| Ruoqiang چەرچەن 若羌 |
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|---|---|
| — Town — | |
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Ruoqiang
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Region | Xinjiang |
| Prefecture | Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture |
| County | Ruoqiang County |
| Time zone | China Standard Time[1] (UTC+8) |
Ruoqiang Town (Chinese: 若羌; pinyin: Ruòqiāng; Uyghur: Qakilik or Charkliq) is a town in Ruoqiang County, Bayin'gholin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Western China. Ruoqiang Town is the county seat of the Ruoqiang County, and therefore is the place that less detailed maps label as "Ruoqiang County" or just "Ruoqiang". The postal code is 841 800.
There is a two-laned asphalt highway to Korla, 490 km north, and 956 km west to Hotan. There is no motorable road east to Dunhuang,[2] but one can now drive southeast through the Altun Shan range and then north through part of the Tsaidam to Dunhuang.
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During the latter part of the Former Han and throughout the Later Han the capital of the kingdom of Shanshan was known as Yüni 扜泥, which was located near the present town of Ruoqiang.[3]
Lionel Giles has recorded the following names for Ruoqiang Town (with his Wade-Giles forms of the Chinese names converted to pinyin):
Almost adjacent to the town are the Tieganlike Township, to the east, and Wutamu Township, to the west. They, however, are not administratively part of Ruoqiang Town, but are separate township-level administrative units.
The town is the junction of China National Highway 315 and China National Highway 218.
Ruoqiang Town was used by numerous notable explorers as a launching point to the Lop Nor archaeological sites, which are located within 150–200 km to the northeast.