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China: Tapestry and silk embroidered shoes from Loulan Cemetery and Karakhoja, Xinjiang

Loulan was an ancient kingdom based around an important oasis city already known in the 2nd century BCE on the northeastern edge of the Lop Desert. Loulan was an ancient kingdom along the Silk Road. In 108 BCE, the Han Dynasty forces defeated the armies of the Loulan kingdom and made it into a tributary state. In 77 BCE, Loulan came under the control of the Han Dynasty and was given the Chinese name of Shanshan. The site is now completely surrounded by desert. Gaochang is the site of an ancient oasis city built on the northern rim of the inhospitable Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China. A busy trading center, it was a stopping point for merchant traders traveling on the Silk Road. The ruins are located 30 km southeast of modern Turpan. Gaochang is called Karakhoja or Qarakhoja in Uighur. The archaeological site is also known in early published reports as Chotscho, Khocho, or Qočo.