have almost no vegetation cover
(Schematic diagram of moving dunes, mapped by Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
If the wind blows from a single direction toward the moving dunes
(Crescent dunes are the simplest and most common dune type in deserts; please view the following image horizontally, crescent dunes in the desert, photographed by Liu Zhongwen, annotated by Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
When numerous crescent dunes connect laterally
(Dune chains in the desert, photographed by Shi Weitian)
Diverse dune landscapes of various forms
(Schematic diagram of multi-directional wind-driven dune formation in moving dunes, mapped by Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
The wind writes wonders in desolate lands
Creating unique features like those in the Kumtag Desert
(The feather-like dunes in the northeastern Kumtag Desert are a globally unique dune type, base map from Microsoft Maps, annotated by Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
(Please view horizontally, Bilutu Sand Mountain in the Badain Jaran Desert, photographed by Zhang Yang's Xiaoqiang)
Under certain special conditions, dry sand grains
Such as the Mingsha Mountain near Dunhuang, Gansu
(Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang, photographed by Toby climbing the Great Wall)
Desert landscapes are not merely arid and desolate
Bringing vitality to the desert regions of northwestern China
Including a total of 676 rivers, large and small
And 514 lakes with an area greater than 1 square kilometer
(Please view horizontally, water system map of northwestern China, mapped by Chen Zhihao/Planet Research Institute)
(Please view horizontally, the Heihe River at the edge of the Badain Jaran Desert, China's second-largest inland river, photographer: Wu Wei)
(The Tarim River in the Taklamakan Desert, China's largest inland river, photographer: Wang Hanbing)
For example, located at the ends of the Tarim River and the Qarqan River
(Taitema Lake dried up in 1972 but was later restored through artificial ecological water transfers, photographer: Chai Jianghui)
And the terminal lake of China's second-largest inland river, the Heihe River
Located in Inner Mongolia, the Suonuo'er
(Please view horizontally, Suonuo'er, also known as East Juyan Lake, dried up in 1992 but was later restored through management, photographer: Lu Wen)
Some water flows cleverly avoid
Direct confrontation with the desert on the surface
(Schematic diagram of groundwater replenishing desert lakes, illustrator: Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
Scattered like stars across the golden sea of sand
(Lakes in the Badain Jaran Desert, base map: Microsoft Maps, annotations: Yang Ning/Planet Research Institute)
Some brightly colored halophilic algae
Give the lake surface an extraordinary reddish-purple hue
(The Rose Lake in the Badain Jaran Desert, photographer: A Ding)
Rivers bring vitality to the desert
Allowing forests to thrive even amidst vast yellow sands
(Populus euphratica forests along the Tarim River in Xinjiang, photographer: Wang Hanbing)
Enabling them to rest and play while flying over desolation
(Waterbirds at Dachaidan Lake in the Qaidam Basin, photographer: Zhang Zhaofeng)
Forms the essence of China's Great Northwest
(Line from Cen Shen's "Writing in the Desert"; below is the Kumtag Desert, photographer @龍柏山人)
(Line from Wang Changling's "Army Life: No. 5"; below is dust near the Yadan landform in Qaidam Basin's Eboliang, photographer @李政霖)
(Line from Cen Shen's "Song of White Snow in Farewell to Secretary Wu Going Back to the Capital"; below is snow in the Taklamakan Desert, photographer @王汉冰)
"Through golden armor pierced by yellow sand, we vow not to return till we conquer Loulan"
(Line from Wang Changling's "Army Life: No. 4"; please view horizontally, the Ming Great Wall in Hexi Corridor, photographer @刘忠文)
"Leaving the purple palace for the northern desert, only a green mound remains in dusk"
(Line from Du Fu's "Reflections on Ancient Sites: No. 3"; below is the ruins of Heicheng in Inner Mongolia, photographer @杨建)
"A cup of strong wine to my homeland far away, no plan to return until Yanran is conquered"
(Line from Fan Zhongyan's "Pride of Fishermen: Autumn Thoughts"; below is the Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang, photographer @王隽斌)
Have even closer contact with deserts and Gobi
(Highway in the Taklamakan Desert, photographer @文兴华)
(Please view horizontally, oil fields in Karamay, photographer @姚宏扬)
(Wind turbines in the Gurbantünggüt Desert, image processed via stacking, photographer @阿石)
(Please view horizontally, Delingha solar thermal power station in Qinghai, photographer @李江涛)
We also focus on the ecological value of deserts and Gobi
We have begun scientifically restoring lands desertified
due to unsustainable human activities
To revive the once-lush wilderness
(Straw checkerboards being laid in Ningxia's Shapotou, photographer @曾国福)
We actively promote the protection of flora and fauna
Preserving biodiversity in desert regions
(Wild camels on the Gobi of Dunhuang West Lake National Nature Reserve, photographer: Wu Wei)
Will explore deserts and Gobi more comprehensively
Will uncover the richer value of deserts
This vast wilderness, where the sky stretches endlessly and life thrives abundantly
Written by: Ding Hao Edited by: Director Yunwu Kongcheng
Images: Yuhan Maps: Chen Zhihao
Design: Yang Ning, Luo Zihan Reviewers: Yunwu Kongcheng, Fengzi, Taishan
Header & Cover Photographer: Wen Xinghua
Main references for this article can be viewed by scrolling
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