Loulan, Mysterious City

Loulan, once the capital of the Loulan Kingdom, was a small, prosperous commercial city on the famous Silk Road about 2,000 years ago. The Loulan city located on the west bank of Lopbu Lake.

Historical documents show that the first Chinese visitor arrived Loulan Kingdom in the second century BC in Han Dynasty. For nearly 400 years it had remained an economic and military hub on the Silk Road. But it suddenly disappeared from the area around the third century, the historical documents stop in Jin Dynasty (AD 265-420). The city and the lake is now become a "forbidden zone of life".

No traces of Loulan had been found until 100 years ago when Swedish explorer Sven Hedin discovered the ruined city buried in desert. The world was surprised by Hungarian archaeologist Marc Aurel Stein (1862-1943) when he dug out the colorful silks, lacquer ware, bronze mirrors and ancient documents. The art work, Mix of Grandhara, traditional Chinese and classical Greek styles, this evidences show that the lost city once the glory of ancient city.

The kingdom is today covered by sands. The tower is only significant architecture remaining. Mystery still surrounds Loulan, where little excavation work was carried out. But Archaeologists found the ruins of government offices, homes, Buddhist pagodas and temples, and also dried rivers, dead poplar trees, farmland and ancient tombs around the ancient city.
Some discovered silk, glass and perfume proved that the city was once a booming trade center in silk road. In 1980, archaeologists unearthed the perfectly preserved body of a woman, dubbed the "Loulan Beauty", who died more than 3,800 years ago, from an ancient tomb in Loulan area. In 1998, the well-preserved body of an infant, who died about 4,000 years ago and the remains of an old man, who died more than 1,500 years ago were also unearthed in the area. Other findings in the area include a host of precious relics like colored coffins, carpets, inscribed wooden slips, coins, lacquer ware, carved wooden utensils and pottery.
Moreover, it is estimated that about 35 other ancient kingdoms that existed in or around Lop Nur. which covered approximately 100,000 square meters.

 
Some experts say the drying climate in the Tarim Basin and reduction of river flow drove the ancient Loulan people to move to other places; some hold that the change of the route of the ancient Silk Road had direct impact on it withering away; and some say its disappearance is a comprehensive reflection of political, economic and environmental changes. However, the sudden disappearance of loulan is remaining a mystery.