or YARKHANG, the capital of Chinese Turkestan, in a fertile plain on the river of the same name, 140 miles S.E. of Kashgar; N. Lat. 38. 19.; E. Long. 76. 7. It is enclosed by earthen walls, about 2 miles in circuit, and entered by five gates; but outside the walls there are extensive suburbs. The town is supplied with water from the river by numerous canals and aqueducts, which intersect it in different directions. The houses are for the most part meanly built of stone and clay, and are only one story in height. The principal buildings are two large bazaars, numerous caravansaries and mosques, and ten or twelve large Mohammedan colleges. Yarkand is the residence of a Chinese governor, a large number of merchants from that country, and others from Persia and India. A very important trade is carried on, as Yarkand is now the chief centre of the traffic between the Chinese empire and the countries to the west of it. This commerce is chiefly carried on by traders from independent Turkestan, as the Chinese authorities do not allow the people of this province to leave it, nor Europeans to enter. European goods, slaves, and horses from the Kirghiz steppes are brought here, in exchange for tea, silk, fruits, shawl-wool, and other Chinese goods. According to Chinese accounts the annual amount of customs paid here is about L10,200, and the city pays annually to the government 35,400 sacks of corn, 57,569 pieces of linen, and 15,000 lbs. of copper. The inhabitants are principally Turks or Uzbeks, and profess the Mohammedan religion; but there is here, besides a large number of foreign merchants, a Chinese garrison of about 7000 men, located in a fort in the suburbs. Yarkand is the principal military post in the west of the Chinese empire. Pop., including the garrison, stated at 200,000.