Taklamakan Desert to regard the Taklamakan Desert as separate and independent from the Gobi Desert region to its east. The People's Republic of China has constructed two cross-desert highways. The Tarim Desert Highway links the cities of Hotan (on the southern edge) and Luntai (on the northern edge), and the Bayingol to Ruoqiang road crosses the desert to the east. In recent years, the desert has expanded in some areas, its sands enveloping farms and villages as a result of desertification. The Golmud-Korla Railway (presently, under construction; expected completion time, 2019) will cross the Taklamakan as well. Because it lies in the
Taklamakan Desert the Pacific, where it contributes to cloud formation over the Western United States. Studies have shown that a specific class of mineral found in the dust, known as K-feldspar, triggers ice formation particularly well. K-feldspar is particularly susceptible to corrosion by acidic atmospheric pollution such as nitrates and phosphates. Exposure to these constituents reduces the ability of the dust to trigger water droplet formation. Further, the traveling dust redistributes minerals from the Taklamakan to the western U.S.A. via rainfall. The desert is the main setting for Chinese film series "Painted Skin" and "". The Chinese TV series "Candle in the