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Documentary photograph by HaziiDozen, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.Source / rightsWikimedia Commons · explicit-license

Yutian County

Northwest · Xinjiang

Uyghur Atlas Silk and the Yutian Robe

Ikat silk woven in Hotan workshops and a Yutian outer robe cut like no other in Xinjiang

Yutian women wear the tarryilik: a black-and-white outer robe with pointed shoulder wings over atlas-silk dresses, a silhouette unique to one oasis county — the kind of local cut that survives nowhere else.

  • atlas silk
  • black-white outer robe
  • small cap
Spring

Silk reeling begins

Spring reopens the Hotan silk workshops where atlas patterns are tied and dyed by hand.

Open the full entryRead the travel note

05 · travel note

Uyghur Atlas Silk and the Yutian Robe

City anchorYutian County

Best time
April-May and September-October avoid the desert extremes; bazaars run year-round.
Stay
Two to three days for Hotan and Yutian

A way throughFly to Hotan, road south to Yutian; the Sunday bazaar is the region’s anchor event.

On the wayHotan airport connects through Urumqi; buses and shared taxis cover the hundred-plus kilometres south to Yutian.

With respectAsk before photographing people, and let craft households set the pace of workshop visits — the dye work cannot be rushed for a camera.

The Yutian tarryilik: a black-and-white winged outer robe of Uyghur dress over patterned layers.Real scene

Seasonal experience

A Yutian dressing demonstration

Watch the robe layered in the local order

Ask a local host to show the full layering — embroidered dress, atlas underscarf, the winged outer robe — and notice how the shoulder wings keep the outer cloth off the body in desert heat.

Why now
The Yutian cut is listed as national intangible heritage, and the county keeps designated craft households who dress for visitors in the traditional order.
Time needed
Half a day with a craft household
Plan before you go
Yutian is 100-plus km from Hotan city: hire a car for the day, and confirm household visits through the county cultural station.
Photo: HaziiDozen / Wikimedia Commons
Official tourismHotan Prefecture People’s Government