In this combo photo, the upper half taken on Nov. 14, 2019 shows part of ruins of a pagoda before a reinforcement project at the site of ancient Loulan in the wilderness of Ruoqiang County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region; the lower half taken on Oct. 20, 2020 shows the same part of the pagoda after the reinforcement project. China's cultural conservationists have completed emergency repair works on the ground remains believed to be ruins of the ancient Loulan kingdom in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Loulan was a prosperous settlement built around 2,000 years ago to serve traders transiting through the ancient Silk Road. However, with time, references to Loulan mysteriously disappeared. (Northwest Research Institute Co., Ltd. of CREC/Handout via Xinhua)
