Which Chinese desert lies in the Tarim Basin south of the Tian Shan?

The Chinese desert in the Tarim Basin south of the Tian Shan is the Taklamakan Desert.

The Taklamakan lies in southern Xinjiang, within the vast, enclosed Tarim Basin. The Tian Shan bounds it to the north, while the Kunlun Mountains lie to the south and the Pamir Mountains to the west. Covering about 337,000 square kilometres, it is one of the world’s largest sandy deserts and occupies much of the basin’s interior.

Its extreme dryness made crossing it dangerous for travelers, so historic Silk Road routes generally followed chains of oases around its northern and southern edges. Modern roads now cross the desert, including the Tarim Desert Highway, linking settlements on opposite sides. Sand dunes can reach roughly 90 metres in height, and the region experiences very hot summers, cold winters and hazardous sandstorms.

The name is sometimes loosely translated as “place of no return,” though its exact linguistic origin is debated. It is also easy to confuse the Taklamakan with the Gobi, but the Gobi lies farther east and is a broader cold-desert region.