How does the Southern Xinjiang Loop Railway encircle my country's largest desert?

Recently, the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway in Xinjiang (abbreviated as the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway) was officially opened, marking the formation of the world's first desert railway loop, the Taklimakan Desert Railway Loop.

The Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway is about 825 kilometers long and is connected to the Geku Line, Southern Xinjiang Line, and Kahe Line, which have already been opened, making the "Southern Xinjiang Loop Line" officially a closed loop with a total length of 2,714 kilometers. In the future, the route from Southern Xinjiang will be shortened by more than 1,000 kilometers compared to before.

The "South Xinjiang Loop" railway surrounds the Taklimakan Desert, the world's tenth largest desert, covering an area of ​​377,000 square kilometers.

Speaking of the "Southern Xinjiang Loop" railway, let's take a look at the Tarim Basin and the Taklimakan Desert.

The Tarim Basin is surrounded by the Tianshan Mountains, the Pamir Plateau, the Kunlun Mountains, and the Altun Mountains in a counterclockwise direction. The mountains on the east side are slightly lower, and there is only a valley about 70 kilometers wide that connects to the Hexi Corridor. The Tarim Basin is elliptical, about 1,500 kilometers from east to west, about 600 kilometers from north to south, and has a total area of ​​about 555,900 square kilometers. The Tarim Basin has an altitude of between 800 and 1,300 meters, with high terrain in the west and low terrain in the east. Lop Nur in the east is the lowest point in the basin and also the center of salt accumulation, with an altitude of about 780 meters.

The edges of the Tarim Basin are foothills, Gobi Desert and oasis (alluvial plain), the middle part is the Taklimakan Desert, and it is 2,000 to 4,000 kilometers away from the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean.

As the Tarim Basin is surrounded by high mountains, it is difficult for the humid air currents from the ocean to reach it, and the Taklimakan Desert has almost no rain all year round. The average annual rainfall is 15-20 mm, and the average annual evaporation is as high as 2500-3400 mm.

The Taklimakan Desert is the largest desert in my country and ranks tenth in the world. It is about 1,130 kilometers long from east to west, about 400 kilometers wide from north to south, and covers an area of ​​about 337,600 square kilometers.

One-third of the days in the Taklimakan Desert are windy and sandy throughout the year, with an average of 60 days of sandstorms per year and strong winds reaching 30 meters per second.

The wind direction and speed in the Taklimakan Desert are unpredictable, and the area of ​​mobile sand dunes accounts for 85% of the total desert area. In addition to the commonly seen sand ridges, crescent-shaped dunes and dune chains, there are also complex dune chains, complex longitudinal sand ridges, pyramid dunes, fish-scale dunes and dome-shaped dunes.

The Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway starts from Ruoqiang Station of the Golmud-Korla Railway in the east, runs westward along the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains and the southern edge of the Taklimakan Desert, and ends at Hotan Station of the Kaholi Railway. It has a designed speed of 120 kilometers per hour and is a national Class I single-track railway.

There are 22 stations along the entire Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway, 11 of which provide passenger services: Hotan Station, Lop Station, Cele Station, Yuquan Town Station, Yutian Station, Minfeng Station, Nantun Station, Jinshan Station, Qiemo Station, Washixia Station and Ruoqiang Station.

About three-quarters of the Hotan-Ruoxi Railway crosses deserts and Gobi, and the windy and sandy sections of the entire line are more than 500 kilometers long. On the rails, trains are speeding; under the roadbed, rows of plants such as Haloxylon ammodendron, Calligonum mongolicum, Tamarix chinensis, Tamarisk, and Populus euphratica accompany the trains. A nearly 300-kilometer green windbreak and sand-fixing belt has been built along the Hotan-Ruoxi Railway, with lush plants forming a green Great Wall to protect the Hotan-Ruoxi Railway.

The opening of the Hotan-Ruoqiang Railway saves the cost and time of cargo transportation along the line, and will effectively drive the economic development of southern Xinjiang.

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