Top 5 Attractions of Dunhuang
Dunhuang is one of the most beautiful cities to tour
in China with its rich historical background. With its fascinating thousand
year old relics and once being a city of the Silk Road Dunhuang is a city of
mystery. More importantly the city has numerous sights that are enlisted under
UNESCO’s Cultural Heritage sites. There are many ethnic customs and unique
natural wonders you will not find anywhere else in the world!
1. Mogao
Grottoes
Mogao Grottoes, also named “Thousands Buddha Caves”, is regarded as the most valuable
discovery in 20th century. It is known as the “Louvre of East”, which is
outstanding for its exquisite mural paintings and statues. There are now 492
grottoes in which about 45000 square meters mural paintings and 2100 colorfully
painted statues have been preserved very well. The history of Mogao Grottoes
can be traced back to the “Five Hu-16 Kingdoms” period (CD304-439). Mogao
Grottoes was constructed by the Prior Qin, and the subsequent dynasties rebuilt
and enlarged the scope year by year. In the splendid caves, you will learn much
about the evolution of China’s history.
2. Crescent
Lake
Crescent Lake is located 5 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang and is famous as one of the
“Eight Scenes of Dunhuang”. It is also known as the “first lake in the desert”.
Surrounded by sand mountains, the Crescent Lake has a beautiful oasis with
traditional Chinese architecture. Over recent years there have been growing concerns about the
preservation of the lake. The main worries over the lake are due to the
shrinking of the lake over the years. However, measures have been taken to
preserve the lake and after all it is a listed UNESCO heritage sight therefore the
government has created a man-made lake to balance out the Crescent Lake and in
recent reports it has been said that the lake has continued to grow over the
past couple of years.
3. Yangguan
Pass
Yangguan
was built during the Han Dynasty and served as an important pass to the ancient
Silk Road. The advantageous geographic location had always been a town of great
military importance as a natural defense for ancient China.It is the gateway to
the West Region, as well as the door to the South Silk Road. There is a
Yangguan Museum where you can learn about its history, and experience the exact
process of checking out customs in the ancient time.
4. Yumenguan
Pass
Yumen Pass, also called
the Jade Gate Pass, is located some 90 kilometers northwest of Dunhuang City,
Gansu Province. Together with Yangguan Pass, it is the main pass by which
ancient China was connected to the Silk Road. It was established twice
separately in the Han and Tang Dynasties. The current Yumen Pass is the remains
of the one built in the Tang Dynasty. Yumen Pass witnessed the economic and
cultural exchanges between China and the west: Chinese silks were transported
continuously to the west while music, religion, grapes, pomegranates, walnuts,
and clovers among other things were introduced to China from the west. At
present, the Yumen Pass site consists of a small square castle, occupying an
area of around 600 square meters and measuring 24.5 meters long from east to
west, 17 meters wide from north to south, and 6.7 meters at it’s highest.
5. Yadan
National Geologic Park
Situated 180 kilometers in
the northwest away from Dunhuang, the Dunhuang Yadan National Geologic Park is the largest one of
Yadan Landform found so far. The park stretches twenty-five kilometers from
north to south and about two kilometers from east to west. It features the
unique and wonderful scenes and landscapes of the gobi desert.
The grand outlooks of the Yadan landforms were accumulated by the clay after floods in addition to rains and storms for long time and here once were the lower reaches of Shulehe River in the ancient times. It will be possible that after a number of years the landforms slowly disappear.
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