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of the former sea Lop Nur.
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Lop Nur ("Lake Lop"; alternately '''Lop Nuur''' = '''Lop Nor''' = '''Lob-nor''' = '''Lo-pu po''' = '''Taitema Lake''', in the Han Annals: '''P'u-ch'ang Hai''' = '''Lou-lan Hai''' = '''Yen-tse''') is a group of small, now seasonal salt Lake s and marshes between the Taklamakan and Kuruktag deserts in the southeastern portion of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwestern China , ring about the point .

The lake system into which the .

Former water resources of the Tarim River and Lop Nur nurtured the kingdom of Loulan , an ancient Chinese civilization along the Silk Road , which skirted the lake-filled basin. Loulan became a client-state of the Chinese empire in 55 BCE, renamed Shanshan . Once the lake also supported a thriving Tocharian culture. Archaeologists have discovered the buried remains of settlements, as well as several of the Tarim Mummies , along its ancient shoreline. Marco Polo passed near the lake, and the explorers Nikolai Przhevalsky and Sven Hedin visited the area.

Since 1964 , the lake has been used as a Nuclear Test Site . Until 1996 , 45  Nuclear Tests were conducted. The headquarters of the test base is at Malan, about 125 km northwest of Qinggir . {Link without Title} Remains of one of the tests are visible at .

On June 13 , 1996 , famous Chinese explorer Yu Chunshun died while trying to walk across Lop Nur.


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