Basic Overview
The Ruins of Ancient Loulan City, officially designated a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level, sits on the northwest bank of the dried-up Lop Nur Lake, northeast of Ruoqiang County, Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China抖音百科. Its original native name is Kroraina. The ancient city formed an irregular square layout with a total area of around 108,240 square meters, serving as the capital city of the ancient Loulan Kingdom, one of the 36 Western Regions kingdoms recorded in Han Dynasty historical documents.
楼兰古城遗址标识碑
Historical Status & Prosperity Period
Loulan thrived from the 2nd century BCE (Western Han Dynasty) to the 4th century CE (Wei-Jin Period). Geographically, it stood at a critical hub on the southern route of the ancient Silk Road, acting as an essential oasis transfer station linking Central Plains China, Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia. Caravans transporting silk, tea, spices, jade and handicrafts all relied on Loulan for water supply, rest and trade settlement, creating a prosperous multicultural oasis civilization blending Han, Gandharan, nomadic and Indo-European culturesChina.org.....
In 77 BCE, the Han Dynasty stabilized local governance here, and Loulan became an important frontier garrison town of the Han Empire to administer the Western Regions.
Architectural Layout & Surviving Relics
An ancient water channel runs diagonally through the city from northwest to southeast. The relic distribution follows clear functional zoning:
Northeast zone: A 10.4-meter-high Buddhist stupa and temple ruins (religious core area)
Central south area: Three-room rammed-earth building complex, presumed to be ancient government offices facing the south city gate
Western & southwestern zones: Residual wooden houses for nobles and civilians respectively
Archaeological excavations have unearthed abundant cultural relics: Kharosthi wooden slips, Chinese official documents, ancient coins, lacquerware, woven carpets, wooden architectural components and well-preserved ancient tombs. The most world-famous discovery is the Beauty of Loulan, a naturally mummified female corpse with complete physical features dating back nearly 3,800 years, offering precious material for studying ancient ethnic groups in the Tarim BasinChina.org.....
Disappearance & Rediscovery
Loulan was gradually abandoned around the late 4th century. The mainstream academic conclusion attributes its fall primarily to ecological degradation: river diversion of the Tarim River, shrinking water volume of Lop Nur, severe desert expansion, soil salinization and long-term human over-deforestation, which destroyed the oasis’s survival foundation, forcing residents to migrate away silently instead of collapsing from wars or sudden disasters.
The buried city vanished in the Taklamakan Desert for more than 1,500 years. In 1900, Swedish explorer Sven Hedin accidentally uncovered the Loulan ruins during an expedition in Lop Nur. Later scholars including Aurel Stein conducted successive surveys and excavations. Systematic formal archaeological research by Chinese teams started after the founding of New China抖音百科.
Current Tourism & Protection Notes
Now surrounded by boundless gobi and shifting sand dunes, Loulan is known as a "no man’s land" with extremely harsh natural conditions: drastic temperature differences, frequent sandstorms and no fixed living supplies. The site is under strict closed cultural relic protection. Individual tourists cannot enter freely; visitors must apply for official entry permits and travel with professional desert exploration teams with complete safety support. It is a top destination for desert archaeology lovers, Silk Road researchers and wilderness adventurers.
|
上一篇：
发表、查看更多关于该信息的评论 
将本信息发给好友 
打印本页
