The Tarim River Basin in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region nourishes the world's largest desert poplar forest, with nearly 1,133,000 hectares of poplar forest accounting for more than 90 percent of the country's total. Recently, the Taklimakan Desert has entered "poplar time." The vast desert is adorned like a fairyland with golden poplars, sapphire lakes and white sand dunes.

(Cover: Desert poplars thrive in the Taklimakan Desert in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest China, November 10, 2024. /CFP)