To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Taklimakan Rally, a promotional event was launched in Beijing on Friday.

This year's Taklimakan Rally is scheduled to take place from May 20 to June 1 in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. The race spans a total of 4,600 kilometers, starting from Kashgar prefecture and concluding in Aksu prefecture. The event will showcase the diverse landscapes of Xinjiang, including canyons, yardang landforms, deserts and gravel plains, with 51 percent of the route covering desert terrain, 15 percent gravel plains, and 3 percent sand and gravel roads. The competition includes three vehicle categories, namely cars, motorcycles and trucks.

As an extension of the event, in April, the event's organizers will assemble teams and participants at Khorgos port in Xinjiang to travel through Central Asian countries such as Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan and then reenter China at Turgart port, ultimately concluding the journey in Kashgar. Following this, they will participate in the opening ceremony of this year's Taklimakan Rally.

Launched in 2005, the rally has evolved into the largest event in Asia in terms of participant numbers, vehicles and race distance.

"This year, in addition to the competition, the Taklimakan Rally will also organize diverse activities during the event, including music festivals, a photography exhibition commemorating the 20th anniversary, a sports tourism forum and motor sports performances. These initiatives aim to enhance the event's participation and overall experience," said Du Jing, the general manager of the Xinjiang Huanta Automobiles-Motorcycles Sports Club which is one of the event's organizers.

"While continuously improving our organizing capabilities, the event is also focused on enhancing campsite construction, upgrading support service functions, and effectively integrating with cultural and tourism activities," Du added.