Lop
Nur |
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Lop Nur, lying east of
Korla and covering 3,000 square  kilometres,
was an important station on the Silk Road and once a
very large lake. In the Han dynasty, Lop Nur was such
a vast lake that it was often mistaken as the source
of the Yellow River. However, over deforestation and
environmental deterioration caused by human activity
curtailed the lifespan of the lake andduring the 4th
century A.D. codes and regulations had to be introduced
to control the use of the insufficient water. When Marco
Polo reached Lop Nur in 1275 he found nothing more than
sand. Its contraction continued and Lop Nur finally
disappeared in 1972.
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