Shache

Walled town and oasis in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the River Yarkand, about 160 km/100 mi southeast of Kashi; population (2000) 88,100. It lies in the Tarim Basin, at the foot of the Kunlun Mountains, on the edge of the Takla Makan Desert and on the caravan route to India and west Russia. It is the centre of a fertile region, which, with irrigation, produces cotton, beans, and silk. Industries also include cotton textiles and leather goods. Its position near the frontiers with India, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan gives the city advantages as an international trading centre. Traditional handicrafts, such as carpets and embroidered silks, have been produced here for centuries. The town is a centre of Islamic culture.

Shache was visited by Marco Polo in the 13th century and from medieval times became an important staging post on the Silk Road, the caravan route between China and Europe. The population consists mainly of Chinese and Uigurs, a Turkic people.