View source for Hotan

{{redirect|Ilchi|the villages in Iran|Ilkhchi (disambiguation)|other uses|Khotan (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox settlement
<!-- See Template:Infobox settlement for additional fields and descriptions -->
|name                    = {{raise|0.2em|Hotän}}
|official_name           = <!-- Official name in English if different from 'name' -->
|native_name             = {{lower|0.1em|{{nobold|{{lang|zh-hans|和田市}} • {{lang|ug|خوتەن شەھىرى}}}}}}
|other_name              = 
|settlement_type         = [[County-level city]]
|pushpin_map             = Xinjiang
|pushpin_label_position  = 
|pushpin_map_caption     = Location in Xinjiang
|pushpin_mapsize         =
|
|coordinates             = {{coord|37|06|N|80|01|E|region:CN-65|display=inline,title}}
|image_skyline           = Khotan-mezquita-d04.jpg
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|motto                   = 
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|subdivision_type        = Country
|subdivision_name        = People's Republic of China
|subdivision_type1       = [[Autonomous regions of China|Autonomous region]]
|subdivision_name1       = [[Xinjiang]]
|subdivision_type2       = [[Prefectures of China|Prefecture]]
|subdivision_name2       = [[Hotan Prefecture|Hotan]]
|subdivision_type3       = Township-level divisions
|subdivision_name3       =
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|seat_type               = 
|seat                    = Nurbag Subdistrict <br />(奴尔巴格街道)
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|area_total_km2          = 85035
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|elevation_footnotes     = 
|elevation_m             = 1382
|population_footnotes    = 
|population_total        = 322,330
|population_as_of        = 2010 Census
|population_density_km2  = auto 
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|timezone1               = [[China Standard Time|China Standard]]
|utc_offset1             = +8 
|postal_code_type        = [[Postal code of China|Postal code]]
|postal_code             = 839000
|area_code_type          = 
|area_code               = 0903
|website                 = [http://www.hts.gov.cn Hotan Government Website (in Chinese)] 
|blank_name = [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] (2012)<ref name=hotgov>{{cite news|title=和田市概况 |url = http://www.hts.gov.cn/Article/ShowArticle.aspx?ArticleID=186432|agency=Hotan Government Statistics|date=June 17, 2013}}</ref>
|blank_info = [[Renminbi|CNY]] 4.071 billion<br/>USD $665.15 million
|blank2_name = GDP per capita
|blank2_info = [[Renminbi|CNY]] 12,630<br/>USD $2,062
|blank3_name = GDP Growth
|blank3_info = {{increase}} 14.8
|blank4_name = Local languages
|blank4_info = [[Uyghur language|Uyghur]], [[Standard Chinese]]
|blank5_name = [[License plates of the People's Republic of China|License plate]] prefix
|blank5_info = 新R
}}

'''Hotan'''{{efn|The official Latin transliteration (and therefore, English spelling) of the city's name is "Hotan" according to ''Register of Chinese Geographic Places'' (中国地名录, published in Beijing, ''[[SinoMaps Press]]'' {{lang|zh-hans|中国地图出版社}} 1997; ISBN 7-5031-1718-4; p. 312.); The [[pinyin]] romanization '''Hetian''' has also been used on some maps and airports; the city's former name was written with a different character for "Tian" ({{zh|s=和阗 |t=和闐 |p=Hétián}}); the city is also sometimes spelled '''Khotan''', such as [http://www.centralasiatraveler.com/cn/xj/h/hotan.html in this example]. The city has also been called '''Yutian''' in Chinese ({{zh|s=于窴 |t=於窴 |p=Yútián |links=no}}) and was known to 19th-century European explorers as '''Ilchi'''.}} ({{ug|خوتەن, Хотән|Xoten|Hotǝn}}), also [[pinyin|transliterated from Chinese]] as '''Hetian''' ({{zh|c=和田|p=Hétián}}), is a major oasis town in southwestern [[Xinjiang]], an [[Autonomous regions of China|autonomous region]] in western China. The city proper of Hotan broke off from the larger [[Hotan County]] to become an administrative area in its own right in August 1984. It is the seat of [[Hotan Prefecture]].

With a population of 322,300 (2010 census), Hotan is situated in the [[Tarim Basin]] some {{convert|1500|km}} southwest of the regional capital, [[Ürümqi]]. It lies just north of the [[Kunlun Mountains]], which are crossed by the [[Sanju Pass|Sanju]], [[Hindutash]] and Ilchi passes. The town, located southeast of [[Yarkant County]] and populated almost exclusively by [[Uyghurs]], is a minor agricultural center. An important station on the southern branch of the historic [[Silk Road]], Hotan has always depended on two strong rivers - the [[Karakash River]] and the [[White Jade River]] to provide the water needed to survive on the southwestern edge of the vast [[Taklamakan Desert]]. The White Jade River still provides water and irrigation for the town and oasis.<ref>[[Marc Aurel Stein]]. (1907) ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed Report of Archaeological Explorations in Eastern Turkestan.'' Oxford. Pages 123-126.</ref><ref>Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), pp. 306-319. Odyssey Publications. ISBN 962-217-741-7.</ref>

==History==
{{details|Kingdom of Khotan}} 
[[File:Bronze coin of Wima Kadphises found in Khotan.jpg|thumb|left|Bronze coin of [[Vima Kadphises]] found in Khotan.]]
The oasis of Hotan is strategically located at the junction of the southern (and most ancient) branch of the [[Silk Road]] joining China and the West with one of the main routes from ancient [[India]] and [[Tibet]] to [[Central Asia]] and distant China. It provided a convenient meeting place where not only goods, but technologies, philosophies, and religions were transmitted from one culture to another.

[[Tocharians]] lived in this region over 2000 years ago. Several of the [[Tarim mummies]] were found in the region. At Sampul, east of the city of Hotan, there is an extensive series of cemeteries scattered over an area about {{convert|1|km}} wide and {{convert|23|km|abbr=on}} long. The excavated sites range from about 300 BCE to 100 CE. The excavated graves have produced a number of fabrics of [[felt]], [[wool]], [[silk]] and [[cotton]] and even a fine bit of tapestry, the [[Sampul tapestry]], showing the face of [[Caucasian race|Caucasoid]] man which was made of threads of 24 shades of colour. The tapestry had been cut up and fashioned into trousers worn by one of the deceased. An Anthropological study of 56 individuals showed a primarily Caucasoid population.<ref>Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H. 2000. ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West'', pp. 132, 155-156. Thames & Hudson. London. ISBN 0-500-05101-1.</ref><ref>Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), p. 317. Odyssey Publications. ISBN 962-217-741-7.</ref> DNA testing on the mummies found in the Tarim basin showed that they were an admixture of Western Europeans and East Asian.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Chunxiang Li |author2=Hongjie Li |author3=Yinqiu Cui |author4=Chengzhi Xie |author5=Dawei Cai |author6=Wenying Li |author7=Victor H Mair |author8=Zhi Xu |author9=Quanchao Zhang |author10=Idelis Abuduresule |author11=Li Jin |author12=Hong Zhu |author13=Hui Zhou |title=Evidence that a West-East admixed population lived in the Tarim Basin as early as the early Bronze Age |journal=BMC Biology |volume=8 |issue=15 |pages=|year=2010|pmid=20163704 |pmc=2838831 |doi=10.1186/1741-7007-8-15 }}</ref> 
[[Image:Khotan-melikawat-ruinas-d05.jpg|thumb|Khotan [[Melikawat]] ruins]]


There is  a relative abundance of information on Hotan readily available for study. The main historical sources are to be found in the Chinese histories (particularly detailed during the [[Han dynasty|Han]]<ref>Hill (2015), Vol. I, "The Kingdom of Yutian 于窴 (Khotan)", pp. 17-19 and nn.</ref> and early [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] dynasties) when China was interested in control of the [[Western Regions]], the accounts of several Chinese pilgrim [[bhikkhu|monks]],<ref>[http://www.cbeta.org/result/T50/T50n2053.htm 《大唐大慈恩寺三藏法師傳》]</ref> a few Buddhist histories of Hotan that have survived in [[Classical Tibetan]] and a large number of documents in the Iranian [[Saka language]] and other languages discovered, for the most part, early this century at various sites in the Tarim Basin and from the hidden library at the [[Mogao Caves]] near [[Dunhuang]].

===Buddhist Khotan===
{{main|Kingdom of Khotan}}
The ancient [[Kingdom of Khotan]] was one of the earliest Buddhist states in the world and a cultural bridge across which Buddhist culture and learning were transmitted from India to China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/ebc/article-9040640 |title=Khotan - Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Britannica.com |date= |accessdate=2012-04-06}}</ref>  Its capital was located to the west of the modern city of Hotan. The inhabitants of the Kingdom of Khotan, like those of early [[Shule Kingdom|Kashgar]] and [[Yarkant County|Yarkant]], spoke [[Saka language|Saka]], one of the [[Eastern Iranian languages]]. Khotan's indigenous dynasty (all of whose royal names are Indian in origin) governed a fervently Buddhist city-state boasting some 400 temples in the late 9th/early 10th century—four times the number recorded by [[Xuanzang]] around 630. The kingdom was independent but was intermittently under Chinese control during the Han and Tang Dynasty.

[[Image:Hindutagh-pass-aksai-chin-center2-1873.jpg|thumb|Map of [[Central Asia]] (1878) showing Khotan (near top right corner) and the [[Sanju Pass]], [[Hindutash]], and Ilchi passes through the [[Kunlun Mountains]] to [[Leh]], [[Ladakh]]. The previous border of the [[British Raj|British Indian Empire]] is shown in the two-toned purple and pink band.]]

After the Tang dynasty, Khotan formed an alliance with the rulers of Dunhuang. Khotan enjoyed close relations with the Buddhist centre at Dunhuang: the Khotanese royal family intermarried with Dunhuang élites, visited and patronised Dunhuang's Buddhist temple complex, and donated money to have their portraits painted on the walls of the Mogao grottos. Through the 10th century, Khotanese royal portraits were painted in association with an increasing number of deities in the caves.

In the 10th century, Khotan began a struggle with the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]], a Turkic state.<ref>[http://www.ihp.sinica.edu.tw/~asiamajor/pdf/1964/1964-1.pdf Sri Visa Sura and the Ta-Uang]</ref>  The Kara-Khanid ruler, [[Sultan Satuq Bughra Khan]], had converted to [[Islam]]:
{{quote|Satuq's son, Musa, began to put pressure on Khotan in the mid-10th century, and sometime before 1006 Yusuf Qadir Khan of [[Kashgar]] besieged and took the city. This conquest of Buddhist Khotan by the Muslim Turks—about which there are many colourful legends—marked another watershed in the Islamicisation  and Turkicisation of the [[Tarim Basin]], and an end to local autonomy of this southern Tarim city state.<ref>Page55 Eurasian crossroads By James A. Millward</ref>}}
[[Image:Khotan-mezquita-d03.jpg|thumb|A [[mosque]] in Hotan]]
Some Khotanese Buddhist works were unearthed.<ref>Mark J. Dresden, The Jatakastava or 'Praise of the Buddha's Former Births' Philadelphia, 1955</ref><ref>[http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/iran/miran/khot/khotsak/khots.htm Buddhist Khotanese Texts]</ref><ref>[http://www.cbeta.org/result/T04/T04n0202.htm 賢愚經]</ref>

The rulers of Khotan were aware of the menace they faced since they arranged for the Mogao grottoes to paint a growing number of divine figures along with themselves. Halfway in the 10th century Khotan came under attack by the Qarakhanid ruler Musa, and in what proved to be a pivotal moment in the [[Islamicisation and Turkicisation of Xinjiang|Turkification and Islamification of the Tarim Basin]], the Karakhanid leader Yusuf Qadir Khan conquered Khotan around 1006.<ref name="Millward2007">{{cite book|author=James A. Millward|title=Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8FVsWq31MtMC&pg=PA55#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=2007|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=978-0-231-13924-3|pages=55–}}</ref>

===Islamic Khotan===
Yūsuf Qadr Khān was a brother or cousin of the Muslim ruler of Kashgar and [[Balasagun]], Khotan lost its independence and between 1006 and 1165, became part of the [[Kara-Khanid Khanate]].  Later it fell to the [[Kara-Khitan Khanate]], after which it was ruled by the [[Mongols]].

When [[Marco Polo]] visited Khotan in the 13th century, he noted that the people were all Muslim.  He wrote that:
{{quote|Khotan was "a province eight days’ journey in extent, which is subject to the [[Kublai Khan|Great Khan]]. The inhabitants all worship Mahomet. It has cities and towns in plenty, of which the most splendid, and the capital of the province, bears the same name as that of the province…It is amply stocked with the means of life. Cotton grows here in plenty. It has vineyards, estates and orchards in plenty. The people live by trade and industry; they are not at all warlike".<ref>{{cite book|last=Latham|first=Ronald|title=Marco Polo: the travels|year=1958|page=80 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Wood|first=Frances|title=The Silk Road: two thousand years in the heart of Asia|year=2002|page=18 |url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=zvoCv3h2QCsC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&f=false#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref>}}

===Qing dynasty===
The town suffered severely during the [[Dungan Revolt (1862–77)]] against the [[Qing dynasty]] and again a few years later when [[Yaqub Beg]] of [[Kashgar]] made himself master of Kashgaria ([[Altishahr]]).<ref>{{cite web |last=Stein |first=Aurel M. |year=1907 |title=Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan, 2 vols., p. 180. Clarendon Press. Oxford |url=http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/}}</ref><ref>Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), p. 309. Odyssey Publications. ISBN 962-217-741-7.</ref>

<blockquote>Almost every Chinaman in Yarkand, soldier or civilian, takes unto himself a temporary wife, dispensing entirely with the services of the clergy, as being superfluous, and most of the high officials also give way to the same amiable weakness, their mistresses being in almost all cases natives of Khotan, which city enjoys the unenviable distinction of supplying every large city in Turkestan with courtesans.

When a Chinaman is called back to his own home in China proper, or a Chinese soldier has served his time in Turkestan and has to return to his native city of Pekin or Shanghai, he either leaves his temporary wife behind to shift for herself, or he sells her to a friend. If he has a family he takes the boys with him~—if he can afford it—failing that, the sons are left alone and unprotected to fight the battle of life, While in the case of daughters, he sells them to one of his former companions for a trifling sum.

The natives, although all Mahammadans, have a strong predilection for the Chinese, and seem to like their manners and customs, and never seem to resent this behaviour to their womankind, their own manners, customs, and morals (?) being of the very loosest description.<ref name="Dunmore1894">{{cite book|author=Charles Adolphus Murray Earl of Dunmore|title=The Pamirs: Being a Narrative of a Year's Expedition on Horseback and on Foot Through Kashmir, Western Tibet, Chinese Tartary, and Russian Central Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SdxAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA328&dq=When+a+Chinaman+is+called+back+to+his+own+home+in+China+proper,+or+a+Chinese+soldier+has+served+his+time+in+Turkestan+and+has+to+return+to+his+native+city+of+Pekin+and+Shanghai,+he+either+leaves+his+temporary+wife+behind+to+shift+for+herself,+or+he+sells+her+to+a+friend.+If+he+has+a+family+he+takes+the+boys+with+him&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAGoVChMIxc2Q1-7IyAIVinQ-Ch2jdAOn#v=onepage&q=When%20a%20Chinaman%20is%20called%20back%20to%20his%20own%20home%20in%20China%20proper%2C%20or%20a%20Chinese%20soldier%20has%20served%20his%20time%20in%20Turkestan%20and%20has%20to%20return%20to%20his%20native%20city%20of%20Pekin%20and%20Shanghai%2C%20he%20either%20leaves%20his%20temporary%20wife%20behind%20to%20shift%20for%20herself%2C%20or%20he%20sells%20her%20to%20a%20friend.%20If%20he%20has%20a%20family%20he%20takes%20the%20boys%20with%20him&f=false|year=1894|publisher=J. Murray|pages=328–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ildikó Bellér-Hann|title=Community Matters in Xinjiang, 1880-1949: Towards a Historical Anthropology of the Uyghur|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cF4lMj8skvoC&pg=PA267&dq=When+a+Chinaman+is+called+back+to+his+own+home+in+China+proper,+or+a+Chinese+soldier+has+served+his+time+in+Turkestan+and+has+to+return+to+his+native+city+of+Pekin+and+Shanghai,+he+either+leaves+his+temporary+wife+behind+to+shift+for+herself,+or+he+sells+her+to+a+friend.+If+he+has+a+family+he+takes+the+boys+with+him&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAWoVChMIxc2Q1-7IyAIVinQ-Ch2jdAOn#v=onepage&q=When%20a%20Chinaman%20is%20called%20back%20to%20his%20own%20home%20in%20China%20proper%2C%20or%20a%20Chinese%20soldier%20has%20served%20his%20time%20in%20Turkestan%20and%20has%20to%20return%20to%20his%20native%20city%20of%20Pekin%20and%20Shanghai%2C%20he%20either%20leaves%20his%20temporary%20wife%20behind%20to%20shift%20for%20herself%2C%20or%20he%20sells%20her%20to%20a%20friend.%20If%20he%20has%20a%20family%20he%20takes%20the%20boys%20with%20him&f=false|year=2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-16675-0|pages=267–}}</ref>
</blockquote>

Uyghur prostitutes were encountered by [[Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim]] who wrote they were especially to be found in Khotan.<ref name="Tamm2011">{{cite book|author=Eric Enno Tamm|title=The Horse that Leaps Through Clouds: A Tale of Espionage, the Silk Road, and the Rise of Modern China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfT6QryQ47MC&pg=PA310&lpg=PA310#v=onepage&q&f=false|year=2011|publisher=Counterpoint Press|isbn=978-1-58243-734-7|pages=310–}}</ref><ref name="Tamm2013">{{cite book|author=Eric Tamm|title=The Horse that Leaps Through Clouds: A Tale of Espionage, the Silk Road, and the Rise of Modern China|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kbpG8QEguXEC&pg=PT318#v=onepage&q&f=false|date=25 November 2013|publisher=Counterpoint|isbn=978-1-58243-876-4|pages=318–}}</ref><ref>http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-1-A-224/V-1/page/0056.html.ja</ref> He commented on "venereal diseases".<ref>{{cite book|author=C. G. Mannerheim|title=Across Asia : vol.1|url=http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-1-A-224/V-1/page-hr/0067.html.en|date=|publisher=|isbn=|pages=61–}}</ref>

===Modern Hotan===
Qing imperial authority collapsed in 1912. During the Republican era (1912–49), warlords and local ethnic self-determination movements wrestled over control of Xinjiang. [[Abdullah Bughra]], [[Nur Ahmad Jan Bughra]], and [[Muhammad Amin Bughra]] declared themselves Emirs of Khotan during the [[Kumul Rebellion]]. Beginning with the [[Islamic rebellion in Xinjiang (1937)|Islamic rebellion in 1937]], Hotan and the rest of the province came under the control of warlord [[Sheng Shicai]]. Sheng was later ousted by the [[Kuomintang]]. Shortly after the Communists won the civil war in 1949, Hotan was incorporated into the People's Republic of China. In 1984 the urban area of Hotan was administratively split from the larger [[Hotan County]], and from then on governed as a county-level city.

Following the [[July 2009 Ürümqi riots]], ethnic tensions rose in Xinjiang and in Hotan in particular. As a result, the city has seen occasional bouts of violence. In June 2011, Hotan opened its first [[Rail transport in China|passenger-train service]] to [[Kashgar]], which was established as a [[Special Economic Zones of China|special economic zone]] following the riots. In July of the same year, a [[2011 Hotan attack|bomb and knife attack]] occurred on the city's central thoroughfare. In June 2012, [[Tianjin Airlines Flight 7554]] was hijacked en route from Hotan to Urumqi.

==Geography and climate==
[[File:Collecting jade in the White Jade River near Khotan.jpg|thumb|300px|Collecting jade in the White Jade River near Khotan in 2011]]
Hotan has a [[temperate]] zone, [[continentality|cold]] [[desert climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''BWk''), with a mean annual total of only {{convert|36.5|mm|2}} of precipitation falling on 17.3 days of the year. Due to its southerly location in Xinjiang just north of the [[Kunlun Mountains]], during winter it is one of the warmest locations in the region, with average high temperatures remaining above freezing throughout the year. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from {{convert|−4.4|°C|1}} in January to {{convert|25.6|°C|1}} in July, and the annual mean is {{convert|12.54|°C|1}}. The [[diurnal temperature variation]] is not large for a desert, averaging {{convert|12.3|C-change}} annually. Although no month averages less than half of possible sunshine, the city only receives 2,587 hours of bright sunshine annually, which is on the low end for Xinjiang; monthly percent possible sunshine ranges from 50% in March to 75% in October.

{{Infobox weather
|location = Hotan (1971−2000)
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y
|collapsed =
| Jan high C =  0.8
| Feb high C =  5.9
| Mar high C = 14.8
| Apr high C = 23.5
| May high C = 27.6
| Jun high C = 31.0
| Jul high C = 32.4
| Aug high C = 31.4
| Sep high C = 27.2
| Oct high C = 20.2
| Nov high C = 11.1
| Dec high C =  2.6

| Jan low C = −9.0
| Feb low C = −4.4
| Mar low C =  3.0
| Apr low C = 10.2
| May low C = 14.6
| Jun low C = 17.7
| Jul low C = 19.3
| Aug low C = 18.3
| Sep low C = 13.5
| Oct low C =  6.0
| Nov low C = −0.9
| Dec low C = −7.1
|year high C = 19.0 |year low C =  6.8
|year high F = 66.3 |year low F = 44.2
|precipitation colour =
| Jan precipitation mm = 1.6
| Feb precipitation mm = 2.0
| Mar precipitation mm = 1.3
| Apr precipitation mm = 1.5
| May precipitation mm = 6.6
| Jun precipitation mm = 8.2
| Jul precipitation mm = 5.7
| Aug precipitation mm = 4.9
| Sep precipitation mm = 1.8
| Oct precipitation mm = 1.3
| Nov precipitation mm = 0.1
| Dec precipitation mm = 1.5
|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 2.0
|Feb precipitation days = 1.7
|Mar precipitation days = 0.7
|Apr precipitation days = 1.1
|May precipitation days = 1.9
|Jun precipitation days = 2.6
|Jul precipitation days = 2.9
|Aug precipitation days = 1.8
|Sep precipitation days = 0.8
|Oct precipitation days = 0.3
|Nov precipitation days = 0.3
|Dec precipitation days = 1.2

|Jan humidity= 54
|Feb humidity= 46
|Mar humidity= 35
|Apr humidity= 29
|May humidity= 35
|Jun humidity= 38
|Jul humidity= 43
|Aug humidity= 45
|Sep humidity= 44
|Oct humidity= 43
|Nov humidity= 45
|Dec humidity= 55

|Jan sun= 167.8 |Jan percentsun = 55
|Feb sun= 163.9 |Feb percentsun = 54
|Mar sun= 185.8 |Mar percentsun = 50
|Apr sun= 208.3 |Apr percentsun = 53
|May sun= 234.5 |May percentsun = 54
|Jun sun= 253.2 |Jun percentsun = 58
|Jul sun= 242.5 |Jul percentsun = 54
|Aug sun= 231.2 |Aug percentsun = 55
|Sep sun= 240.0 |Sep percentsun = 65
|Oct sun= 260.5 |Oct percentsun = 75
|Nov sun= 221.1 |Nov percentsun = 72
|Dec sun= 178.2 |Dec percentsun = 60
                |year percentsun= 58 
|source = China Meteorological Administration <ref name=CMA>{{cite web|url=http://old-cdc.cma.gov.cn/shuju/search1.jsp?dsid=SURF_CLI_CHN_MUL_MMON_19712000_CES&tpcat=SURF&type=table&pageid=3 |script-title=zh:中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集（1971－2000年） |accessdate=2010-05-04 |publisher=[[China Meteorological Administration]] |language=Chinese |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921055035/http://old-cdc.cma.gov.cn/shuju/search1.jsp?dsid=SURF_CLI_CHN_MUL_MMON_19712000_CES&tpcat=SURF&type=table&pageid=3 |archivedate=2013-09-21 |df= }}</ref>
}}

==Demographics==
Hotan is largely dominated by the Uyghurs.  The urban population was recorded as 154,352 in 1998, 83% of which are Uyghurs, and 17% Han Chinese.<ref>{{cite book |title= Xinjiang: China's Muslim Borderland |chapter=The Demography of Xinjiang|pages=256–257 |editor=S. Frederick Starr |author=Stanley W. Toops |publisher=Routledge|date=15 March 2004|isbn=978-0765613189}}</ref>

In the 2010 census, the population was recorded as 186,123 In the 2010 census figure, the figure has risen to 322,300.  The increase in population is partly due to boundary changes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citypopulation.de/php/china-xinjiang-admin.php?adm2id=653201 |title=HÉTIÁN SHÌ (County-level City) |work=City Population}}</ref>

==Transportation==
[[File:Khotan-mercado-d09.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Locals at a busy Khotan market]]

===Air===
[[Hotan Airport]] (IATA: '''HTN''') serves the city. It serves regional flights to [[Urumqi]]. Originally a military use airport, it was expanded significantly in 2002 to accommodate higher passenger volumes. It is located 12&nbsp;km south of the city proper.

===Road===
Hotan is served by [[China National Highway 315]], which runs along the southern Tarim Basin from Ruoqiang to Kashgar, and the Trans-Taklamakan Desert Highway, which run north to Luntai. An expressway is being built between Hotan and [[Karakax County]] (Moyu) as of 2014.

===Rail===
Hotan is connected to the rest of China's rail network via the [[Kashgar–Hotan Railway]], which opened to freight traffic in December 2010, and passenger service in June 2011.  The railway station was constructed by a company under the [[Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps]], and is located in the town of Lasqi (拉斯奎) northwest of the city proper.  Passenger train service on this line is limited, with only one train per day, local service 5828/5825, linking the city with Kashgar (8~ hours) and Ürümqi (~34 hours).

===Buses===
Regular bus services link Hotan with Kashgar. There is also an express bus to Aksu via the {{convert|430|km|abbr=on}} 'Hotan-Aksu Cross-Desert Highway' which was opened in 2007, travels alongside the intermittent [[Hotan River]], and which takes about 5 or 6 hours. This same bus then goes on to Urumchi taking a total of about 21 hours from Hotan.<ref>Harper et al (2009), p. 840.</ref>

==Products==
[[File:'Mutton fat' jade for sale at Khotan Jade Market.jpg|thumb|240px|right|Light coloured or "Mutton fat" jade for sale at Khotan Jade Market]]
[[File:Silk weaving in Khotan.jpg|thumb|right|240px|[[Silk]] weaving in Khotan]]

===Nephrite jade===
Chinese historical sources indicate that Hotan was the main source of the [[nephrite]] jade used in [[History of China#Ancient China|ancient China]]. For several hundred years, until they were defeated by the [[Xiongnu]] in 176 BCE, the trade of Khotanese jade into China was controlled by the nomadic [[Yuezhi]]. The Chinese still refer to the Yurungkash as the [[White Jade River]], alluding to the white [[jade]] recovered from its [[alluvium|alluvial deposits]]. Most of the jade is now gone, with only a few kilos of good quality jade found yearly. Some is still mined in the [[Kunlun Mountains]] to the south in the summer,<ref name=autogenerated1>Bonavia, Judy. ''The Silk Road: Xi'an to Kashgar.'' Revised by Christopher Baumer (2004), pp. 307-308. Odyssey Publications. ISBN 962-217-741-7.</ref> but it is generally of poorer quality than that found in the rivers.<ref>[[Marc Aurel Stein]]. (1907) ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed Report of Archaeological Explorations in Eastern Turkestan.'' Oxford. Pages 132-133.</ref><ref>Laufer, Berthold. ''Jade: A Study in Chinese Archaeology & Religion''. (1912) Reprint: Dover Publications, New York, N.Y. (1974), pp. 24, 26, 291-293, 324. ISBN 0-486-23123-2.</ref>

===Fabrics and carpets===
Khotanese textiles were mentioned by [[Xuanzang]], who visited the oasis in 644 CE. In his Biography it is stated: "It produced carpets and fine felt, and the felt-makers also spun coarse and fine silk."<ref>''A Biography of the Tripiṭaka Master of the great Ci'en Monastery of the Great Tang Dynasty''. Śramaṇa Huili and Shi Yancong. Translated by Li Rongxi. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. (1995), p. 163. ISBN 1-886439-00-1.</ref>

Ancient Chinese-Khotanese relations were so close that the oasis emerged as one of the earliest centres of silk manufacture outside China. There are good reasons to believe that the silk-producing industry flourished in Hotan as early as the 5th century.<ref>Whitfield, Susan. ''The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith''. Serindia Publications Inc., 2004. ISBN 1-932476-12-1. Page 47.</ref> According to one story, a Chinese princess given in marriage to a Khotan prince brought to the oasis the secret of silk-manufacture, "hiding [[Bombyx mori|silkworms]] in her hair as part of her dowry", probably in the first half of the 1st century CE.<ref>Hill (2015), Vol. II, pp. 1-2. "Appendix A: Introduction of Silk Cultivation to Khotan."</ref><ref>Sarah Underhill Wisseman, Wendell S. Williams. ''Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials ''. Routledge, 1994. ISBN 2-88124-632-X. Page 131.</ref> It was from Khotan that the eggs of silkworms were smuggled to [[Iran]], reaching [[Justinian I]]'s [[Constantinople]] in 551.<ref>"From Khotan, silk culture is believed to have passed by way of [[Kashmir]] to India and then westwards into central Asia and Persia". Quoted from Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Oxford University Press, 1950, article "Silk".</ref> Silk production is still a major industry employing more than a thousand workers and producing some 150 million metres of silk annually. Silk weaving by [[Uyghurs|Uyghur women]] is a thriving [[Putting-out system#Cottage industry|cottage industry]], some of it produced using traditional methods.<ref name=autogenerated1 /> [[Hotan Silk Factory]] is one of the notable silk producers in Hotan.

Atlas is a traditional Uyghur clothing worn by Uyghur women. It is soft, light and graceful tie-dyed silk fabric. It comes various colours, the brighter and rich colours are for small child to young ladies. The gray and dark colours are for elderly women.

The oldest piece of [[kilim]] which we have any knowledge was obtained by the archaeological explorer [[Aurel Stein]]; a fragment from an ancient settlement near Khotan, which was buried by sand drifts about the fourth century CE. The weave is almost identical with that of modern kilims.

Khotanese pile carpets are still highly prized and form an important export.<ref>Bennett, Ian. Rugs & Carpets of the World. (1978). Ferndale Edition (1981). Quarto Publishing, London, pp.182-189. ISBN 0-905746-24-4.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9045345/Khotan-rug |title=Khotan rug - Britannica Online Encyclopedia |publisher=Britannica.com |date= |accessdate=2012-04-06}}</ref>

==Gallery==
<center>
<gallery perrow="4">
File:Khotan-mercado-d49.jpg|Market in Khotan
Image:Khotan-mercado-gente-uigur-d01.jpg|Uyghur people at Sunday market
File:Khotan-fabrica-alfombras-d12.jpg|Carpet weaving in Khotan
File:Khotan-fabrica-seda-d16.jpg|Silk weaving in Khotan
File:Photo of the front of the Hotan Museum.jpg|Entrance to the [[Hotan Cultural Museum]]
File:Large mutton fat jade displayed in Hotan Cultural Museum lobby.jpg|A local [[nephrite]] jade, also called "mutton fat" jade, for its similarity in color to the mutton fat, is displayed in [[Hotan Cultural Museum]] lobby.
</gallery>
</center>

==See also==
*[[Dandan Oilik]]
*[[Hotan Cultural Museum]]
*[[Khatana]]
*[[Kingdom of Khotan]]
*[[Silk Road transmission of Buddhism]]
*[[Makan Map]]

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*Harper, Damian ''et al.'' (2009). ''Lonely Planet China: 11th Edition''. Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74104-866-7.
*{{cite journal | last1 = Hill | first1 = John E. | year = 1988 | title = Notes on the Dating of Khotanese History | url = http://www.springerlink.com/content/gg8740360243350j/ | journal = Indo-Iranian Journal | volume = 31 | issue = | pages = 179–190 | doi=10.1163/000000088790083016}} Updated version of this article is available for free download (with registration) at: [http://independent.academia.edu/JHill/Papers/439945/Notes_on_the_Dating_of_Khotanese_History independent.academia.edu]
*Hulsewé, A. F. P. (1979). ''China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC − AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty''. E. J. Brill, Leiden. ISBN 90-04-05884-2.
*Legge, James 1886. ''A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms: Being an account by the Chinese Monk Fa-Hien of his travels in India and Ceylon (A.D. 399-414) in search of the Buddhist Books of Discipline''. Oxford, Clarendon Press. Reprint: New York, Paragon Book Reprint Corp. 1965.
*Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H. 2000. ''The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West''. Thames & Hudson. London. 2000.
*Montell, Gösta, ''Sven Hedin’s Archaeological Collections from Khotan: Terra-cottas from Yotkan and Dandan-Uiliq'', The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 7 (1936), pp.&nbsp;145–221.
*Montell, Gösta, ''Sven Hedin’s Archaeological Collections from Khotan II'' (appendix by Helmer Smith (pp.&nbsp;101–102)), The Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 10 (1938), pp.&nbsp;83–113.
*Puri, B. N. ''Buddhism in Central Asia'', Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, 1987. (2000 reprint).
*Stein, Aurel M. 1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford. [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/ dsr.nii.ac.jp] [https://books.google.com/books?id=FaMMAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 1907. ''Ancient Khotan: Detailed report of archaeological explorations in Chinese Turkestan'', 2 vols. Clarendon Press. Oxford.]<ref name="dsr.nii.ac.jp">[http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/creator/marc_aurel_stein.html.en M. A. Stein – Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books<!-- bot-generated title -->] at dsr.nii.ac.jp</ref> [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-7/V-1/ Ancient Khotan : vol.1] [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-7/V-2/ Ancient Khotan : vol.2]
*Stein, Aurel M. 1921. ''Serindia: Detailed report of explorations in Central Asia and westernmost China'', 5 vols. London & Oxford. Clarendon Press. Reprint: Delhi. Motilal Banarsidass. 1980. [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/ dsr.nii.ac.jp]
*[https://books.google.com/books?id=1Ra3AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 1904  ''Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan'', London, Hurst and Blackett, Ltd.] Reprint Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, Madras, 2000 [http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/VIII-5-B2-5/V-1/ Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1]
*Watters, Thomas 1904–1905. ''On Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India''. London. Royal Asiatic Society. Reprint: Delhi. Mushiram Manoharlal. 1973.
*Yu, Taishan. 2004. ''A History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions''. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 131 March 2004. Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.

==External links==

{{commons|Khotan}}
{{wikivoyage|Khotan}}
*[http://www.hts.gov.cn/ Official government site (in Chinese)]
*[http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/ Silk Road Seattle - University of Washington] (The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works)
*[http://idp.bl.uk/education/buddhism/khotanese/khotanese.html Site devoted to the Buddhism of Khotan with a copy of Sir Aurel Stein's map of the Tarim Basin and Khotan region]
*[http://www.raize.ch/Reisen/velo-eurasien/karten-rollover/western-tibet-highway_satellitenbild_grossplus.jpg  Satellite image of region which can be enlarged]
*[http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=35406 China:  Taklamakan - Desert With No Ocean Underground]

{{Xinjiang Administrative Divisions}}
{{Cities of Xinjiang}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hotan}}
[[Category:Populated places along the Silk Road]]
[[Category:Populated places in Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Central Asian Buddhist kingdoms]]
[[Category:Ancient peoples of China]]
[[Category:Former countries in Chinese history]]
[[Category:Oases of China]]
[[Category:Hotan Prefecture]]
[[Category:Uyghurs]]
[[Category:Hotan| ]]