 | Dunhuang Things To Do | Tips 1 - 10 of 33 |  |
Popular Things To Do | Other Things To Do Tips | All Tips (33) These world famous buddhist caves carved on the rock are undoubtely the main tourist attraction in Dunhuang.
Inside the little caves you can find wonderful wall paintings, and some painted sculptures, all with religious motifs.
There are many caves, we needed 3 visits to see them well, as you have to walk a lot between 1 cave and the other... Leave a Comment
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Singing Dune Hills and Crescent Moon Lake (Ming2 Sha1 Shan1 and Yue4 Ya2 Quan2) admission 20 RMB (off-peak), usual price is 120 RMB (in non-freezing weather...!). Taking a ride on/photographing with a camel is 30 RMB per camel. The scenery was quite amazing, though we almost froze going there at 0730 trying to wait for the sunrise. Never do this in winter... brrrr! The Crescent Moon Lake was frozen and a bit underwhelming as well. There's a man-made lake closer to the dunes at the entrance, don't mistake THAT for the real thing. If you're afraid of heights, be careful when you climb the sand dunes. Leave a Comment Directions: 5 km south of Dunhuang city
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World Heritage Site, 1 of the 3 major grottoes in China (the others are the Yungang Grottoes at Datong, Shanxi and Longmen Grottoes at Luoyang, Henan). Photos are prohibited in the grottoes. A tour is compulsory and included in the ticket price. 100 RMB for Chinese-speaking tour and 120 RMB for English-speaking tour; students get half price. In summer it's 160 RMB for English-speaking tour; I think Chinese-speaking tour is 120 RMB or so. Note that the grottoes are liable to be closed during rainy weather in order to protect them from moisture. Leave a Comment Directions: 25 km southeast of Dunhuang city
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10 RMB admission, collected way before you see the gate, at the start of the tarred road leading towards Jade Gate Pass and Yardang Geological Park. There's no way to evade this if you're only going to see Yardang Geological Park... but it's minimal anyway. If you're in a hired car, the driver doesn't need to buy a ticket. Say that you're on a tour from a tour agency, otherwise you do need to pay for a ticket for the driver.
The structure itself is now fenced up, and it's not very interesting/impressive if you don't have any background info before you go, it can be quite underwhelming. (It was underwhelming enough for us, who already read up beforehand on relevant history and literature.)
Our driver told us that there was once a Japanese chap who rented a jeep for 1200 RMB to go out there. Once he reached it, he immediately got down on his knees and cried. Wonder why? Leave a Comment Directions: 92 km northeast of Dunhuang city
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In 1907, fate brought Aurel Stein, the Anglo-Hungarian explorer and archaeologist. Stein had arrived in the area for the purpose of exploring the Han Great Wall as it stretched out into the Kumtag Shamo. He arrived at the caves as a curious visitor, but instantly recognised the enormous value of the manuscripts shown him by Wang. He bought a large quantity of them and had them shipped back to London. News spread fast in Europe, and he was followed by other explorers including Baron le Coq (who could have been the first European to see the manuscripts had it not been for a fateful telegram from his boss, summoning him to a meeting in Kashgar), the great French Sinologist Paul Pelliot, and the American Langdon Warner. Today, the bile is reserved for Aurel Stein, yet he was simply acting as any explorer did in the colonial days of the early 20th Century; his books suggest he genuinely wanted to save the manuscripts.
By the dawn of the 21st Century, the Mogaokou has become one of the star tourist attractions of China's western provinces, and a major heritage research institution. The Chinese make much of the phrase "Dunhuangology" as a term used for the study of the Dunhuang art and manuscripts; it is a curious arrogance given that there is little specifically unique about the treasures of the Mogaokou - the parallel drawn with "Egyptology" is irrelevant, as Ancient Egypt formed an entire, distinct and unique culture. Dunhuang is a set of Buddhist caves, albeit caves that have yielded an incredible hoard of manuscripts and a legacy of six centuries of sublime art. The reverence now paid to Dunhuang is matched for its intensity only by the generosity of foreign donors, including Silk Road tour operators, many of whom believe, erroneously, that Dunhuang is short of cash. If you want to see "short of cash", travel to one of the many other cave complexes in Gansu or Xinjiang - at Anxi, Matisi, Kezier, Kucha or Maijishan. Leave a Comment
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At any one time, around 50 caves are open to the general public, and access is only possible as part of a guided tour. Although the guide will have a flashlight, it is advisable to bring your own, but be prudent with its use - the frescos and pigments are damaged by light.
If you are referring to one of the specialist guide books, note that the cave numbering system has changed, which makes it all a little confusing.
The highlight for many fast-paced fleet-footed tour groups are the northern and southern Big Buddha caves, which, artistically are among the least interesting, so if you let your guide know that you are willing to skip these, you will have a lot more time to see some of the more interesting caves. Forget about seeing the caves depicting scenes of tantric sex: these are off-limits to all but the most serious of researchers. Cameras are not allowed in the caves; they have to be deposited at a locker-room near the ticket office, and this explains why there are none shown on these pages.
Further reviews cover the history of the caves in more detail, the Western explorers and Abbot Wang Leave a Comment Address: 25km south east of DunhuangDirections: Turn right just before the airport and head for the hils
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Also known as the Qianfodong or Thousand Buddha Caves, the Mogaokou at Dunhuang is one of the world's great art galleries, and was, once, long ago, a place of pilgrimage. Today, 600,000 visitors make the spiritual side sadly lacking, as tourism and heritage management have taken over the religious caretakers of an earlier age. The legends and the hype have it that the Thousand Buddha Caves were a great milestone on the Silk Road: they weren't and never were. Dunhuang was an oasis halt on the southern route of the Silk Road, the last stop before the Kumtag Shamo and then the great vast emptiness of the Taklimakan Desert. Long ago, all around the Taklimakan and the Tianshan lay thirty-six kingdoms, and most were influenced by the spread of Buddhism as disciples, monks and the faithful came north through the Hindu Kush, the Karakoram and the Pamirs, the great ranges of Central Asia.
The first frescos in the caves were created in AD366, during the Northern Wei dynasty, and over the next 600 years more than 500 caves were cut and decorated. The Mogaokou were not unique, not even in the vicinity of Dunhuang. However, the Mogaokou managed to remain largely untouched by strife and aggression down the centuries, and their well hidden location some distance from the town protected them from destruction by marauding warriors and bandits. The Mogaokou, though, is more famous for what is not here - one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the modern world: the Dunhuang Library. This huge collection of manuscripts, many of them still unstudied today, were found by a Taoist monk Wang Yuanlu, the self-appointed caretaker of the caves at the turn of the 20th Century. Abbot Wang was dedicated to restoring the caves, which was an expensive task. Leave a Comment Address: 25km south east of DunhuangDirections: Turn right, just beforethe airport. Head for the hills!
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This famous and well photographed structure at Mogao grottoes houses a gaint buddha statue within. Leave a Comment
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There are some amazing views if only you could stay awake on the road. This is just one of them and while the pictures doesn't do it any justice, it should give you a general idea. Leave a Comment
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MingSha moutain means "Singing sand" hill in chinese. Because sometime in the evening when there is someone walking through the hill, the sand hill will give out some noices. It because the sharp temporature difference in the sand. I don't fully understand the why and wasn't lucky enough to hear it.
The moutain is pure pure sand dessert which is fun. We took a Camel ride all the way up to the sand moutain. There is some game call sand skiing on the moutain as well. The sand is so fine grained that if you drop your camera into the sand, it will be damaged permanently because sand sinking into the camera like water.
The famous cresent moon lake is at the same place. It should be a place full of legends because who can imagine there is a lake being there for hundreds and thousands of years in the deadly pure dessert? But the water in the lake is slowly sinking into the ground and the lake is smaller and smaller. Leave a Comment
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- Dun Huang Dajiudian
16 Middle Yangguan Road, Dunhuang, China - Dun Huang Hotel Dunhuang
Dunyuet Road, Dunhuang, China - Grand Sun Hotel Dunhuang
5 North Shazhou Road, Dunhuang, China - Silk Road
6 East Huan Cheng Road, Dunhuang, China - International
28 Mingshan Rd, Dunhuang, China - Mountain Village
Dunyuet Road, Dunhuang, China - Dun Huang Binguan
No.14 East Yangguan Road, Dunhuang, China - Silk Road Dun Huang Hotel
Dunyuet Road, Dunhuang, China - Guang Yuan
No 23 Mingshan Road, Dunhuang, China - Dunhuang Hotel
No.14 East Yangguan Road, Dunhuang, China - Dunhuang International Hotel
28 Mingshan Rd, Dunhuang, China - Dun Huang Building
15 South Shazhou Road, Dunhuang, China - Youdian Mountain Village
Dunyuet Road, Dunhuang, China
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