The Shule River flows generally westwards through the Tibetan Plateau and the desert regions of northwestern China. It starts in the Qilian Mountains and stretches for some 900 kilometres (560 mi); however, the river dries up about two-thirds of the way along its course and is lost in the Kumtag Desert, an endorheic basin, meaning its water never reaches the sea. Historically, the river reached farther west to Lop Nur, an intermittent salt lake in the Taklimakan Desert.