Origin of the Term Yardang

Yardang, transliterated from the Uygur language, means a steep mound. The name was given by Swedish geographer and explorer Sven Hedin in  his book Central Asia and Tibet, where he identified a large area of these formations around Lop Nur as Yardangs according to the way Uygur call it. From then on, the term Yardang was widely accepted by geographers and geologists to describe this distinct landform that is typically formed through wind erosion in extremely or partially arid regions.

The History of the Han Dynasty: Geography, a book written prior to the Christian era, described this landform as a lying dragon-shaped dune found in regions with limited water and vegetation.