Desert Highways

On October 4, 1995, Tarim Desert Highway opened to traffic. The highway has a total length of 522 km crossing the Taklamakan Desert from north to south, with 446 km located in uninhabited areas covered by shifting sand dunes. It is the first and longest of such highway in the world. The Tarim Desert Highway links Luntai County and Minfeng County, on the northern and southern edges of the Tarim Basin, respectively, and passes by four oil fields, namely, Lunnan, Tarim, Xiaotang and Tazhong.

On November 1, 2007, another desert highway was put into use. The 424.7-km highway runs from Alaer to Hotan, crossing the Taklamakan Desert and linking up the Akesu and Hotan areas on the northwest and southwest edges of the Taklamakan Desert.