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The formation and development of the arid climate in High Asia remain controversial. This is largely because of the scarcity of continuous high-resolution geological records from the Asian interior region. Thick loess sequences deposited on the surface of the Tibetan Plateau and its rims provide great potential to reconstruct a high-resolution history of the formation and evolution of High Asia arid climate. Based on detailed investigations of the grain size and carbonate content of representative loess sequences in High Asia, a persistent drying of High Asia occurred in the past 1 Ma, and two major rapid drying events occurred at about 0.9-0.8 Ma and 0.5 Ma. Persistent and rapid stepwise uplifts of the Tibetan Plateau since the Mid-Pleistocene might play a dominant role in the drying of High Asia, although the Mid-Pleistocene global cooling may partially contribute to the event. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.