Badain Jaran Desert between the dunes, some of which are fresh water while others are extremely saline. These lakes give the desert its name which is Mongolian for "mysterious lakes". It is also crossed by one river, the Ruo Shui ("weak water"), which has formed an alluvial plain in the desert. Measuring over , the Badain Jaran Desert covers a significant part of the south-central part of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region as well as the North part of Gansu province. Located in the Alxa Plateau at about 1200 meters above sea level it is listed as a subsection to the Gobi Desert.
The Desert Music and Other Poems used in The Desert Music, a composition for chorus and orchestra or voices and ensemble by Minimalist composer Steve Reich in 1984. The Desert Music and Other Poems The Desert Music and Other Poems was a 1954 Random House book collecting 1949-54 poems by the American modernist poet/writer William Carlos Williams. It is now collected, along with "Pictures from Brueghel and Other Poems" (1962) and "Journey to Love" (1955), in the New Directions paperback "Pictures from Brueghel and other poems by William Carlos Williams: Collected Poems 1950-1962". Except for the title poem, all the pieces here are in triadic stanza