What is the name of this distinctive sandy desert north of Tibet?

The Taklamakan is the world's second largest shifting sand desert with about 85% made up of shifting sand dunes. Because it lies in the rain shadow of the Himalayas, the Taklamakan is a paradigmatic cold desert climate. During the 2008 Chinese winter storms episode, the Taklamakan was reported to be covered for the first time in its entirety with a thin layer of snow reaching 4 centimeters (1.6 in).