Several years before the death of Zhang Qian, the emperor of Han Dynasty was most interested in Daxia (Baketria), always thinking of opening a trade route with Daxia from south. Previous efforts had been made to export commodities via Sichuan. Unfortunately, they failed to reach their destination because of the obstruction by savage tribes in mountainous areas. Wudi couldn't but dispatch groups of messengers along the familiar roads, trodden by Zhang Qian in the north-west regions, to bring gifts to the rulers of small countries, who in turn gave "articles of tribute" to the Han Emperor as a symbol of friendship to acknowledge allegiance to Han Dynasty The Han Emperor Wu continually expanded the territory. He conquered the Hun and received the articles of tribute from the Western Regions. Historians compared Wudi to Louis XIV of France.

An ancient desert country - Lolan

It is impossible to ascertain when the country of Lolan was established. But according to the records of that time, in the early period of Western Han, Lolan was an important oasis on the Silk Road.

Although with only a sparse population, ancient Lolan was abounding in natural wealth and rich in water resources. Strategicallysituated on a route connecting the East and the West, it played an important role in Han Dynasty's conquering the Hun and exploiting the Western Regions.However, in around 4th century, this prosperous ancient country of Lolan suddenly disappeared from the earth, leaving behind numerous intricate and confusing legends. From then on, Lolan becomes a mysterious place in the Lop Nor wildness.

In order to reveal the secret of the disappeared Lolan, it is important to review the history how the Silk Road was established in Han Dynasty After Zhang Qian had traveled the Western Regions, Wudi adopted a series of policies and measures to manage and control the Silk Road and the countries along it. Owing to its strategic position, Lolan became the first target for Han Dynasty to conquer. Wudi dispatched lots of missions to contact Dawan, Lolan and others, but these countries were controlled by Hun and the envoys were attacked by Hun soldiers. Wudi couldn't tolerate this and instructed Zhao Ponu to attack Gushi and Lolan. Zhao Ponu led only 700 cavalrymen and captured the king of Lolan. The Hun wouldn't resign to this situation. It sent an army to regain Lolan. Lolan dared not offend Hun. So the king of Lolan sent one of his sons to Hun and another son to Han Dynasty as hostages. Wudi was angry and arrested the king of Lolan again, who was brought to Chang'an. Wudi questioned him. He answered, "We are a small country,sandwiched between two major powers. We can't but ingratiate ourselves with both of you. If you like I would move our country within the territory of Han Dynasty" Wudi felt the king of Lolan was telling the truth and set him free.

The national strength of Han Dynasty was increasingly enhanced and it exercised effective control of Lolan. Under these circumstances, the trade and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road increased a great deal. The early Silk Road run west-ward through Hexi (Gansu) Corridor, out of Dunhuang, and stopped at Lolan dividing into two directions one leading toward Yanqi, Kizil, Shule in the northwest and the other toward Charkhlik, Yutian in the southwest. Messengers and merchants from Dayuezhi, Parthia, Dawan, Wusun and Kangju took rest here and replenished fresh supply It is not difficult to imagine how lively and prosperous was Lolan at its heyday

However, conditions changed all at once. As soon as the king of Lolan died, the prince who went to Hun as a hostage came back to succeed the throne in Lolan. Lolan alienated the Han Dynasty and submitted to Hun again. Han Dynasty couldn't sit idle at this turnabout. In 77 BC the Han government took resolute measures, killed the newly-enthroned king, and supported pro-Han prince Wei Tuqi to the throne. Lolan was renamed as Shanshan.

From this time, Shanshan replaced Lolan in history records. And many changes followed. The Han army started to station in Lolan and it moved its capital to the city ofQianni (in the present Charkhlik area).But it never recovered the prosperity of the former Lolan. When Xuanzang of Tang Dynasty went westward for Buddhist Scriptures and passed through Lolan, it had already become a wasteland.

A country of "heavenly horses" - Wusun

 From 121 to 116 BC owing to war effort against Hun, Han Dynasty lost more than 20,000 horses and therefore, it urgently needed to replenish war-horses.

Han Dynasty was an era when horses were treasured by Imperial army There is no lack of horse stories in historic documents. In 1969, in Wuwei-a place of strategic importance in Han and Tang dynasties, copper carts with tomb figures of horses were excavated from a tomb of an Eastern Han General. One of the copper horses galloped with three hoofs raising high in the air and one tramping on a flying swallow, which gives a rich imagination of running at lightning speed.

"Heavenly horse" was a laudatory title for the excellent horses in the Western Regions. The title began with the opening of the Silk Road,when the ambitious Han Emperor Wu, out of concerns for containing the Hun, energetically developed the cavalry Therefore, he earnestly hoped to get good horses. Once, Wudi even to resort to draw lots of consult oracles in order to acquire the best horses available. The divination said, "The divine horse comes from northwest." Then soldiers were sent by Wudi to the northwest to search for good horses in the Western Regions. At that time, Wusun was a country with a population of 630,000 but an army of 188,800. It was a major power in the region and courageous enough to stand up to the Hun and to flight against them as an equal. Zhang Qian advised Wudi to make alliance with Wusun as a counterweight to the Hun. The emperor consented to the advice.Zhang Qian led a mission of 300 with a great amount of valuables to Wusun. The ruler of Wusun readily accepted the gifts from Han Dynasty and reciprocated with tens of excellent horses. Wudi gladly called these steeds "divine horses."

Hun also lassoed Wusun. On hearing that Wusun established friendly relations with Han Dynasty, the Hun ruler threatened to attack Wusun.In order to deal with the threat, Kunmo, the king of Wusun, asked Wudi for him to marry a Han prince, so as to establish a relationship of brotherhood. Wudi consulted his ministers and answered "yes." The Wusun ruler delivered thousands of excellent horses as a betrothal gift.Wudi was delighted and married a prince to Kunmo.

Although Wudi got a large number of Wusun good horses, he never stopped searching for many more and better horses in the Western Regions. When he learnt of Dawan "treasure horse" which was far better than Wusun horse. He dispatched a team of messengers with a large amount of gold to buy his dream horses. However, the king of Dawan refused to sell his horses and even killed Han representatives and robbed their treasures.

Han Emperor Wu was ablaze with anger and ordered a crusade against Dawan. General Li commanded an army of 100,000 and fought a 4-year-long war against Dawan. The war ended with a decisive victory for Han Dynasty A new pro-Han king was enthroned in Dawan. Han army brought back 3,000 "treasure horses" and collected a great quantity of grape and clover seeds. The arrival of "treasure horses" strengthened Han armed forces, resulting in the establishment of a strong and valiant cavalry

Dawan horse was tall and robust, better than Wusun horse. Wudi renamed Wusun horses as "west-end horse," and called its counterparts from Dawan as "heavenly horse." He even wrote a poem:

   The heavenly horse comes from the West-end;

   The clever and mighty conquers the vicious.

The story about "heavenly horse" spread far and wide in the empire and beyond. The king of Dawan offered two "heavenly horses" to Han government each year and developed very close and friendly relations with Han Dynasty

Mysterious oasis - Niya

 To the southern end of Taklamakan Desert there had been an oasis, through which the Niya River quietly flew from the Kunlun Mountains.By the River lived the ancient people of the kingdom ofjingjue. The dense forests along the river as if told the prosperity of those years.