Qiemo, also called Cherchen, is an inland city in Xinjiang, China. About 60,000 people live in the city. It is a river town on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert. The area has been settled for a long time. A cemetery at least 3,500 years old is near the town, as well as Bronze Age rock carvings. The town was along the trade route to Tibet. Marco Polo is supposed to have passed through the town in 1273.