The oval area in the middle of the image is the
Taklamakan Desert (also Taklimakan) - one of the largest and most
dangerous sand deserts in the world. Taklamakan supposedly means "Desert
of Death" or "Place of No Return". It is located in the Tarim Basin of
the
Xinjiang
Uyghur Autonomous Region of the
People's Republic of China, north of
the Himalaya, and covers
an area of 270,000
km˛. There are several
oasis towns -
Kashgar,
Yarkand, and
Khotan (Hetian) in the South-West,
Kuqa and
Turfan in the North, and
Loulan and
Dunhuang in the East. The
White Jade River flows into the
Taklamakan, originating in the Kunlun mountains.
More ... (from Wikipedia)
