The Taklamakan Desert is located in the Tarim Basin in Northwest China and is known as one of the largest sandy deserts in the world. It is bounded by the Kunlun Mountains to the south and the Tian Shan mountains to the north. Its name is often translated from Uyghur as 'the place of no return' or 'he who goes in does not come out,' reflecting its extreme conditions. The desert is a classic example of a cold desert climate; while it can be scorching in summer, it has seen temperatures drop to -32°C in winter. Historically, the Silk Road split into two branches to skirt the desert's northern and southern edges, as the interior was virtually impassable. Today, the desert is economically significant for China due to massive oil and gas deposits found beneath the shifting sands, and the government has built the world's longest desert highway to facilitate resource extraction.