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Dunhuang: a cultural oasis in the desert
(bjtoday.ynet.com)
Updated: 2008-02-22 15:58 "Forget about seeing the caves depicting 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 in a locker-room near the ticket office."– mke1963 wrote on virtualtourist.com Jiayu Pass (Jiayuguan) Jiayu Pass is a five-hour trip from Dunhuang. It was built in 1372, nine years earlier than Shanhai Pass (Shanhaiguan), called the First Pass Under Heaven. The location of Jiayu Pass is vital both in natural environment and geographical condition. Open: 8:30 am to 6 pm from November to April; 8:30 am to 8 pm from March to October Admission: 61 yuan per person Traveler's experience "Jiayu Pass is the western beginning of the Great Wall. If I were to rate my travel highlights, Jiayu Pass would be second place. When I walked there, I thought of many poems I studiedto describe the mood of the soldiers sent to such a remote place. From a modern viewpoint, the military town is minuscule, and many soldiers spent their entire lives there. There was an opera stand to entertain the soldiers with naked women painted on the ceiling. The pass also has a Great Wall museum, which is worth a visit."– yirutang wrote on virtualtourist.com Mingsha Hill Mingsha Hill lies south of Dunhuang city. The hill body is an accumulation of quicksand. It looks golden, soft and silent. The east end of the hill is at Mogao Grottoes and runs 40 kilometers. Visitors like to climb Mingsha Hill, but to reach the top is no easy feat. The soft sand carries you half a step back for every one step forward. You have to climb on your four limbs, but once at the top, you can see sandy waves like those in a desert. People slide down the sand back to the base after viewing the peak. Admission: 80 yuan per person from April to June; 120 yuan per person from July to November Traveler's experience "Mingsha Hill means 'Singing sand' hill in Chinese. Sometimes, in the evening, the sandy hill will make some noise as people walk on it. It is because the sharp temperature differences in the sand. I don't fully understand why-I wasn't lucky enough to hear iThe mountain is a pure sand desert. We took a camel ride all the way up the sand mountain. There is also a game of sand skiing on the mountain. You have to be careful not to drop your camera, because if you do, it will be permanently damaged. The sand can flood into the camera like water. The famous Crescent Moon Lake is at the same place. It is hard to imagine a lake being there for hundreds and thousands of years in the middle of a deadly pure dessert. The lake is also slowly sinking into the ground, and it is becoming smaller and smaller."– yirutang wrote on virtualtourist.com Related
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