Mountains, steppe, desert and Covid overcome to finally make it to the holy grail of desert cities: the Tangut fortress of Khara Khoto, deep in Inner Mongolia’s Badain Jaran desert, with the nearest town Ejina 额济纳 still taking its Tangut name (something like ‘Yijinai’) 1/5

Founded by the Western Xia in the 11th century and becoming a nodal point trading through the Taklamakan on to Central Asia, Khara Khoto was taken by Genghis Khan in 1226 but survived his genocide against the Tanguts - continuing to flourish until its Ming conquest in 1372. 2/5

Marco Polo visited an Etzina on the desert edge - almost certainly the then Mongolian city under its Tangut name. Polo refers to a city of isolators and this religious plurality is still seen - Buddhist stupas, and outside the walls a travellers’ mosque for itinerant traders 3/5

Now arid and desiccated, the city (whose Tangut name means ‘Black Water’) was fed by now reduced aquifers. Nearby are the ghostly remains of a forest which died when the local water table dropped. Sands now lap the bastion walls and cover the city’s remaining buildings. 4/5

Excavation by the greats (Aurel Stein passed) and other Chinese & international archaeologists unveiled troves of artefacts, including coveted Tangut texts and silks. Today’s conservators are fighting a tireless battle to keep the desert at bay - but sometimes unsuccessfully. 5/5

Oh and, lest I forget - up the road is a full, 1:1 scale replica of the city built for tourists. Because, I guess, China?