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Asia's smallest and least-known nation, the Republic of Maldives, lies scattered from north to south across a 750-kilometre sweep of the Indian Ocean 500 kilometres south-west of Sri Lanka. More than 1000 islands, together with innumerable banks and reefs, are grouped in a chain of nineteen atolls which extends from a point due west of Colombo to just south of the equator.<br/><br/> The atolls, formed of great rings of coral based on the submarine Laccadive-Chagos ridge, vary greatly in size. Some are only a few kilometres square, but in the far south the great atoll of Suvadiva is sixty-five kilometres across, and has a central lagoon of more than 2000 square kilometres. The northern and central atolls are separated from each other by comparatively narrow channels of deep water, but in the south Suvadiva is cut off by the eighty-kilometre-wide One-and-a-half-Degree Channel. Addu Atoll is still more isolated, being separated from the atoll of Suvadiva by the seventy-kilometre-wide Equatorial Channel.
Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).<br/><br/> Lange's photographs humanized the consequences of the Great Depression and influenced the development of documentary photography.
China: Goods being transported on the Huangpu Jiang (Huangpu River) from the Yangzi (Yangtze) River, Shanghai. Shanghai began life as a fishing village, and later as a port receiving goods carried down the Yangzi River. From 1842 onwards, in the aftermath of the first Opium War, the British opened a ‘concession’ in Shanghai where traders could operate undisturbed. French, Italians, Germans, Americans and Japanese all followed. By the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was a boom town. When the Communists won power in 1949, they transformed Shanghai into a model of the Revolution.
Amantine-Lucile-Aurore Dupin (1 July 1804 – 8 June 1876), best known by her pseudonym George Sand, was a French novelist and memoirist. She is equally well known for her much publicized romantic affairs with a number of artists, including Polish-French composer and pianist Frederic Chopin and the writer Alfred de Musset.
Beyond Ambalangoda, and the last stop before Galle, is the enduringly popular beach resort of Hikkaduwa.<br/><br/> The name Hikkaduwa is thought to have been derived from the two words <i>Ship Kaduwa</i>, with <i>Ship</i> being the shorter version of <i>Shilpaya</i> which refers to knowledge in Sinhalese and <i>Kaduwa</i> which means sword. It is believed therefore that the name Hikkaduwa means <i>sword of knowledge</i>.
Beyond Ambalangoda, and the last stop before Galle, is the enduringly popular beach resort of Hikkaduwa.<br/><br/> The name Hikkaduwa is thought to have been derived from the two words <i>Ship Kaduwa</i>, with <i>Ship</i> being the shorter version of <i>Shilpaya</i> which refers to knowledge in Sinhalese and <i>Kaduwa</i> which means sword. It is believed therefore that the name Hikkaduwa means <i>sword of knowledge</i>.
China: Goods being transported on the Huangpu Jiang (Huangpu River) from the Yangzi (Yangtze) River, Shanghai. Shanghai began life as a fishing village, and later as a port receiving goods carried down the Yangzi River. From 1842 onwards, in the aftermath of the first Opium War, the British opened a ‘concession’ in Shanghai where traders could operate undisturbed. French, Italians, Germans, Americans and Japanese all followed. By the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was a boom town. When the Communists won power in 1949, they transformed Shanghai into a model of the Revolution.
Dorothea Lange (May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA).<br/><br/> Lange's photographs humanized the consequences of the Great Depression and influenced the development of documentary photography.
China: Goods being transported on the Huangpu Jiang (Huangpu River) from the Yangzi (Yangtze) River, Shanghai. Shanghai began life as a fishing village, and later as a port receiving goods carried down the Yangzi River. From 1842 onwards, in the aftermath of the first Opium War, the British opened a ‘concession’ in Shanghai where traders could operate undisturbed. French, Italians, Germans, Americans and Japanese all followed. By the 1920s and 1930s, Shanghai was a boom town. When the Communists won power in 1949, they transformed Shanghai into a model of the Revolution.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Wat Chiang Man (Chiang Mun) was built in 1297 CE and is thought to be Chiang Mai's oldest temple. It was built on the spot which had been used by King Mangrai as a camp during the construction of his new capital city Chiang Mai.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Wat Phan Tao, established in 1391, forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means ‘Temple of a Thousand Furnaces’ or ‘Temple of a Thousand Kilns’ and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry, casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.<br/><br/> The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance, the ho kham or ‘gilded hall’ of Chao Mahawong, the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs, who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
Wat Phan Tao, established in 1391, forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means ‘Temple of a Thousand Furnaces’ or ‘Temple of a Thousand Kilns’ and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry, casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.<br/><br/> The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance, the ho kham or ‘gilded hall’ of Chao Mahawong, the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs, who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Wat Phan Tao, established in 1391, forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means ‘Temple of a Thousand Furnaces’ or ‘Temple of a Thousand Kilns’ and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry, casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.<br/><br/> The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance, the ho kham or ‘gilded hall’ of Chao Mahawong, the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs, who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Wat Phan Tao, established in 1391, forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means ‘Temple of a Thousand Furnaces’ or ‘Temple of a Thousand Kilns’ and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry, casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.<br/><br/> The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance, the ho kham or ‘gilded hall’ of Chao Mahawong, the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs, who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Wat Phan Tao, established in 1391, forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means ‘Temple of a Thousand Furnaces’ or ‘Temple of a Thousand Kilns’ and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry, casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.<br/><br/> The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance, the ho kham or ‘gilded hall’ of Chao Mahawong, the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs, who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
A view from space of sand dunes in Rub' al Khali, ‘the Empty Quarter’ in Arabic, a vast and arid desert encompassing most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. The image, acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard NASA's Terra satellite, shows dunes as brown with gray regions being the underlying gravel plains. The distance between parallel dunes, which can reach 330 metres (1,080 ft) in height, is roughly 1.5 to 2.5 km (0.9 to 1.6 miles). The area is neither inhabited nor traversed by humans, although some plants, arachnids, and rodents survive amid the harsh terrain.
Halting places, generally styled caravanserai in Turkish and Persian, were established by rulers to promote and protect the trade that enriched their kingdoms. Ideally these were roadside inns placed a day apart where travellers could eat, sleep and recover from the day’s journey, with their animals securely tethered, watered and fed, and their precious goods safely within walls.<br/><br/> Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
The Imam Asim Shrine and other tombs can be found 23 kilometres from Khotan (Hotan) on the southern Silk Road. It is the site of a huge pilgrimage each May.<br/><br/>Imam Asim was one of the first Islamic missionaries to visit this area.<br/><br/>Khotan traces its history back at least as far as the 3rd century BCE, when the eldest son of the Indian emperor Asoka is said to have settled here. It was of great importance on the Silk Road, and is claimed to have been the first place outside China to have cultivated silk.<br/><br/>It sits astride the Karakash or ‘Black Jade’ and Yurungkash or ‘White Jade’ Rivers, which here conjoin to form the Khotan Darya, and has been famous for its jade for well over two millennia.<br/><br/>In times past trade routes crossed the desert to the north all the way to Kuqa, and as recently as 2007 this link has been re-established for the first time in centuries with the opening of a second Desert Highway leading to Aksu, distant some 424km to the north.<br/><br/>In 1006 Khotan was conquered by Uighur Muslims from Kashgar, and since that time the city remains a very Uighur place.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: MògÄo kÅ«) (also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and Dunhuang Caves) form a system of 492 temples 25 km (15.5 miles) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China.<br/><br/> The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out 366 AD as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient sculptural sites of China. The caves also have famous wall paintings.
The Mogao Caves, or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: MògÄo kÅ«) (also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas and Dunhuang Caves) form a system of 492 temples 25 km (15.5 miles) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China.<br/><br/> The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years. The first caves were dug out 366 AD as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes and Yungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient sculptural sites of China. The caves also have famous wall paintings.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dunes) are situated about 4km south of Dunhuang. They are the largest and most impressive sand dunes in China. The main dunes rise to between 250m and 300m. They are called ‘Singing Sands’ because the shifting grains of sand make a humming noise in powerful winds.<br/><br/> The Kumtagh Desert is a section of the Taklamakan Desert which lies east-southeast of the Desert of Lop.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Giant sand chedis are built in many temples around the time of the annual songkran water festival. People bring handfuls of sand to their local temple and it is then sculpted into a sand chedi. The sand brought is symbolic of the sand and dirt carried away from the temple on the soles of visitors feet during the preceding year.<br/><br/> Songkran is the traditional Thai New Year and is celebrated from 13th to 15th April. This annual water festival, known in Thai as 'songkran,' and in Burmese as 'thingyan' marks the beginning of the rainy season and is celebrated in Burma, Laos, Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, usually in April.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning "new city"), sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
Wat Phan Tao, established in 1391, forms a kind of adjunct to the much larger Wat Chedi Luang lying next door and immediately to the south. Wat Phan Tao means ‘Temple of a Thousand Furnaces’ or ‘Temple of a Thousand Kilns’ and it is believed that the grounds were once the site of a foundry, casting bronze images of the Buddha for nearby Wat Chedi Luang.<br/><br/> The wooden viharn is one of the few surviving all-wood temple buildings in Chiang Mai. In times past it was a secular structure of no religious significance, the ho kham or ‘gilded hall’ of Chao Mahawong, the 5th of the Chao Chet Ton monarchs, who ruled Chiang Mai and the north from 1846 to 1854.<br/><br/> Chiang Mai (meaning 'new city'), sometimes written as 'Chiengmai' or 'Chiangmai', is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. King Mengrai founded the city of Chiang Mai in 1296, and it succeeded Chiang Rai as capital of the Lanna kingdom.
George Francis Lyon (1795–1832) was a rare combination of Arctic and African explorer. By all accounts a fun loving extrovert, he also managed to be a competent British Naval Officer, Commander, explorer, artist and socialite. While not having a particularly distinguished career, he is remembered for the entertaining journals he kept and for the watercolour paintings he completed in the Sahara and the Arctic.<br/><br/> In 1818 he was sent with Joseph Ritchie by Sir John Barrow to find the course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu. The expedition was underfunded, lacked support and because of the ideas of John Barrow departed from Tripoli and thus had to cross the Sahara as a preliminary part of their journey.<br/><br/> A year later, due to much officialdom they had only got as far as Murzuq where they both fell ill. Ritchie never recovered and died there, but Lyon survived and travelled further around the region. Exactly a year to the day he left, he arrived back in Tripoli, the expedition being a complete failure.