Loulan, also called Krorän or Kroraina (simplified Chinese: 楼兰; traditional Chinese: 樓蘭; pinyin: Lóulán; Uyghur: كروران‎, ULY: Kroran ), and known to Russian archaeologists as Krorayina, was an ancient kingdom based around an important oasis city along the Silk Road already known in the 2nd century BCE on the north-eastern edge of the Lop Desert.