Dunhuang      Gansu Province


Dunhuang in western Gansu was an important town on the Silk Road in ancient times. With Mt. Qilian in the south, Mt. Mazong in the north, and desert from east to west, Dunhuang Cith is a declining basin plain from west to northeast, high in the north and south, and low in the middle.

In ancient times, Dunuang was the center of trade between China and its western neighbors and it was a key point on the ancient Silk Road. With the flourishing of trade along the Silk Road, Dunhuang was prompted to become the most open area in international trade in Chinese history.

Today, Dunhuang is a typical tourist city, which famous of its splendid stone caves and its mysterious charms. The Mogao Grottoes, or Caves of One – Thousand Buddhas, is a world – famous art treasury, with invaluable murals and sculptures made between the 4th and the 14th centuries. The limpid Crescent Moon Spring lies to the south of the city. Other spots of interest are the remains of the ancient city of Dunhuang, the White Horse Pagoda, the old Yangguan City, Yumen Pass, and beacon lights from the Han Dynasty. A 300 – li (150 kilometers) section of the Great Wall interspersed with 70 beacon towers runs across Dunhuang County.