What interesting places or attractions are there in Dunhuang?

If you don’t know where to travel this summer, why not go to Dunhuang? Now is the best season to travel to Dunhuang. Here you can see the very scenic Mogao Grottoes and the magnificent Huangsha attractions are highly recommended. Must-visit attractions in Dunhuang

The most important attractions in Dunhuang are the Mogao Grottoes and Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring.

The Mogao Grottoes need no introduction. There are 735 caves, 2,415 painted sculptures, 45,000 square meters of murals, more than 70,000 volumes of documents...

And that order A regrettable Buddhist cave.

As Ji Xianlin (a master of Oriental studies) said: "There are only four cultural systems in the world that have a long history, a vast territory, a self-contained system, and far-reaching influence: China, India, Greece, and Islam. There is no third. Five; and there is only one place where these four cultural systems converge, which is Dunhuang in China, and there is no other place.”

So when you go to Dunhuang, you don’t have to go anywhere, but the Mogao Grottoes. It is a must go.

To go to the Mogao Grottoes, you must make an appointment in advance. The normal ticket is for 8 caves plus 2 digital movies (238 yuan), but the emergency ticket can only watch 4 caves without digital movies (100 yuan). If it is a temporary purchase on the day, it is likely that you will not be able to buy even emergency tickets.

To purchase tickets, you can directly make reservations for visiting Mogao Grottoes through the WeChat applet. It is very simple.

After seeing the Mogao Grottoes, don’t rush back. Several exhibition halls and food halls are also worth visiting.

Basically, it will take most of a day to visit the Mogao Grottoes, especially if you have purchased normal tickets.

After seeing the Mogao Grottoes, you will definitely feel that there is something more to enjoy. After all, even with normal tickets, you can only see 8 caves. If you want to see more, you can go to Digital Dunhuang (e-dunhuang.com).

Here is the digital archive of the Dunhuang Grottoes. You can clearly see every cave in Dunhuang. Some caves can even support VR, which basically makes you immersed in the scene.

Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring is another must-see attraction in Dunhuang besides Mogao Grottoes.

This is an oasis in the desert, a crescent-shaped oasis.

You can ride camels on Mingsha Mountain. The popular meme during the National Day last year, about the Huns marching into the Central Plains, came from here.

If you dislike the slow pace of camels, you can also rent all-terrain vehicles.

Actually, Mingsha Mountain must be seen from the sky. Spend 480 to ride a powered hang glider. The view of Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring from the sky is amazing. It’s a pity that you are not allowed to bring your mobile phone up to the sky so you can’t take pictures.

Rich people can take a helicopter, which is more enjoyable.

Mingsha Mountain is also suitable for wearing bright clothes and taking travel photos. It would also be nice to take a photo in desert Hanfu or Feitian clothes. Recommended itinerary for Dunhuang

To go to Dunhuang, we recommend 3 days and 2 nights, or 4 days and 3 nights. This makes it relatively more comfortable to play.

There are totally 4 lines in Dunhuang, and each line takes one day.

Dunhuang Main Line: Mogao Grottoes-Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring-Dunhuang Museum-Leiyin Temple-Western Jin Mural Tomb

Dunhuang West Line: West Thousand Buddha Caves (if you go Don’t go to Mogao Grottoes) - Yangguan - Yumenguan - Great Wall of Han Dynasty - Hecang City - Yadan Geopark (Yadan just reopened on June 23)

Dunhuang East Line: East Thousand Buddha Caves ( Don’t go if you go to Mogao Grottoes) - Son of the Earth Sculpture - Suoyang City - Yulin Grottoes

Dunhuang North Line: Mengke Glacier - Aksai Film and Television Base (where the nine-story demon tower was filmed)< /p>

If you are in a hurry, go to the Dunhuang Main Line. The main lines are in and around Dunhuang City, so you can just take a taxi.

In addition to Mogao Grottoes and Crescent Moon Spring, Leiyin Temple and Dunhuang Museum are also highly recommended. Both of these attractions do not require tickets.

Leiyin Temple has a main hall, and there is a main hall inside, with tens of thousands of Buddha statues, densely packed.

The Dunhuang Museum should be the first to go. This is the basis for you to understand the entire Dunhuang. After going here, and then going to Mogao Grottoes, you will at least know why.

If you stroll around the Dunhuang Museum slowly and look carefully, it will take you half a day.

If you have two full days, the Dunhuang Western Route is also worth going. The western line of Dunhuang mainly includes Yumen Pass, Yangguan, and Hecang City.

The current Yumen Pass is just a small square castle.

Yumen Pass is lonely after all, and everyone came here because of the saying "The spring breeze never reaches Yumen Pass".

As for Yangguan, it is because of Wang Wei's sentence "There are no old friends when leaving Yangguan in the west." Actually, the fortresses in ancient times were not that tall and majestic.

The scenery on the western route of Dunhuang is more on the road. Driving in the desert and Gobi is a feeling that can only be experienced in the Northwest.

In fact, you don’t have to go to Dunhuang East Line and North Line if you don’t have time. Unless you haven’t bought tickets to the Mogao Grottoes, or you are interested in the nine-story demon tower. Or maybe you want to take pictures here at Son of the Earth.

The Son of the Earth is really suitable for taking pictures. This should be considered one of the most popular destinations in Dunhuang on Little Red Book. Who can take photos of good-looking people?

The Aksai Film and Television Base was originally the town of Aksai. Later, the whole town was relocated due to the environment.

The old county town has been gradually forgotten, so the buildings and slogans here are still stuck in the 1990s, with a sense of dilapidation. Later, because of the filming of movies, it became a little more popular here.

If you have watched West Wind Lie and the Nine-Story Demon Tower and want to experience the scenes in the movie, you may consider going here.

There are three performances in Dunhuang, including Dunhuang, Dunhuang Ceremony, and Silk Road Flower Rain.

The difference is that Seeing Dunhuang Again is immersive, with five scenes to switch between, focusing on the history of Dunhuang and the history of Mogao Grottoes.

The Dunhuang Ceremony is an outdoor live performance with an auditorium that rotates 360 degrees and moves back and forth. The disadvantage is that the show only takes place at night when it gets dark, so it’s still a bit cold to watch at night outside of summer.

Flowers on the Silk Road is a stage play.

I recommend Seeing Dunhuang Again, and everyone must watch this show first before going to the Mogao Grottoes. On the one hand, it is the personal worship of the main creator Wang Chaoge. On the other hand, such an immersive performance that switches between multiple scenes is indeed exciting enough.

Secondly, I recommend the Dunhuang Ceremony, which is shocking to see in action.

The Silk Road Flower Rain is least recommended. It’s not that it doesn’t look good, but the stage play can be seen anywhere. There is really no need to go to Dunhuang to see it.

In addition to watching performances in the evening, Dunhuang Night Market is also worth visiting. And, you can go multiple times.

Dunhuang Night Market has three parts: the front is selling local specialties, the middle is the food court, and the back is the food stalls.

Dunhuang’s recommended delicacies, such as mutton braised pancakes, donkey meat yellow noodles, red willow barbecue, Dunhuang Kang pot, glutinous rice glutinous rice, Li Guangxing...you can eat them all here.

The food in Dunhuang is very concentrated, good and not expensive.

In addition, if you want to watch the sunrise and sunset, it is recommended to watch the sunset in Yadan or go to Mingsha Mountain to watch the sunrise and sunset. Both places are worth it.

The solitary smoke in the desert is straight, and the sun is setting over the long river. The sunset in the desert is particularly magnificent. About when to go to Dunhuang

The best time to travel to Dunhuang is from May to November every year. There are long hours of sunshine in these months. For example, if I go there in mid-June, it doesn’t start to get dark until 9 o’clock. It's so fun to play.

Of course, don’t miss the three meteor showers every year.

Of course, it is also suitable if you go in the off-season. The scenery will not be discounted due to the off-season, and the price of Dunhuang hotels in the off-season is also very cheap. At most, it is a bit cold.

If it snows, the Mogao Grottoes and Mingsha Mountain in the snow will also have a unique flavor. How to get to Dunhuang

Dunhuang has an airport, but there are not many direct domestic flights to Dunhuang during non-peak seasons. Most of them need to stop at Lanzhou, Xining, Yinchuan, Xi'an...

There is a train station in Dunhuang, and there are many trains between Xi'an, Jiayuguan and Lanzhou every day, so you can also take the train.

In addition, if you are traveling by car or chartered car, you will also pass by Dunhuang if you take the Qinghai-Gansu Ring Road.

You must book Dunhuang in advance. Summer flights from Hangzhou to Dunhuang (via Lanzhou) are all full-price tickets. The kind that costs 4,00 round trip.

The Northwest is so popular this year. Especially during the summer.

I can’t afford to go. I can’t afford to go.

Try to avoid summer vacation. About where to stay in Dunhuang

There are three local but good hotels, Dunhuang Villa, Tianhe Hotel, and Gloria.

Dunhuang Villa is the oldest hotel, built in 1995, but it is indeed high-end and classy enough.

Leiyin Temple is opposite Dunhuang Villa, and the Dunhuang Ceremony performance is also next to Dunhuang Villa.

The Tianhe Hotel was built by the richest man in Dunhuang. It is a newly opened hotel in 2020 and has no problem with its quality. Gloria was a supporting hotel for the Cultural Expo when it was first opened. It was first a reception hotel, and later it was also oriented to the market economy.

Two are highly recommended.

The most anticipated one is Bi_, who belongs to SLH. SLH, LHW, and Relais & Chateaux are all really good. With SLH, you can also redeem it with Hyatt points.

However, the construction period of Bi_ is somewhat delayed, and it is not expected to open until after the summer, which is also very worth looking forward to.

The other one is Dunhuang East Inn, a designer hotel hosted by Kaiyuan Group. This hotel has not yet opened and is still in the trial operation stage, so it is not sold through the hotel’s official channels, nor is it sold through OTAs such as Fliggy and Ctrip.

You can only book through some less secure third-party channels, and the hotel does not have the conditions to accommodate you. After all, during the preparation stage, we cannot open the door to receive customers.