Hotan is the place to understand the jade trade. Nephrite from the Yurungkash (White Jade) and Karakash (Black Jade) rivers reached China as early as the Neolithic, and the Silk Road took its name partly from the trade in this stone. Jade is still collected from the river beds and worked in the city's workshops.
Ancient Khotan was one of the great Buddhist kingdoms of the Silk Road. The Yotkan site is thought to be the old capital, and the desert sites of Dandan Oilik and Niya, farther out on the edge of the Taklamakan, have given up Buddhist paintings and wooden documents that were preserved by the dry sand.
