SINKIANG or EASTERN TURKESTAN includes two distinct regions, Kashgaria and Dzungaria. The first of these consists in the main of the basin of the Tarim, which is surrounded on three sides by the Kwen-lun, the Pamirs, and the Tian Shan. The climate is arid, and the greater part of the country enclosed by these mountains is covered with shifting sands. Cultivation is only possible along the banks of streams which descend from the snow-covered ranges around, but with few exceptions lose themselves as they approach the desert. The principal products are cereals, including wheat, barley, and rice, cotton, and fruits. Horses, camels, sheep, and goats are also raised in considerable numbers. The more important towns, Khotan, Kashgar, and Yarkand contain bazaars in which are sold carpets, and cotton, woollen, and silk goods, the chief manufactures of the people.
Dzungaria lies between the Tian Shan and the Altai. Much of the land is exceedingly poor, and it is only in the vicinity of the rivers, and especially in the valley of the Ili, that cultivation and settlement are possible. The northern slopes of the Tian Shan provide considerable areas of good pasture land. Urumtsi, the chief town, trades in skins and furs. Kuldja, the only other town of note, is on the Ili.
Formerly, all trade between China and the west went through Turkestan, the most frequented route passing by Lanchow and Ansichow in Kansu, and Hami in Turkestan, to Turfan where it bifurcated. The northern branch crossed the Bogdo-ola to reach
Urumtsi, and re-crossed the Tian Shan to Kuldja, while the southern, keeping to the south of the Tian Shan, went on to Kashgar.
TIBET.—The greater part of the Tibetan plateau is of little economic importance, and is only frequented during the summer months by a few nomad tribes. In the south, in the valleys of the Indus and Brahmaputra, and in the south-east, in the valleys of those rivers which flow from the Tibetan plateau through China and Indo-China, cultivation is possible, and it is there that settle ment has taken place. The principal agricultural products include the hardier cereals, vegetables, and fruits, but the chief wealth of the people is to be found in their herds of goats, sheep, asses, and yaks. Mineral wealth appears to be considerable, and gold has long been extensively worked by primitive methods. Trade, which is carried on mainly with China but to some extent with India, consists in the export of gold, wool, musk, and hides, and in the import of tea and cotton goods. The principal routes from China lead to Lhasa from Chengtu in Szechwan, by way of Tarchendo and Batang, and from Sining-fu in Kansu, by way of Donkyr and the Tangla Pass. From India the chief road is by Sikkim and the Chumbi valley to Gyantse.