Abandoned Cities

June 28, 2009 | Pulitzer Center

Sean Gallagher, for the Pulitzer Center, China

Human remains scatter the floor in the abandoned city of Yinpan, a result of a combination of natural erosion revealing graves and disturbance by tomb-robbers.

In the summer, flash floods wash away what remains of the old city of Yinpan as is evident by the rivulets that run throughout the city. Originally the ground level of the city was that of the base of the pale-yellow structure at the top of the picture, which are the remains of a Buddhist temple.

Small valleys run throughout the city, evidence of the path taken by water, washing away the few remains.

A human bone, probably disturbed from a grave by tomb-robbers.

The remains of a wooden coffin lie in the intense mid-day heat. Dating of different species of wood used in making coffins has allowed Chinese archaelogists speculate on the age of the settlement.

The old city of Yinpan is slowly being washed away, as is evident by the dried-up channels found throughout the city.

Ancient artifacts can be found just lying around the city, as wind and water erosion has exposed both graves and buildings, releasing their contents. Here, a coin dating over 1500 years old was found in a floodplain near the city.

In the foreground, a piece of orange pottery can be seen. These 1500 year-old fragments pepper the ground throughout the city.

The old city walls of Yinpan are one of the most visible structures that still remain in the area. The dry and parched soil that surrounds them increasingly contributes to the fragility of the site and its unstable existence.

Barbed wire barely protects the site from the few visitors who make it to the old city, however it is protection from the elements that the city vitally needs.

It is estimated that nearly 40 cities have been abandoned as a result of desertification in Northwest China in the past 2000 years. The old city of Yinpan, in China's western Xinjiang province, is one of those cities. Lying on the fringes of China's most formidable desert, the Taklamakan, its location is one of the harshest and most remote in all of China. Approximately 2000 years ago, the city of Yinpan was a successful, thriving and eclectic city, however the people's inability to adapt to disappearing water was one of the main reasons that led to the fall of this city. Now, as desertification and sandstorms increase each year, the city is under attack from the elements, slowly wiping the remains of this city off the few maps in remains upon.