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Home → China Tours → Silk Road Tours → Hotan Travel Guide

Hotan Travel Guide

Location: Hotan lies in the Tarim Basin, just north of the Kunlun Mountains.

Population: 114,.000

Area: 1,550,400 sq km

Nationalities: Han, Hui and Kazakstan

History: The oasis of Hotan is strategically located at the junction of the southern (and most ancient) branch of the famous “Silk Road” joining China and the West with one of the main routes from ancient Pakistan and Tibet to Central Asia and distant China. It provided a convenient meeting place where not only goods, but technologies, philosophies, and religions were transmitted from one culture to another.

Climate: The region has a temperate continental arid climate with great difference in temperature between day and night. While Hetian enjoys between 2,500 to 3,500 hours of sunshine each year, the amount of annual precipitation for the entire prefecture averages a mere 150 millimeters (5.9 inches), thus the air is quite dry.

Transportation: There is no railway line passing through Hetian. You can reach Hotan easily with daily flights from Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang. Or travel on quality new sealed asphalt highways from Kashgar, Aksu, Korla and Urumqi.

Local Specialties: Nephrite Jade, Fabrics and Carpet

Local Food: Hotan Nang,

Major Attractions:
The Hetian Museum - The Hetian Museum was built in 1995. It contains over 9000 cultural relics; most of which were discovered by archaeologists after 1949, with a few donated by the locals. It has a floor space of more than 3,400 square metres. Its exhibits include textile technology, pottery, paintings and Buddhist culture.



Melikawat Ruins - Melikawat is the ruins of an ancient and enormous Buddhist monastery located about 28 km south of central Hotan. Because the monastery was built along the Yorungkash River, most of the site has been buried in several meters of silt over more than a thousand years. Only a few eroding remnants of the tallest buildings emerge above the plain.



Silk Village - A local silk village called Uygur Silk Village of Jiya. Here you will see the whole process of traditional Uygur silk making called Atlas loved by central Asian Uigur and Uzbek women since Han Dynasty second century. In the village, farmers still raise silk worms and will show you the whole procedure of making the beautiful floral silk material.

Travel Tips:
1. a sunglass is essential in your Hotan travel, because the city is sandy.

Questions & Answers: