Tarim Basin, encirciled by Tianshan Mountains, Kunlun Mountains, Altun Mountains and Pamirs, and with a total area of about 530,000 square km, is the largest inland basin in the world. Because it is surrounded by mountains, the weather here is extremely dry. It has a typical ring structure from its rim to center. From its exterior to the interior, there are gravel gobi, oases and deserts respectively.

The periphery of the basin is gobi land made up of stone fragments. The gobi land can be permeated by water easily. In summer, the melted ice and snow from the high mountains flows down and permeats the ground so that the surface of the gobi is always dry. Within the gobi land, there are intermittent oases forming a ring-like belt. The oases have luxuriant grass and crisscross water channels, and a network of trees and fields. There is a well-developed economy, and people in the basin mainly live here. Tarim Basin has a rich reserve of petroleum and natural gas.

Taklamakan Desert
Taklamakan Desert, located in Tarim Basin, is about 1,000 km long from east to west and about 400 km wide from south to north. It has an area of about 330,000 square km and is the largest desert in China, and the second largest flowing desert in the world. Various dunes can be found in Taklamakan Desert. The average height of the dunes is more than 100 m and some can be 200 to 300 m high. It is very dry in the desert areas, and sometimes it doesn't rain for a whole year. Thus the living conditions are extremely adverse.