The Most Enchanting Place in Dunhuang at Night: Dunhuang Night Market
Upon arriving at the bustling Shazhou Night Market, you immediately feel the city's warmth and character. Dunhuang's days are always under a scorching sun and overexposed light, with only the early morning and evening revealing its gentle side. The Shazhou dusk is a feast for both the eyes and the taste buds. All kinds of interesting sights and sounds begin to unfold, and tourists from all directions instinctively head toward the night market, making this street gradually heat up and come alive.
Every night as darkness falls and lights come on, this famous tourist city of Dunhuang starts its most dynamic time of day. The Dunhuang Night Market, with a history of 20 years, is the gathering place of "liveliness." At the night market, we can not only experience the bustling commercial trade but also appreciate the unique cultural atmosphere and local life. In recent years, to better serve tourists and establish the night market brand, Shazhou Night Market has created a cashless demonstration zone. Now all stalls have unified prices, unified management, and unified checkout, using an electronic ordering and payment system. This fundamentally eliminates dishonest practices of overcharging and cheating customers. All dishes are clearly priced, achieving fairness, openness, and transparency. Customers only need to swipe a finger on the POS machine to browse various dishes and prices, spending with confidence.
Under the desert sunset, who is playing the pipa backward?
If you want to know which place in Dunhuang reflects past prosperity, it must be Shazhou Night Market. From the Han Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty, goods, food, song and dance, visiting relatives, and intelligence exchanges along the Silk Road all took place here. Shazhou is neither lonely nor cold. Compared with the vast Gobi desert outside the city, wandering through the lively market gives a greater sense of the beauty of surviving a catastrophe.
Don't worry about getting lost on your way to the night market. Remember the lyrics of "Flying Apsaras": "Under the desert sunset, who is playing the pipa backward?" The sun sets behind the celestial maiden. When you arrive at the statue of the Pipa Playing Backwards, you are at the entrance of the night market. At that point, you don't even need to use your eyes; you can navigate by smelling the sizzling oil fumes or listening to the clinking of glasses, easily reaching your destination.
Wine in a luminous cup under moonlight, urged by the pipa to set off on horseback
Shazhou Night Market is not as large as the east-west goods trading market of a thousand years ago, but it is roughly divided into tourist souvenirs and food. The representative specialty of Jiuquan is none other than the luminous cup. Since the region is named after "wine" (jiu), how could it lack a vessel for holding wine? The Tang Dynasty poet Wang Han wrote the most touching advertisement for the luminous cup in his poem "Liangzhou Ci": "Wine in a luminous cup under moonlight, urged by the pipa to set off on horseback. Don't laugh if I fall drunk on the battlefield; how many have ever returned from ancient wars?"
The luminous cup is made of dark green jade, with walls as thin as paper and transparent texture. In ancient times, the luminous cup produced in Jiuquan was the perfect match for Turpan wine. These two treasures met in Dunhuang, reflecting the luxury of life in ancient Dunhuang. Actually, the luminous cup does not glow in the dark, but only refracts brighter light in darker environments. The pretentious ancients believed that using a luminous cup to hold wine under a full moon created a mood surpassing that of the ancient poem.
Reasons to Visit Dunhuang
The handicrafts at Shazhou Night Market are not clichéd; most preserve local characteristics, and some are intangible cultural heritage items. Products featuring Dunhuang elements are very popular because photography is prohibited inside the beautiful murals of the Dunhuang Caves. This is the only way to keep the memory of the original paintings fresh.
Dunhuang Night Market is a sea of people and a paradise of joy. When the warm desert wind blows away fatigue, the night becomes more magnificent and full of legends. Travelers from afar, please stay a while, come sit and stroll. The most enchanting place in Dunhuang at night will become a precious and unforgettable memory for a lifetime.
