Discovery of over a thousand years later

  In March 1900, Swedish explorer Sven Hedin traveled east along the Tarim River to the lower reaches of the Konque River in search of the elusive Lop Nur. His guide was Uyghur farmer Aerdike.

  On March 27, the expedition arrived at a small mound, when something terrible happened, Sven Hedin discovered that much of the water they had brought with them had leaked away. In the arid desert, no water meant death.

  They went to look for water sources, but found that the iron shovel they carried was lost. The guide was ordered to go back and find the iron shovel, on the way, he encountered strong winds and sandstorms, which blinded Erdick's eyes, so he had to hide first. After the wind and sandstorm passed, he opened his eyes, and an incredible scene occurred: an ancient city appeared in front of him: with city walls, streets, houses, and even beacon towers. Erdick was terrified. He thought he saw a devil's palace. He hastily walked around the empty streets of the city, picked up a few ancient coins, carried two beautifully carved wooden boards on his back, and rushed to Svenhedin's expedition team.

  Erdik's discovery left Sven Hedin so excited that he almost fainted. He knew this must be a major archaeological find. Due to lack of water, Sven Hedin had to leave the place. He decided to come back next year for a thorough investigation.

  In February 1901, Sven Hedin arrived here again with sufficient water and food. He found that this was an ancient city abandoned by people, which had once been quite prosperous.

  Swen Hedin excavated a large number of artifacts here, including coins, silk fabrics, grains, pottery, 36 paper slips with Chinese characters, 120 bamboo slips and several brushes.

  After Sven Hedin returned home, he handed over the artifacts to German Himmler for identification. After identification, this ancient city was the famous ancient country of Loulan, and the whole world was shocked. Later, many countries' adventure teams followed suit.

  In 1979, China conducted a large-scale latest excavation, and the magnificent ancient country of Loulan was finally seen again.

  The resplendent ancient country of Loulan

  Through the unremitting efforts of historians and cultural relics experts, the mysterious veil of the ancient Loulan Kingdom has been lifted.

  The ancient city of Loulan covered an area of about 100,000 square meters in the lower reaches of the Peacock River. In the center of the city was the administrative government office, which was made of earth and had thick and high gate pillars, with vermilion-painted carved beams and painted rafters. This was the power center of the ancient city and also the most luxurious place in the ancient city.

  Chengnan is a residential area with about 14,000 residents. The remaining houses show that there are Chinese courtyard-style buildings here, divided into main houses and wing rooms, and there are also orchards behind the houses.

  To the east of the city, there is a tall Buddhist pagoda. Five miles away, there is a Buddhist temple, which can be seen from here to understand the religious situation at that time. In the northeast of the city, there are also remaining earth piles, which are the ruins of the Han Dynasty post station.

  The northwest and southwest of the city have dense poplar forests.

  The streets in the city are clearly divided, and there is a river that runs from northwest to southeast through the city. There are concentrated cemeteries around the city, which can be seen as a glimpse of the customs and human feelings at that time.

  A large number of artifacts have restored the past glory of Loulan. The city has unearthed a large number of documents and wooden slips; there are five-cash coins from the Han Dynasty, as well as copper coins from the Xiongnu Empire; there are silk fabrics and gauze nets from the Han Dynasty, as well as woolen fabrics from ancient Rome

  The murals, even Greek and Roman crafts with Athena as the pattern; also ceramics and lacquerware from various countries.

  All this shows Loulan's unparalleled importance in transportation, cultural exchange and trade between China and the West.

  The ancient Silk Road started from Chang'an, passed through the famous Dunhuang, and then went west to Loulan. Loulan was indeed a hub and vanguard of China's foreign exchanges. At that time, it was an international transit city with a considerable scale. Chinese merchants came here could choose different roads to go to all parts of the world, while people from all over the world gathered here from all directions and then went to Chang'an. As historian Konrad said: "The rise and fall of the ancient city of Loulan is a monument to world history."

  Let's think about the glory of Loulan in the past:

  Different styles of magnificent buildings are everywhere, the streets are crowded with people, languages from different countries are heard one after another, camel teams come and go in succession, merchants carrying large amounts of money and goods are looking for inns that are full of guests, Chinese soldiers may be indulging in drinking, because this peaceful and lively scene seems to show their redundancy.

  But all of this went away so hastily and suddenly, it seems to have disappeared in an extremely short period of time, disappearing without a trace. What made this prosperous ancient city suddenly become a deserted city, only to be buried under thick yellow sand?