Han envoys reached 楼兰 in the 2nd century BC, and in 77 BC the Han renamed it 鄯善. The town was abandoned around the 4th century AD as its rivers dried up, and Sven Hedin found its ruins in 1900.
culture
Tang frontier poets used 楼兰 for any enemy in the far west. 王昌龄's 不破楼兰终不还 ('until Loulan falls I will not go home') is still quoted as an oath to see a job through.
