The archeological site known as Niya (hereafter referred to as the Ruins of Ancient Niya), which lies deep in the Takla Makan Desert on the southern rim of the Tarim Basin in present-day Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, has been called the Pompeii of the East, owing to Niya having been buried, quite suddenly, as had ancient Pompeii ages earlier. Or so it seems, for no one really knows what caused the residents of Niya to abandon their city in such a panic that they even left their dogs tethered in front of their houses, apparently fleeing for their lives from some unknown-to-us, impending calamity.
Since Niya lay directly on the southern route of the Silk Road, one can easily deduce that the camel caravans that transported the traded goods along the Silk Road would necessarily have to pass by Niya, and since there was no other major city in the region which could have competed with Niya as a provider of the basic necessities required by travellers - principally, food and drink for both man and beast, though other goods and services beyond mere necessities may have been demanded - one can with reasonable certainty claim that Niya was a key stopping-off point along the Silk Road.
The Ancient City of Niya is located in the desert 150 kilometers (approximately 93 miles) from Minfeng County in Hotan. It is a major national cultural relic and is regarded as the 'Eastern Pompeii'. Together with the Ancient City of Loulan, Niya ranks among the two famous ancient cities in China which have been buried by the desert.
According to historical records, it was once the site of the Jingjue Kingdom which was occupied by the western minorities in ancient China. It was an oasis located deep in the Takla Makan Desert, lying to the north of Niya River. It was a famous kingdom among the 36 kingdoms located in that area. Like Pompeii, it was once prosperous but suddenly disappeared. No one knows the actual reason. Some people believe that it was destroyed by war, but others believe that it was destroyed by wind-blown sand.
The ancient city is surrounded by rolling sand hills and was first discovered in 1901 by a British explorer. Wooden implements, stone implements, bronze wares, iron wares, pottery, woolen goods and even remnants of food such as wheat, highland barley wild oat, mutton, and pork were excavated. The cotton clothes unearthed are regarded as the earliest cotton textiles that can be found in China. The relics of amanuensis including imperial edicts, public documents, and letters are valuable material for studying the history of minorities in ancient China. Here you can also see the relics of houses, courtyards, furniture, artwork, Buddhist pagoda, and coffins, each of which was made by drilling on one log. A site used for smelting iron in the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220) was also discovered near site of this ancient city. The relics unearthed provide precious and accurate information that is very useful in studying the ancient minorities in China, the history of Silk Road and the cultural exchange between China and foreign countries.
In spite of these precautions, the wind-driven sands eventually buried Niya, although, as indicated above, it is not possible to determine whether the residents of Niya, when they fled in haste - abandoning their city, never to return - did so in the face of a sandstorm of tsunami proportions. However, having abandoned the city, it was only a matter of time before the desert sands would claim it, given the pre-existence of long-term drought and wind-driven sand in the region, for the poplar tree expires almost as rapidly as it spires, requiring constant replanting in order to maintain an effective barrier against the ravages of the wind, including the sand it bears with it.
The local Cultural-Relic department has set a Cultural-Relics Agent who imposes a high fee to the exploration teams. In order to develop the travel industry, a sealed access road has been constructed. It should be stressed that to access the ancient city by this road on foot, you must be physically fit and have strong determination. If you fall ill in the desert, it is very likely that you will never get out.