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Photo: Popolon, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Another fortified mountain pass. The Yumen Pass was built around the same time as the Yang Pass.
Yumen Pass, or Jade Gate or Pass of the Jade Gate, is the name of a pass of the Great Wall located west of Dunhuang in today's Gansu Province of China. During the Han dynasty, this was a pass through which the Silk Road passed, and was the one road connecting Central Asia with East Asia (China), the former called the Western Regions. Just to the south was the Yangguan pass, which was also an important point on the Silk Road. These passes, along with other sites along the Silk Road, were inscribed in 2014 on the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor World Heritage Site. The pass is at an elevation of 1400 meters.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
雅丹国家地质公园
The Land-forms are an area in the Gobi Desert where wind erosion has left striking rock formations 10-20 meters high. The area contains named formations resembling fleets of ships, The Sphinx, as well as camels, birds, and many others. The land-forms are an interesting contrast to the sand dunes at Dunhuang in terms of the terrain of the Gobi Desert. Tours of the area will likely also include stops at an ancient section of the Great Wall, a Han Dynasty fortress, and a small set of caves similar to Mogao. If you take any bus in Dunhuang, the conductor will likely be selling daytrips to see the Geopark and 4-6 other sights, for ¥100-120 (bus only).
反弹琵琶雕像
The 5-m-high Playing Pipa Statue is the symbol of Dunhuang. It was modelled after a figure of a pipa player that features in a wall painting in Cave 112 of the Mogao Caves.
敦煌博物馆
Dunhuang's main museum.
鸣沙山月牙泉
Worth a trip. If you're not interested in seeing the lake from up close and just want to walk among the dunes just follow the fence to the right from Charlie Jongh's Dune Guesthouse. After a couple of minutes you will find an open gate and a path leading up to the dunes. From the top of the one on the left, you can see the lake.
胡杨林, 敦煌千年胡杨林
It consists of a small forest of rare poplares (Populus Divesifolia). Some are more than 600 years old. Can give an opportunity for a walk far from town. Not to be confused with the Huyang Forest in Jinta County.
莫高窟
A UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with exquisite Buddhist art and manuscripts. Although the city had an early connection with Buddhism due to the passage of monks traveling the Silk Road, it was not until a monk had a vision of a thousand Buddhas above the desert at Dunhuang in 4th century that the famous caves were excavated and filled with the manuscripts and treasures. Nearby is the White Horse Pagoda, built by a monk from India in honor of his horse, which died in the process of bringing the monk to China. It is not possible to tour the caves on your own and all visitors are assigned to different guides (included in the ticket price). The tour takes about two hours and about 15 caves will be visited; all the rest are closed. The tours are different from group to group with every group visiting the main caves. You can arrange to visit closed caves; it will cost you ¥200 per person per cave. It can be handy to bring your own flashlight (torch).