County-level
He Tian City
Nephrite mutton-fat white jade has been harvested along the Yurungkash River in Hotan for millennia, celebrated for lively night markets and silk weaving.
Spatial Framework & Civilizational Geography · Prefecture-level
Hotan Prefecture
forest resources and cold-climate life give Hotan Prefecture a recognizable regional character.
Regional story
A place shaped through time
The spatial setting of Hotan Prefecture is grounded in the local fact “Forest resources and cold-climate life give Hotan Prefecture a recognizable regional character.” These relationships connect landscape, inherited places, and community experience without reducing Hotan Prefecture to an administrative label. Over time, these relationships accumulated through residence, exchange, production, and community continuity across successive historical periods. Viewed beside neighboring areas, Hotan Prefecture also shows how roads, resources, and movement create local distinctions within a wider region. For regional study, Hotan Prefecture places location, long-term formation, and present meaning within one connected explanation.
Hotan Prefecture
8 counties
Affiliated Regions
County-level
County-level
He Tian County
The five-century-old King Walnut Tree spreads its grand umbrella canopy in Hotan County, watered by melting snows of the mighty Kunlun Mountains.
County-level
Mo Yu County
Black jade nephrite veins trace the Karakash River in Moyu, home to the ancient King Mulberry Tree and traditional mulberry bark papermaking.
County-level
Pi Shan County
Prehistoric petroglyphs at Sangzhu Canyon record ancient mountain hunters in Pishan, celebrated for sweet jewel-like Piyalma pomegranates.
County-level
Luo Pu County
The domed stupas of Rawak Buddhist Monastery rise above shifting desert dunes in Lop, revealing ancient Khotan Buddhist art and textiles.
County-level
Ce Lei County
The miniature Buddhist shrines of Damagou preserve ancient wall murals in Cele, protected by miles of green sandbreak shelterbelts.
County-level
Yu Tian County
The isolated ancient desert settlement of Dariyaboyi lines the Keriya River in Yutian, where Populus groves survive deep inside the Taklamakan Desert.
County-level
Min Feng County
The desert ruins of ancient Niya Kingdom yielded the celebrated Han brocade arm protector in Minfeng, southern terminus of the Taklamakan Desert Highway.