Satellite image of Jiya Township and sights northeast of central Hotan, Xinjiang, China
Jiya Townshop is a northeast section of the Hotan oasis, as shown in the inset. Click on All Sizes to see the full-size (2329 x 2106) version of this satellite image.
In or near Jiya Township are five famous signts in Hotan: the carpet workshop (gillam karakhana), the Atlas silk workshop, the Imam Asim shrine complex, the ancient Buddhist Rawak Stupa, and the Aksipil ancient fort ruins.
I don't have the exact locations of the carpet workshop or the Atlas silk workshop in Jiya Township, though the former is said to be a bit closer to central Hotan (about 5-10 km vs 15-20 km, respectively). Both of these are accessible by local bus or taxi.
The Imam Asim complex (37°14'28"N, 80°03'08"E) may be past the end the local bus route but is accessible by taxi and then walking a a few hundred meters into the desert. The Imam Asim Shrine is the location of a lively bazaar every Thursday. Imam Asim, also spelled Imam Hashim, is an ancient saint,, an early Islamic missionary to the area in the late ninth century, See a photo of this shrine ('mazar' in Uyghur) and its adjacent mosque here: Imam Asim shrine by cressica and several adjacent photos. (Don't let the taxi leave you at the tiny Jiya Township mosque -- insist on the Mazar Imam Asim 10 km further north.)
The Rawak Stupa (37°20'45.70" N, 80°09'48.43" E) is 20-30 kilometers northwest of the Imam Asim mosque and shrine, as the crow flies. But the dirt road access across the desert is not from here but rather, according to a source, from the east or west. The rough road requires a 4WD and the last stretch must be done on foot or on camels. There is a Y350 permit fee to visit the Rawak Stupa in addition to the cost of transport, which can be arranged at the Hotan Museum (which also houses the Cultural Relics Bureau) or through the Hotan International Travel Service or another local agency. See an image of the Rawak Stupa at Don Croner's World Wide Wonders - Rawak Stupa. See a diagram of the Rawak Stupa in explorer M. Aurel Stein's 1901 book, Ancient Khotan. Read about Stein's discovery of the Rawak stupa.
See an image of the Aksipil Fort wall taken by explorer M. Aurel Stein in 1901 on one of his several expedtions to the area. See a diagram of the spare remains of the fort from his book, Ancient Khotan. Read Stein's description of Ak-Sipil and the nearby (southwest) ruins of Kighillik in the same book.
See all 14 images of central, local, area and regional maps and satellite images in my Flickr set of Maps of Hotan.
See 200 images of Hotan in my Flicker Hotan Collection. Images of the Atlas silk workshop are in a set by themselves, while photos of the carpet workshop are in the 'Sights in Hotan' set.
Read an extensive report on visiting Hotan at my Central Asia Traveler page on Hotan- Ancient Kingdom of Jade and Silk, with details on sightseeing, transportation, lodging, and dining.
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