During the depths of winter, China's largest desert, the Taklimakan Desert, was blanketed in snow. With sand dunes cloaked in silver and Populus euphratica adorned with frost, the desert boasts a rare and magical winter landscape. In the early hours of January 29, 2026, a heavy snowfall descended on Yuli County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, draping the entire Taklamakan Desert in a pristine white mantle.

Photo shows the snow scenery of Taklimakan Desert. (Photo by Wang Zhipeng, Lu Hongguang, Duan Chuang)

Photo shows the snow scenery of Taklimakan Desert. (Photo by Wang Zhipeng, Lu Hongguang, Duan Chuang)

On January 29, 2026, the desert near the Kunqikang Scenic Area in Yuli County — located at the edge of the Taklimakan Desert and once notorious for its swirling yellow sands—was completely blanketed in white snow, stretching endlessly to the horizon. The accumulated snow traced neat, fish-scale patterns across the dune surfaces. The staggered ridges, rising and falling at varying heights, intertwined with the pristine snow layer, forging a majestic yet vivid winter tableau.

Photo shows the snow scenery of Taklimakan Desert. (Photo by Wang Zhipeng, Lu Hongguang, Duan Chuang)

Photo shows the snow scenery of Taklimakan Desert. (Photo by Wang Zhipeng, Lu Hongguang, Duan Chuang)

The snow-covered desert presents distinctive ecological features following the winter precipitation. Local vegetation has developed frost rime, with populus euphratica branches coated in ice crystals, creating marked color contrast against the clear sky. Snow resting atop the golden sand forms a typical dual-toned surface feature of the region's winter conditions. Driven by temperature variations, snow on sun-facing dune slopes has begun melting, forming a contrasting pattern of "snow-covered shady slopes and exposed sandy sunny slopes": northern aspects retain snow cover while southern exposures reveal underlying sand bodies. This differential melting has created intersecting linear textures across the snow-covered dunes, demonstrating the region's distinctive winter geomorphological evolution.

The Taklimakan Desert is China's largest desert and the world's tenth largest, stretching approximately 1,000 kilometers from east to west and 400 kilometers from north to south, with a total area of 330,000 square kilometers. The region features an extreme arid climate, with average annual precipitation not exceeding 100 millimeters — dropping to as low as four or five millimeters in some areas — while average annual evaporation reaches 2,500 to 3,400 millimeters. This extensive snowfall has brought rare winter vitality to the arid desert, and this extraordinary winter landscape has drawn widespread attention.

(The Media Convergence Center of Bayingolin Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Reporter: Li Wenhui, Correspondents: Wang Zhipeng, Lu Hongguang and Duan Chuang)