Dunhuang prospers and travels westward - My travel notes to Dunhuang (Part 1)
Including the round trip train time, the trip to Dunhuang, which lasted for 8 days, has ended, but my thoughts are still stuck in the yellow sand and catkins of the northwest and the cultural essence, and I don’t want to return. There is so much I want to express, and I thought about how to start for a long time before opening the document. I am a procrastinator, and my heart is urging me to quickly record the experiences along the way.
The content of this travelogue is recorded in chronological order in a detailed running account . All photos were taken by my personal mobile phone. The source of the mural photos has been noted on the Internet. Long and messy warning ahead:
On the evening of 2018.4.1721:47pm, I got on the green train from Chengdu bound for Lanzhou.
Upon closer inspection, this is the second time I have traveled far away. The last time was a solo trip to Beijing in 2014 6. During my trip to Beijing, I usually fly back and forth, but usually I take the EMU. This time I chose the train. First, because I booked the tickets late and the air tickets were slightly more expensive. Second, I had never taken a long-distance train and wanted to give it a try.
In the afternoon before departure, I went to watch "Ready Player One" with my roommates to gather together meaningless little things. When I look back, I suddenly have the feeling of giving a anniversary to one in three hundred and sixty-five.
There is a promotional poster for Delingha tourism on the green train, and the terminal station is Xining. On the first night of departure, I slowly fell asleep thinking about Haizi's "Sister, I am in Delingha tonight ":
Sister, I am in Delingha tonight, and the night is shrouded...
I give the stone back the stone
let the victory win
Tonight the highland barley belongs only to herself
everything is growing
Tonight I only have the beautiful desert sky.
Sister, I don’t care about humans tonight, I just want you
I didn't sleep well on the first night and only slept for three or four hours. Although I was very sleepy, people kept getting on and off cars and passing by. Even closing the curtains couldn't block the street light that came in through the gaps and passed by my eyelids.
When I got on the bus in Chengdu, there was a girl with long black hair on the bed opposite me. When I got off the train at Longnan Station in the middle of the night, there was a father and son on the opposite side. As long as his father is not around for a while, the little boy will start crying for his father. When dad is here, he is quiet and doesn't cry or make trouble.
The father went to buy food. When the child woke up and did not see his father, he began to cry loudly. He cried and howled:My father is missing. After crying for a while, he was covered with a quilt and howled even harder:Dad is missing. There were kind people who comforted him and he continued to cry. As soon as his father came, he immediately stopped crying and didn't even need to comfort him. It was like a panacea.
Arriving in Lanzhou around 9:30 a.m. on April 18
After leaving the train station, take bus 31 and go straight to Gansu Provincial Museum . I discovered an interesting thing while taking the bus : Lanzhou taxis come in many colors. , so I looked at the bus and wanted to see how many colors there were.
Conclusion: Lanzhou Taxi is a Rainbow Team. To prove that what he said is true, incomplete statistics put together a picture.
I felt dizzy without breakfast, so when I went to collect my tickets at the entrance of the museum, the aunt at the ticket exchange window heard that I had not eaten yet after getting off the train, and recommended a ramen shop around the corner. It's not to my taste, but everyone has a good attitude.
The seat faced two ornamental fish tanks in the store. It was the first time I saw a purple fish. I had a poor appetite due to physical reasons, but I finished eating while looking at the fish.
Unfortunately, the 2F Silk Road pavilion where the most popular pavilion was that day, Bao Feiyan, happened to be closed for maintenance. I had no choice but to visit other exhibition halls in the museum.
On the left side of the lobby on the first floor is the luggage storage area . The storage tag is customized. The careful thought and details of a museum are reflected in these seemingly casual places↓
After viewing several open exhibition halls, I bought four beautiful postcards at the cultural and creative store at the exit to send to relatives and friends. The postcards depict the contents of the Mogao Grottoes murals. Each postcard is 10 yuan, and the shipping fee is 1 yuan .
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The soft sleeper I bought from Lanzhou to Dunhuang has a dedicated waiting room, toilet and entrance passage. The beds are clean and hygienic for four people. The toilet has no peculiar smell. There is a night light on the bedside that can adjust the brightness. The indoor air conditioning temperature is also just right.
The carpets in the rooms and corridors are printed with Feitian. Before arriving in Dunhuang, the call of a thousand-year civilization has been ringing from time to time. I finally got some rest this night, making up for my lack of sleep the night before.
Kind tips
Tickets for the Mogao Grottoes adopt a reservation system and can be booked on the official website and official WeChat. They are limited per day and divided into visiting time periods, so you need to arrange the visiting time and book tickets in advance. The fare is 200 yuan in peak season and 100 yuan in off-season. Take the green bus from Dunhuang Railway Station for 3 yuan per person to reach the Mogao Grottoes Digital Center.
Dunhuang Railway Station is clean and spacious, and I felt good about it as soon as I set foot on this northwest land.
It was less than 8 o'clock when we arrived at the digital center, and the staff had not yet started work. The ticket office, luggage storage area and even the toilet were not open, but you could go in and sit in the lounge first.
The height chart opposite the ticket booth is also cute
Breakfast at the Digital Center
After eating, we wandered around the cultural and creative stores until we arrived at the 10 o'clock appointment. Before the official visit, two historical short films will be watched at the Digital Center, so that every visitor can have an understanding of the Mogao Grottoes before visiting.
The first film tells the history of the construction of the Mogao Grottoes, while the second film briefly introduces the cave murals and sculptures. The screen in the dome theater is on the ceiling, and the effect is comparable to naked-eye 3D. It is a novel experience.
Kind tips
When watching these two movies, sit as far back as possible! Better view ! After reading, the staff will guide you to take the sightseeing bus to the Mogao Grottoes. After reaching the entrance and gathering enough people, a docent will lead the tour. There is an iron door in front of each cave, which requires the docent's key to open.
Photography is strictly prohibited in the cave . The ticket only includes visiting the general cave. The special cave is only open in the off-season and the guide will not proactively inform you. You need to go to the tourist explanation center next to the parking lot to apply for it.
The number of the special cave opened every year can be viewed on the official website and WeChat account. The price is divided into 150 or 200 each and can only be paid in cash or by credit card. Processing starts at noon12:00, and there are only two sessions per day.
After the bus reaches the destination, you need to get off the bus and walk for a while to the ticket gate. There are many small poplar trees at the entrance. It was the first time I saw a small white poplar in person, and I sincerely thought it was beautiful. If I was not in a hurry, I would be happy to just look at the tree.
There are also two museums worth visiting in the park. I went to the "Echoes of Civilization" exhibition first.
Although there are only about two exhibition halls, they are rich in content. You can also watch short films interpreting the murals of special caves from the perspective of modern art. I cried while watching the short film analyzing Cave 245 .
Mogao Grottoes Exhibition Poster Wall
Ceiling mural at the entrance
The copywriting on the guidance wall in the museum is also great.
There is a visitor opinion book at the door, and I took a photo of a very poignant article.
Exhibition hall exit
After leaving the exhibition hall, we queued up to visit the General Grottoes. After seeing the General Grottoes, we rushed to the explanation center before 2:30 for the second visit to the Special Grottoes.
I visited three special caves: 45,158,321.Card 600 yuan. We were led to visit by a staff member in red uniform. A couple checked in for the visit158, so I visited the cave with them.
Since there was no one else handling the other two caves, the guide led me to watch them alone.
The explanation is very detailed, but no matter how beautiful and gorgeous the words are, nothing can be as shocking as facing these thousand-year-old relics .
Squatting in front of the Tang Dynasty statues in Cave 45, the eyes of these most beautiful Buddhist statues in Mogao Grottoes have been watching strangers from afar for thousands of years. Their fingers have long since decayed like flesh. The compassion and compassion have not diminished at all, but are even more touching because they are wrapped in the dust and smoke of time.
I am looking at the Buddha, and the Buddha is looking at me. Crouching in front, I felt extremely calm.
Mogao Grottoes Cave 45 (picture source network)
Everyone who comes to Mogao Grottoes will find something that he admires or surprises from. For me, first, I am amazed at the excellent painting skills and extraordinary imagination of this group of unknown masters thousands of years ago.
First, I was moved by the vicissitudes of life. Between the sun and the moon, all the dynasties, craftsmen, painters, and donors who built these grottoes have long since perished, and most of them are almost undiscoverable. However, the Mogao Grottoes have survived as a continuation of their beliefs, allowing today's People can see.
After the Mogao Grottoes had been dormant for hundreds of years, the efforts of modern staff have given the Mogao Grottoes a new lease of life. When I think of these and everything, standing in the darkness of Mogao Grottoes, I feel extremely small and extremely lucky.
nine floors
The lady guide who led me had a round face and emerald green earrings. She looked like a beautiful lady from the Tang Dynasty. In addition to explaining, she also asked some curious questions, such as which grotto she liked best. She answered that she liked every one, and she felt that she really loved this job. They also told me that they have no rest time during the peak season and only start taking turns during the off-season.
After visiting the special grotto, I went to see another park museum next to the Taoist Tower. There are some replicas of the caves that are not open to the public, and some replicas are on tour all year round.
Interestingly, in the first two years of my trip to Dunhuang, I had already seen some of the replicas on display at the Provincial Museum in Chengdu. Two years later, I went back to the original place and saw other parts that were not on display.
I thought it was just a whim, but it turned out that fate was already determined.
Mogao Grottoes 158 (picture source network)
Before setting off, I decided to visit the cemeteries of Chang Shuhong and Duan Wenjie. After asking several staff members, I finally figured out that it was behind the museum I just visited. After hiking for a while, I turned over a You can see the small sand dune, and when you get closer, there are steps to go up.
Time goes back to 1994 in June . Mr. Chang Shuhong left this world, and I had just been in this world for more than ten days and was still living in my own chaotic consciousness. In a sense, at this point in time, Mr. Chang and I are both in a "nirvana."
On this day more than twenty years later, I came to Dunhuang with my luggage and stood in front of Mr. Chang’s tomb. The sun and moon in the sky have not changed, and the statues and murals in the Mogao Grottoes have only been covered with dust for more than twenty years. In the blink of an eye, they have gone through countless lives and deaths.
Mogao Grottoes Cave 112: Observing the Changes of the Infinite Life Sutra
While looking at the grottoes, the tour guide talked about the Arhat disciples behind the Nirvana statue of Buddha. She said that their expressions were mixed with joy and sorrow. The disciples were sad because their practice was shallow, and they were sad that they no longer had a master to preach to them. , I will never see my master again. The happy disciples understand that the master has achieved the right fruition and has gone to the realm of bliss.
The old timers must have reached nirvana and died like Buddhas, but their souls will live on forever. But I am that disciple with shallow cultivation, standing in front of the tomb crying for no reason, unable to see through life and death in the world of mortals, unable to forget my anger, obsession, and unable to see through the lens of flowers, water, and moon.
On the way out, I met the Internet celebrity Mogao Grottoes King "Lele". I trotted briskly behind the tour guide's battery car. I also trotted along to see it, and after stopping, I was lucky enough to touch Lele. Happy head, happy ~
There are three major local performances in Dunhuang: "Seeing Dunhuang Again", "Dunhuang Ceremony" and "Flowers on the Silk Road" . Their promotional posters and flyers can be seen everywhere.
I wasn't planning to watch "Dunhuang Again", but I saw in the brochure on the shuttle bus that the director was Wang Chaoge, and I immediately decided that I had to watch it.
Director Wang Chaoge's works "Impression of Chinese Music" and "Seeing Chinese Music Again" are my favorite series of performances! All presented by the China National Traditional Orchestra.
The former has no plot and mainly involves the musicians performing their respective musical instruments to show the beauty of traditional Chinese music. The latter takes the Silk Road as a line and plays restored ancient Silk Road instruments and Dunhuang mural instruments! Another frontier!
See Again Dunhuang Performance Ticket
I left Mogao Grottoes at 5:30, and waited until the green bus was full before leaving. The old lady in her seventies next to me struck up a conversation and asked if I was coming alone. After receiving a positive reply, I learned that she was the same. Come alone.
She complained that her old man was too impatient. She liked to watch in-depth tours slowly, but her husband mainly wanted to urge him to leave after watching them, so she didn't take him out with her this time.
The old lady is very talkative and gives people a cheerful and energetic feeling. After chatting with her about what she had seen at the Mogao Grottoes that day, she turned to chat with the girl in the back seat. The girl in the back seat was from New York and was visiting the northwest with her friends this time.
The old lady said that she had gone to New York to visit friends for more than a month, and the two talked about the famous museums and art exhibitions in the United States. I listened to their popular science along the way. After arriving at the station, I got off the bus next to the terminal Shazhou Night Market and went to the youth hostel to put away my luggage.
I booked tickets for "Seeing Dunhuang Again" through the youth hostel owner and learned that Ms. Huang from Taiwan in the six-bed room next door was also going to watch the show. The volunteer gave me her phone number so that we could watch it together and carpool back.
As a result, after calling Ms. Huang several times, her phone was turned off. I waited at the ticket counter for a while before entering the venue as the show was about to start.
All the plays, musicals, dances, and musicals I watched in the past were all performed in theaters. "Seeing Dunhuang Again" has a huge exclusive performance venue to host this feast. The first half requires the audience to watch while walking. There are staff participating as actors while guiding the audience to move.
See the exterior of Dunhuang performance venue again
The format is very novel, but the fly in the ointment is that there are a lot of people watching, but there are only one or two evacuation channels. During the walking and viewing process, there are crowds of people wherever you go.
A short guy like me was completely overwhelmed by the crowd, and I could only see part of the actors' performances, which greatly affected my mood. However, despite its faults, I am willing to watch this performance again, after all, the choreography and music have nothing to say.
Curtain call at the end of the performance
We took a taxi back to the youth hostel, and there was a fellow from out of town who shared the car. The driver was also very talkative. He chatted with us all the way and recommended watching "Dunhuang Ceremony". When we got to the finish line, we were so happy chatting that we forgot to ask for the fare. . . . . I took the initiative to give it to me after I got off the car!
After returning to the youth hostel, I met another Jiangxi girl in the same room. was thin and sweet. There are not many tourists in the off-season, so there were only two of us in the quadruple room. The next day we each signed up for a one-day tour to the Western Front.
She resigned from her job and went on a trip. She had been out for more than a month, coming from Tibet. She was going to Guangxi to meet her husband on a business trip.
She told me that she went out for fun after more than a month after getting married, and videotaped with her husband every day. She went to Cambodia for her honeymoon before, and she didn't want to go back to work if she hadn't almost used up all her work savings.
The master of the one-day tour of the Western Route sent a message in the evening to meet at the entrance of the youth hostel at 8:50 the next morning, so I hurriedly went to wash up and fall asleep. I spent my first day in Dunhuang with excitement, anticipation and exhaustion.
Route: Dunhuang Ancient City – West Thousand Buddha Caves – Yangguan – Yumen Pass — Great Wall of Han Dynasty – Yadan geology park
Cost: chartered car 120 + ticket 290 = 410
In the past, I traveled independently regardless of whether I was traveling long or short distances. This was my first time traveling in a group tour, and my biggest feeling at the end of the day was: Tired. It’s more tiring than a fully planned free trip. And I truly realized what it means to "watch the flowers on horseback".
Because the attractions are far apart , on the basis of ensuring a return trip on the same day, we will stay at each attraction for 15-20 minutes before rushing to the next place. I still booked through the youth hostel and purchased the tickets when I arrived at the attraction. Later, in order to save time, I gave the money to the driver to purchase the tickets together and handed out the ticket stub when I got on the bus.
Dunhuang Ancient City (ticket: 40) Personally, I think the most frustrating thing is that it is a film and television base full of rental studios. As one of the local tourist attractions, there is nothing interesting. The biggest reward was that the two dogs and one cat I met at the scenic spot (the cats were not photographed) were all docile and friendly, and I could just pet their heads.
The best thing is that I met the couple who visited the 158 Grottoes together in the Mogao Grottoes the day before! They also signed up for a one-day tour of the Western Front, and met them at the next Western Thousand Buddha Cave, Yangguan Pass, and Yumen Pass.
West Thousand Buddha Caves (ticket: 30) is the most worth visiting place on the west route, whether it is a supplement to the Mogao Grottoes or a good preparation before seeing the Mogao Grottoes.
The West Thousand Buddha Caves were the most severely damaged among the grottoes visited during the trip to Dunhuang. The murals in the grottoes visited were either badly faded or the aisles on both sides had national characteristics written "xx Visit here. xxIn memory of”.
The ticket check is not a machine check like other attractions, it is still a manual check. There is only one staff member at the window and ticket issuance is slow.
The management of the West Thousand Buddha Cave, like its murals and sculptures, is full of the atmosphere of forgetfulness, like a wounded beast covered in scars and hiding itself in a corner. Pedestrians can only recall its former glory through imagination.
When you arrive at Yangguan (ticket: 50) , there will be a dedicated guide to lead you to visit the museum, and then take a shuttle bus to the Yangguan ruins.
When leaving, there was an old woman carrying a basket selling home-dried raisins, 12 a pack, I bought a pack, sat in the last row of the sightseeing bus and waved goodbye to her.
I opened my pocket and tasted one. It was soft and sweet. I regretted not buying more packs. But she has disappeared from sight like the Yangguan ruins.
Yumen Pass (ticket price 20) is just a big mound. . . . . , forgive me for not being able to appreciate it beyond understanding its military significance and historical value. The same goes for the Great Wall of Han Dynasty.
This is not a big mound, there is a big mound next to it
We met the couple again at Yumen Pass. We didn't know what to say when we greeted them. We greeted each other and said we had a feeling we would meet at the last stop.
Unexpectedly, flag really couldn’t be set up. We couldn’t meet and say goodbye at the last stop, and we never saw each other again.
Yadan Geopark was originally the most anticipated attraction for the group on the west route, but due to bad weather, we were unable to see the sunset as we wished. The wind was so strong that I could only see the sun shining behind the dark clouds from a distance.
Walking towards the sunset, I met a man wearing glasses who asked me to take photos for him, so I also asked him to take a few photos.
On the way back to the bus, I was stopped by a young lady who said she had just taken a photo for me and thought it was good and wanted to send it to me, so I got this unexpected photo. These two photos are my favorites from this trip. Photo .
After walking for a long time, I looked back at the young lady and her boyfriend. They were sitting on a small mound and blowing in the wind. Their backs were very enviable.
The sunshine in the northwest is very long. When we arrived at Yadan to watch the sunset, it was already after 8 pm and the sky was not dark yet. I couldn't see any stars on the way back to the city.
The exhaustion from the first day was not relieved. I fell asleep and woke up again on the bus countless times. The driver was funny and responsible. Before arriving at each scenic spot, he would use a small microphone to explain its history and overview. Sometimes the desert vegetation along the way is also mentioned.
After arriving in the city, the master took each passenger to his or her residence. When I returned to the youth hostel, it was already around midnight. I still remember that I was sitting in the window seat in the third row on the left side of the bus. In the double seat next to me was a pair of beautiful aunties who were out playing. Although they didn’t talk to each other, the auntie next to the aisle would smile sweetly every time she saw me. It felt like I was healed by her smile.
This day is exhausting and happy. I always have fun when I go out to play. I still fall asleep when I go back. The girl from Jiangxi has to leave the next morning. On the road, we always meet and say goodbye. Life between heaven and earth is suddenly like a traveler from afar. What do I want to keep? I can't hold anything back.
If there is anything that can express my mood at this moment, let’s borrow someone else’s words:
"You and I meet on the sea of night,
You have yours, I have my , directions;
You may as well remember,
It's best that you forget,
The light that shines upon each other during this encounter!"
Book famine and drama famine time
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