200px|thumb|right|Vegetation on either side of the highway to prevent shifting sand dunes from covering it, as well as a blue pump house in the distance.200px|thumb|right|PetroChina gas station on the highway routeThe Tarim Desert Highway, also known as the Cross-Desert Highway (CDH) or Taklamakan Desert Highway, crosses the Taklamakan Desert in China. There are now three highways: two main highways and one branch highway.[1]
The Lunmin Highway links the cities of Luntai on National Highway 314 and Minfeng on National Highway 315, on the northern and southern edges of the Tarim Basin. The total length of the highway is 552km (343miles), approximately 446km (277miles) of which crosses uninhabited areas covered by shifting sand dunes, making it the longest such highway in the world.
Construction on the highway began in 1993 because of expansion in the petroleum industry, requiring fast shipping across the Taklamakan desert. Construction was completed in 1995.
To prevent the shifting sands from covering the highway, bushes and other vegetation were planted next to the highway to anchor the sand with their roots. A massive irrigation system was constructed to pump water for the vegetation along the highway. Every four kilometers along the road there is a maintenance shed for keeping a belt of shrubs along the road irrigated, which protects the road against moving sand.[2]
At the halfway point along the desert highway, there are a few restaurants and a gas station. Except for pump house maintenance workers, the region is entirely uninhabited.
The Taqie Highway, 156km (97miles) long, is a branch highway, connecting Tazhong on the Lunmin Highway, above, with Qiemo in the southeast direction on National Highway 315. It opened in 2002, and is called the autonomous region's S233 Highway.
See main article: China National Highway 580. The Ahe Highway, 424km (263miles) long, opened in 2007, starts from Aral on National Highway 314, west of the historical town of Kucha, in Aksu Prefecture, goes southward along the Hetian River, and ends in Hetian on National Highway 315.