Hotien Ho

(also Khotan River), a river in western China, in Kashgaria; a right tributary of the Tarim. The Hot’ien Ho is formed by the confluence of the K’alak’ashih Ho (Kara Kash River) and the Yülungk’ashih Ho (Yurung Kash River), which rise in the Karakoram and in the western Kunluns. It is 1,035 km long (if the length of the K’alak’ashih Ho is included) and drains an area of 43,600 sq km. The Hot’ien Ho flows across the Takla Makan Desert in a wide valley overgrown with a thin tugai (floodplain forest). The mean flow rate of the outlet from the mountains is about 120 cu m per sec. Much of the river’s water is used to irrigate the Hot’ien oasis. Within the Takla Makan, the river channel is full only during high water, that is, in July and August. In dry years, the Hot’ien Ho does not reach the Tarim.