UK-China team challenges Desert of Death

China's Taklamakan Desert is the world's second largest desert. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China's Taklamakan Desert has fascinated generations of explorers but its mountainous dunes, huge temperature changes and severe lack of water mean its full width has only been crossed once, in 1993.

A group of nine Chinese and British adventurers now want to match that endeavor in a 10-week expedition next September in which they will travel from west to east on foot for 1,000 kilometers across what has been called The Desert of Death.

Team leader Rosie Stancer is a 56-year-old explorer who has conquered the North and South Poles. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"We want this epic expedition to be seen as a gesture of teamsmanship between China and Great Britain," said team leader Rosie Stancer, a 56-year-old explorer who has conquered the North and South Poles. Two other British team members and six Chinese will be travelling with her.

Celine Dong, a Chinese member of the team who works for a financial technology company in Hong Kong, says the Taklamakan's location as a crucial spot for the Belt and Road initiative greatly appealed to her and "fitted in with my identity". She has lived and worked in both China and the UK, and previously worked on deals connecting the two countries through the Belt and Road initiative.

Located in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the Taklamakan is the world's second largest desert, with an area of 337,000 square kilometers, just under the size of Germany. Despite its important location on the ancient Silk Road, ancient traders used to go around it rather than attempt to cross.

Its unexplored nature fascinated adventurers and past expeditions. Victorian explorer Sven Hedin, who crossed the shorter north-south route, lost two men, nearly all his camels and nearly perished himself. Earlier recorded attempts were defeated by hunger, thirst and the desert's ferocious sandstorms.

Stancer sees the expedition as both a physical and a psychological challenge. "It's a psychological journey to live with such quietness and loneliness for 10 weeks. You need to go with nature and not to conquer it."

But she says a sense of fulfilment will make it all worth it. "Legend has it, the desert is full of the spirits of the past. I'm fascinated by this place and want to discover more about it."