Located in Lop Nur, a former salt lake which has largely dried up, in Ruoqiang county, Bayingolin Mongol autonomous prefecture, Xinjiang, the Loulan site covers an area of about 120,000 square meters.
Its extremely harsh environment ensured that few people set foot on this area.
In the 1990s, when mummies were discovered in this area, grave robbers noticed the wealth of cultural relics.