Lop County, also Luopu, is a county in Hotan Prefecture, in the southwest of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Almost all the residents of the county are Uyghur and live around oases situated between the desolate Taklamakan Desert and Kunlun Mountains. The county is bordered to the north by Aksu and Awat County in Aksu Prefecture, to the east by Qira/Chira County, to the northwest by Karakax County, to the west by Hotan (Khotan) and to the south and west by Hotan County.
Rawak Stupa in the Taklamakan Desert
Mosque in Lop (2011).
Hotan Prefecture is located in the Tarim Basin region of southwestern Xinjiang, China, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south and Union Territory of Ladakh and Gilgit-Baltistan to the west. The vast majority of the Aksai Chin region which is disputed between China and India is administered as part of Hotan Prefecture. The seat of Hotan Prefecture is Hotan and its largest county by population is Karakax County. The vast majority of the residents of the prefecture are Muslim Uyghurs and live around oases situated between the desolate Taklamakan Desert and Kunlun Mountains.
Hotan City
Windbreak forest in Hotan, July 1993
Melikawat
Musicians at Hotan Sunday Market