Shayar

Shayar lies south of the Kucha oasis, close to the Tarim River and the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. The river flows east across the basin, sustaining a narrow belt of vegetation amid the sands. Shayar's name appears in Qing records as a place in the northern Tarim country. Its fields and settlements belong to the riverine landscape between the mountain-fed oases and the great desert.