Kashgar (Xinjiang province), China

In order to be ready for the "China Olympics" total solar eclipse on Friday August 1^st, 2008, a scouting trip in China and Mongolia was mandatory during the summer 2006. A recce in the Altai Republic, a Russian Federation autonomous region well known for its Altai Mountains and belonging to UNESCO World Heritage, has already taken place in August 2004. This new scouting trip in the Chinese Gobi along the "Silk Road" in the Xinjiang Uighur province and Western Mongolia had for main goal to get the best weather on all the eclipse path. The Great Gobi Strictly Protected Area was established in 1976 and was included in the World Network of Biosphere Reserves in 1990 as one of the largest biosphere reserves in the world (5.3 million hectares).
Kashgar is sited west of the Taklamakan desert at the feet of the Tian Shan mountain range and has been noted from very early times as a political and commercial center. The Kashgar oasis is where both the northern and southern Silk Roads around the Taklamakan desert converge.
There are opportunities to visit the 7,546 meters high impressive Muztagh Ata peak base camp and then do some climbing for the most adventurous.