Travel guide·Dunhuang

Among the places I have traveled to, I recommend Dunhuang the most. As one of the representative scenic spots in the northwest, Dunhuang is so rich and easy to get. You can enjoy these scenery not far from the city: the Mogao Grottoes, a representative of grotto culture, is paired with the live performance "Seeing Dunhuang Again"; the sand mountains and the Crescent Moon Spring surrounded by sand mountains; there are camel rides and off-road motorcycles in the desert For other activities, you can watch the stars at night or camp in the desert; you can eat and drink at the night market snack street (northwestern specialty snacks), and buy local fruits, dried fruits and Dunhuang-style handicrafts. All of these are less than 10 kilometers away from the city, making it comfortable to play. Farther away from the city, you can see the desolate landscape of the northwest.

Dunhuang is a stop on the Northwest Grand Ring Line in most itineraries. I think Dunhuang is worth a trip alone, especially if you think the Grand Ring Line is too hard, or you can't get the number of people to charter a bus.

 

What are you playing for?

 

The scenic spots in Dunhuang can be roughly divided into three parts: the urban area, the west line, and the east line.

• Urban area: Mogao Grottoes, "Seeing Dunhuang Again", Mingsha Mountain·Crescent Moon Spring, Populus euphratica Forest, Shazhou Night Market, Dunhuang Museum.

• Western route: Dunhuang Ancient City, West Thousand Buddha Caves, Yangguan Pass, Yumen Pass, and Yadan Devil City.

• East route: Yulin Grottoes, Sculpture·Son of the Earth, Sculpture·Unbounded, Suoyang City Ruins.

 

Urban Mogao Grottoes

 

Before going to Mogao Grottoes, my only impression of Mogao Grottoes was Taoist Wang and the Sutra Cave. After I went there, I saw the Buddhist Scripture Cave, but not Taoist Wang. There were no cultural relics in the Buddhist Scripture Cave. It was just an ordinary small room. About its rich history, I could only listen to the explanation and imagine it. I have always had little interest in such attractions. Dunhuang culture is splendid and has a long history, but for a superficial tourist like me, what you can see is the focus of tourism. The focus of Dunhuang is the murals and statues. They are so beautiful that I cannot describe them in detail. I can only summarize them briefly: they have lasted for thousands of years and are magnificent.

(appearance)

(Internet picture. Photography is not allowed inside the Mogao Grottoes. This is what the caves look like, with some statues and full of murals.)

(The mural restoration picture taken in the museum, this should be a part of a mural.)

A picture is worth a thousand words. In fact, I don’t know how to introduce it. Mogao Grottoes is the right place to come.

Let me try to describe the experience of watching murals: The grotto is similar to a room without windows, with only one door and very weak light inside. If the tour guide closes the door, you will be surrounded by murals and above your head. The main light source is The tour guide’s flashlight, eyes follow the light of the flashlight to view details one by one. Some large murals occupy the entire wall and are much taller than a person. They are rich in details and charming in color. The colors of the murals come from minerals. Some have been oxidized and turned black, while others are still bright. This conflict is even more fascinating because it reminds you that the murals in front of you have lasted for thousands of years. (The tour guide should probably be called a docent, let’s call it that. )

It is very difficult to book tickets for the Mogao Grottoes. It is recommended to put it on the same priority list as air tickets, tickets and accommodation before arranging your itinerary. Even if you can't book tickets for Mogao Grottoes, you have to consider whether to go to Dunhuang. However, there is an alternative to Mogao Grottoes, which is Yulin Grottoes. If you look at the special grottoes in Yulin Grottoes, the artistic level is as high as that of Mogao Grottoes, but the location is remote and the price is expensive. Yulin Grottoes are on the east line and will be introduced later.

 

To visit the Mogao Grottoes, you need to go to the Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center, where you can check in, watch a movie (included in the combined ticket), and then take the scenic shuttle bus to and from the Mogao Grottoes.

After arriving at Mogao Grottoes, you will be led by a scenic tour guide to randomly visit several grottoes. The tour guide will reasonably match the grottoes and explain them. But as a tourist, you can only follow and cannot choose the grotto by yourself. After the tour is completed, you can add money to visit the special cave. The special caves cost about 200 yuan or 150 yuan per cave, which can be said to be very expensive. The advantage is that there are fewer people in the special caves and the explanation time is long. Touring the Mogao Grottoes requires a lot of explanations, because only under the guidance of explanations can you pay attention to the details. Rich friends should consider visiting the Special Grottoes, but I can’t provide any specific guide. When I went to Mogao Grottoes, I didn’t know about the existence of the Special Grottoes. I only found out about it afterwards. It seems that the special cave is not open during the peak season.

After visiting the grottoes, there are exhibitions such as museums and calligraphy and painting institutes to see, focusing on the restored murals and the grottoes restored to the same proportions.

(This is probably the state during the visit, a group of people followed the tour guide to visit the grottoes one by one)

(Landmark, nine floors, inside is a giant Buddha, huge)

(Restoration photo of the mural taken at the museum)

 

Downtown·"Seeing Dunhuang Again" Performance

 

If you want to understand the culture of Dunhuang, "Meeting Dunhuang Again" is highly recommended. Not only the story of Mogao Grottoes and Taoist Wang, the performance also connected people and stories from more historical periods.

 

The performance location of "Seeing Dunhuang Again" is very close to the Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center, within walking distance.

Both Mogao Grottoes and "Seeing Dunhuang Again" need to determine the specific performances in advance, which involves timing. I recommend watching "Meeting Dunhuang Again" first before visiting the Mogao Grottoes, because it is not easy to determine the duration of the tour. Although the tour time for the guided tour of the grottoes is relatively fixed, there may be queues, and you may also spend more time looking at the museums and calligraphy and paintings. If you don’t have enough time, it may be awkward to complete the works of the academy. I'm rather embarrassed...

However, booking tickets requires luck. If you want to see the Mogao Grottoes first and then watch "Dunhuang Again", it is recommended to leave enough time. But if you finish visiting the Mogao Grottoes quickly and still have more time, it is recommended to waste the remaining time in the area of ​​Mogao Grottoes, museums, and calligraphy and painting institutes, because after you come out, whether it is the Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center or "Seeing Dunhuang Again" The theater is nothing interesting.

 

Urban area·Mingsha Mountain·Crescent Moon Spring

 

Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring is a scenic spot. Crescent Spring is clearly visible at a glance. Mingsha Mountain should be the nearby mountains. The picture above shows you standing on Mingsha Mountain overlooking Crescent Moon Spring.

 

Tickets for Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring are valid for 3 days. Generally speaking, you can watch the sunset and night view in the evening. If you don’t have enough fun, you can come again during the day.

There are many activities in the scenic area, including camel riding, desert motorcycles, paragliding, etc. I only did camel riding. The whole journey was less than an hour, but I felt it was too long. The camel almost made me vomit due to the swing, and I also missed the sunset because of the camel ride, which was embarrassing. Halfway through the camel journey, staff will charge to take photos. You can refuse, and the charge is not expensive. However, you can see signs prohibiting paid photos along the way, which is doubly embarrassing.

If you want to see the stars in Mingsha Mountain at night, you have to wait until it gets completely dark, but the scenic spot has closing hours. In some seasons, the sunset is late, so there is nothing you can do. It was October when I went there, and soon after I could see the stars, the scenic spot started to crowd out people. However, the scenic area staff are at the bottom of the mountain, and the tourists are on the mountain. The people at the foot of the mountain are shouting in various ways, and the people on the mountain just won’t come down. The scene is quite interesting. If you want to see the stars, you have to stay away from the city and light sources. Driving to the suburbs is an option, and camping deep in the desert is also an option. There are many desert camping projects near Mingsha Mountain. You can try it. Starting from the evening, you can play various projects in the desert, eat and drink, and stay in a tent in the desert at night. I didn’t go because I thought it would be too hard to set up a tent in the desert, and I wasn’t suitable for doing desert projects by myself.

 

There are many things to pay attention to when climbing the sand mountain. It is recommended that you read other strategies carefully before going.

The wind and sun in the desert are stronger, so be careful about sun protection. It’s easy to get heat stroke in the hot sun, and the sand can also burn your feet. I think shoe covers are dispensable. The sand here is very fine. Even if it gets into shoes, it won't abrade your feet. It's just more difficult to clean. You can rent shoe covers in the scenic area, but I didn't rent them. I don't know the price. It may be more expensive than buying shoe covers outside the scenic area.

The shuttle bus route in the scenic area is not long, and the walk is not far, but if you are very tired, it is good to save some energy. After all, there are sand mountains to climb. The sand mountain didn't look high, and it was very tiring to climb up. If you want to ride a camel, look at the map when you enter. The camel is not on the main road, and it is not in the same direction as the shuttle bus.

 

Urban · Populus euphratica forest

 

Near the airport, there is a small patch of Populus euphratica forest, a very small one, but it is enough for taking pictures. It's probably a private attraction, and the ticket price is 40. I was pulled there by a taxi driver. I don’t know the exact location. It’s not far from the Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center, so you can stop by for a walk.

The Populus euphratica forest is very beautiful, but it is only seasonal and requires a certain amount of luck.

 

Urban Shazhou Night Market

 

Also called Dunhuang Night Market, Dunhuang was called Shazhou in ancient times.

Shazhou Night Market is a street running from north to south. I mainly saw four areas, restaurant area, snack area, dried fruit area, and handicraft area. The snack area is called Shazhou Shiyi. The decoration style is prosperous. The snacks taste OK, but they are not particularly delicious. The snack street is better because of its rich variety. I like these two drinks, apricot peel tea and egg-milk fermented glutinous rice, and recommend them, but I’m not sure whether I drank them in Zhangye or Dunhuang. The handicraft area is particularly unique to Dunhuang. Compared with tourist attractions across the country, it stands out. However, I only spent a few tens to buy a scarf, and resisted the urge to buy beautiful ornaments. After all, I didn’t have a house, and the ornaments I bought before were all sitting in the corner gathering dust.

 

Urban Dunhuang Museum

 

It's worth spending an hour or two wandering around and learning about the history and culture.

 

Urban area·Others

 

Leiyin Temple: a reconstructed temple. If you have a lot of time, you can come and take a stroll. It is located near Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring.

Western Jin Dynasty Mural Tomb: I didn’t go. I checked the guide and it said it was a privately-owned attraction in a large wasteland (maybe a cemetery). Although the real ancient tomb was very attractive to me, I didn't go there. After all, I was alone and I was afraid of dying inside.

 

West Line

 

I didn’t go to the Western Front, so I’ll give you a rough introduction:

• Dunhuang Ancient City: Film and television base, suitable for taking pictures.

• West Thousand Buddha Cave: Grotto. As an alternative to Mogao Grottoes, if you really can’t buy tickets to Mogao Grottoes and feel that going to Yulin Grottoes is too expensive, you can consider West Thousand Buddha Caves.

• Yangguan: ruins. There is no old friend when leaving Yangguan in the west.

• Yumenguan: Ruins. The spring breeze does not pass through Yumen Pass.

• Yadan Devil City: Geopark, Yadan Landform.

 

Let me tell you the reason why I didn’t go to the Western Front: The only place I wanted to go to was Yadan Devil City. I don’t take many pictures of the ancient city of Dunhuang, and I can’t take pictures alone. The West Thousand Buddhas Cave and Mogao Grottoes are the same. You can go there or not. Although Yangguan and Yumenguan are famous, there are only some mounds left, and I have no interest in them. As for Yadan Devil City, it takes 2.5 hours to drive one way. There is no direct train to the scenic spot. I can only sign up for a group tour and visit other scenic spots on the west line for a whole day. It is too tiring. The tickets for the scenic spots I don’t want to go are not cheap. . Also, I have visited several geoparks in Zhangye before. First, I am not very interested in geoparks. Yadan Devil City and the Western Route will be left to the future Northwest Great Ring Road.

 

East Line Yulin Grottoes

 

Yulin Grottoes is by far my favorite attraction. The main thing is to see the murals in the special caves, which have lasted for thousands of years and are magnificent. But after all, I have never been to the special caves of Mogao Grottoes, so I can’t compare.

 

The Yulin Grottoes are mainly about special caves. The entrance fee to Pu Cave is 40, and the content is average, so it’s not worth traveling so far. Yulin Grottoes is 160 kilometers away from downtown Dunhuang and takes more than two hours by car. There is no public transportation, so you can only charter a car or sign up for a group tour. However, if you sign up for a group tour, no one will wait for you to see the special caves, so chartering a car is the only option.

 

Special cave:

• Cave 25: 200 yuan, "Contemplation of the Sutra of Infinite Life", etc.

• Cave 3: 150 yuan, "Manjushri Transformation" and "Puxian Transformation".

• Cave 2: 100 yuan, "Water Moon Guanyin".

• Cave 4: 100 yuan, Tibetan Tantric style. I didn't see this cave.

 

(Mural restoration photo taken in the museum, "Puxian Transformation" in Cave 3)

I read the guide at that time and said that cave 4 did not have much to explain and could be discarded, so I discarded it and saved 100 yuan. Based on my actual experience, I recommend discarding it. The advantage of Yulin Grottoes is that there are few people. Each cave can even be explained for 20 to 30 minutes. Following the explanation to observe the details of the murals is a particularly good experience. So the total time spent visiting the three caves has reached one hour, and the information density is very high. Compared to the one-hour class that I concentrated on, my head was already a little dizzy after listening to it. So there is no need to see all the special caves. As for the three caves 25, 3 and 2, which one can be discarded? I like them all very much and it's hard to let them go. Some people say that if you only look at one cave, choose Cave 25. This statement can be used as a reference. After all, special caves are quite expensive. For example, 25 caves cost 200 yuan. This is the cost per person. For a family of three, the cost is 600 yuan. All the special caves cost 550 yuan, which means the price for a family of three is 1,650 yuan.

(The scenery outside Yulin Grottoes was particularly beautiful during the season I went there. Yulin Grottoes are built in a river valley.)

 

Eastern Front·Sculpture·Children of the Earth + Eastern Front·Sculpture·Unbounded

 

The two sculptures on the roadside are large and suitable for taking pictures. I only did Children of the Earth.

 

East Line Suoyang City Ruins

 

Ancient city ruins. I didn't go because I had to catch the high-speed train and didn't have time. But it seems that there is not much left of the ruins, and there is nothing to see.

 

Eastern Front·Others

 

There is also a saying that Mogao Grottoes, Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring are called the Eastern Front. The eastern route I am talking about here refers to the route ending at Yulin Cave.

The eastern route will pass through Guazhou County. Guazhou, as the name suggests, is where you can eat melons. It was already out of season when I went there, so I didn’t know what kind of melons there were in Guazhou. It seems like a watermelon?

 

Practical guide

 

How many days to play? How to arrange time?

 

Let’s first review the attractions in Dunhuang:

• Urban area: Mogao Grottoes, "Seeing Dunhuang Again", Mingsha Mountain·Crescent Moon Spring, Populus euphratica Forest, Shazhou Night Market, Dunhuang Museum.

• Western route: Dunhuang Ancient City, West Thousand Buddha Caves, Yangguan Pass, Yumen Pass, and Yadan Devil City.

• East route: Yulin Grottoes, Sculpture·Son of the Earth, Sculpture·Unbounded, Suoyang City Ruins.

 

Spend at least one day in the city, go to Mogao Grottoes and "Seeing Dunhuang Again" during the day, and in the evening enter the scenic spot to watch the sunset and night view before stopping to check in at Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring. Populus euphratica can be visited (or photographed) in half an hour. If the season is right, you can make every effort to arrange it during the day.

It’s a full day on the Western Front. If you want to watch the sunset at Yadan Devil City, you have to rush back under the stars and the moon.

The Eastern Front also takes one day. Yulin Grottoes takes 2.5 hours one way, and another 2 hours of sightseeing, that’s 7 hours. Departs at 10 o'clock and comes back at 5 o'clock. It does not include taking photos at sculptures, Suoyang City ruins, or eating. Therefore, we have to rush early. The journey is not easy, but it will not be as tiring as the Western Front.

In addition, you can go to Shazhou Night Market every night to have dinner and buy some things.

This leaves only the Dunhuang Museum. If you go to Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring late and only see the night view, or if you didn’t do the desert project well and want to go again during the day, then there are only two items left. These two items can be arranged on the day of arrival and the day of departure as needed.

If you want to go camping in the desert, generally speaking, you have to go to the camping base in the evening. There are many desert activities where you can play from dusk to night. Judging from this time in the evening, the western route is impossible. It may be possible to catch up on the eastern route. A more leisurely option is to replace Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring in the city tour. Anyway, desert camping is also in Mingsha Mountain. The projects should be more abundant and cheaper than the scenic spots. The only disadvantage is that you can’t see the Crescent Moon Spring. Then arrange another day to see Crescent Moon Spring.

 

Looking back: How many days are we going to play? How to arrange time?

 

My advice:

Plan at least one full day in Dunhuang to visit the Mogao Grottoes, "Seeing Dunhuang Again", Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring in the city. Among them, Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring can be replaced by desert camping. Then on the day of arrival and the day of departure, we can make arrangements to visit the Dunhuang Museum and Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring during the day. A Shazhou Night Market can be arranged every evening.

Both the Western and Eastern Fronts are optional. There is no need to make yourself particularly tired in pursuit of fun. I like Yulin Grottoes on the east line very much. If you have time and are interested, you can arrange a day there. As for the Yadan Devil City on the western route, it should be left to the future Northwest Great Ring Road. Generally speaking, the Northwest Great Ring Road includes Yadan Devil City and does not include Yulin Grottoes.

 

Big traffic

 

There are not many direct flights to Dunhuang, but you can transfer in Lanzhou.

There is also a high-speed train from Lanzhou to Dunhuang, which takes 8 hours. The high-speed railway passes through Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Guazhou, so you can play with them together. For example, I split the 8-hour high-speed rail trip into Lanzhou to Zhangye, Zhangye to Guazhou, and Guazhou to Dunhuang. This way, the one-way trip only takes 3 to 4 hours and will not be too tiring. There are not many trains, so please plan your time well. I just checked and found that the high-speed rail is no longer available and I can’t find the train I took. Maybe it’s only available during the peak season. Please check again when you’re doing your planning.

 

stay

 

Dunhuang is not big, so any urban area will do. It is recommended to stay near Shazhou Night Market and stroll back after visiting the night market.

 

Precautions

 

Before arranging your Dunhuang itinerary, buy tickets for Mogao Grottoes first, because they are very difficult to buy. If you don’t go to the Mogao Grottoes, the fun of Dunhuang will be half as bad. If you really can’t buy it and still want to go, the best alternative to Mogao Grottoes is Yulin Grottoes, followed by West Thousand Buddha Caves. The special grottoes in Yulin Grottoes are as good as the special grottoes in Mogao Grottoes, but the special grottoes are very expensive, and you have to rent a car on the way, so it costs a lot to get there.

The northwest is very dry, so pay attention to moisturizing. The northwest is so cold and dry in October that my hands are cracked. Maybe it’s also pretty? I don’t quite understand this, but you definitely need sun protection when traveling.

The sun rises and sets later in the northwest, so pay attention to the time when arranging dinner, late-night snacks, watching the sunset, and watching the starry sky.

 

match

 

Lanzhou.

Zhangye.