2021 Hexi Corridor Travelogue — Dunhuang
D12 July 8, Thursday. Charter car for the western route: Yangguan, Yumen Pass, Yardang National Geopark. Stay in Dunhuang.
At 6:40 AM, we had breakfast at a small restaurant near the hotel, costing 14 yuan: 2 fried dough sticks, 2 meat buns, 3 vegetable buns, 2 soy milk. At 8:00 AM we took a taxi for 16 yuan, arriving at Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring at 7:52 AM. We rented shoe covers for 15 yuan per pair, and tickets for two: 165 yuan. Unexpectedly, early in the morning, Mingsha Mountain was already packed with people. In early July, the temperature in Dunhuang reached 37°C, and under the sun, the ground temperature was even higher, so sightseeing had to be done at two ends: either early morning or after 6 PM. There were very many tourists by Crescent Moon Spring, and the camel groups were also huge. We didn't ride camels and planned to climb the dunes. The sand slope looked low, but because the sand was soft, climbing was strenuous. We didn't follow the boardwalk but climbed directly up the sand. Finally, at 9:30 AM, we reached the top of the dune, where there was an off-road vehicle service. By then, the surface sand was already hot. Standing on the dune, we looked at Crescent Moon Spring from afar, it was very beautiful. There was a breeze on the dune, which was relatively cool. After descending, we walked around Crescent Moon Spring. The buildings by Crescent Moon Spring were all rebuilt after the 1980s, not worth seeing. The water in Crescent Moon Spring was not deep; it was said to rely on artificial tap water now. We still had to go to the western route, so we quickly left the scenic area to meet the charter driver.
At 10:30 AM, driver Zhang picked us up and we set off for the western route: Yangguan, Yumen Pass, Yardang National Geopark. The western route also had a film set from the 1980s for a Dunhuang movie and the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, but we skipped those. First stop, at 11:30 AM we arrived at Yangguan. Tickets for three: 50*2 + 25 = 125 yuan. An open-top mini-car ride for 8 minutes, 10 yuan * 3 = 30 yuan to take us to the site. Endless vast Gobi desert, solitary smoke straight in the desert. We walked a section of the Yangguan Road. Only a few Han dynasty remains were left at Yangguan. The sun was extremely strong, the air was scorching hot, like a big oven. We bought a cup of hand-made apricot peel water. Unexpectedly, while taking photos on Yangguan Road, we casually put the apricot peel water by the wooden boardwalk. When we came back, the cup of water had vanished. At 1:30 PM, we arrived at a nearby farmhouse and had lunch under grape trellises. Under the strong sun, sitting under the grape trellises was very cool. This was the only place to eat on the road to Yumen Pass and Yardang Geopark on the western route, so it was more expensive, reasonably so. We invited the driver to join us for lunch and ordered a plate of roasted lamb, tomato and egg stir-fry, lettuce, and a golden pancake, totaling 314 yuan. This was the most expensive lunch of the entire trip! The golden pancake was 38 yuan, at least 20 yuan more expensive than usual.
After lunch, we went to Yumen Pass. Tickets for three: 250 yuan to see a section of the Han Great Wall and Dafang City. The scenic area bus went along, and on the way we saw Przewalski's horses. Dafang City was very impressive; it was said to be the original Yumen Pass. The bus ride was about 10 minutes. The afternoon's highest temperature was 42°C. The bus driver gave us half an hour to take photos. It was too hot, so everyone took quick photos and returned to the bus after 10 minutes. The sun was too strong, so we skipped Xiaofang City. Fortunately, Yumen Pass had an underground rest area; we ate some snacks, took a short rest, and prepared to go to Yardang National Geopark. It had been closed since October 2020 and just reopened on June 25 this year. It was said that Zhang Yimou's movie "Hero" was filmed there. The weather determined the magnificence of the Yardang landform. At 5:30 PM, we set off for Yardang National Geopark. We arrived at 6:30 PM; tickets for three plus sightseeing bus totaled 335 yuan. This Yardang park was very large; if the weather was good, you could take an off-road vehicle for a deep tour. The Yardang landform is a masterpiece of nature, with rocks shaped by wind erosion. The ground was covered with small black stones, different from the Danxia landform in Zhangye. After visiting three viewpoints, a sandstorm began. When the bus arrived at the fourth viewpoint, West Sea Fleet, the sandstorm intensified, so we didn't get off. We were on the last bus to watch the sunset. Originally, we were scheduled to leave after watching the sunset at around 9:40 PM, but due to the sandstorm, there was no sunset, so we left early at 9:00 PM. On the way, driver Zhang drove steadily and didn't dare to go fast, at most 90 km/h. On one stretch, there was no cell phone signal; on the pitch-dark road, only our car was driving. Fortunately, we had bought a golden pancake at the lunch place, and we ate it in the car as dinner. The charter car arranged through Ctrip for the western route — Yangguan, Yumen Pass, Yardang National Geopark + sunset watching — taxi: 380 + 50 = 430 yuan. From 10:30 AM to 11:30 PM, a full 13 hours.
We checked into Dunhuang Shanzhuang at 11:35 PM, a double room with double breakfast for 925 yuan. This hotel is very large, an internet-famous place, very hard to book during peak season. We could only book one night. We washed up and went to bed near 1:00 AM.
D13 July 9, Friday. Morning: Mogao Caves. Afternoon: 3:30 PM Dunhuang -> Xi'an -> Shanghai.
The Mogao Caves required advance online booking for the 9:30 AM entry. However, you could enter earlier. At 8:16 AM, we took a taxi for 29.8 yuan to the Dunhuang Digital Center. Early in the morning, the Digital Center was already full of tourists. We exchanged our tickets and at 8:37 AM queued for the first movie, "Thousand-Year Mogao." At 9:10 AM, we entered the dome theater for the second movie, "Dream Buddhist Palace." It is recommended to sit near the back exit in the first theater to leave quickly and get a good seat in the dome theater: preferably center and toward the back, otherwise you might feel dizzy. At 9:35 AM, we took the bus to the caves, arriving at 9:52 AM. After queuing, a guide led us through the caves. During peak season, the regular ticket only opens 8 caves, about 80 minutes total. The Library Cave is a must-see. We were lucky this time to meet a Dunhuang guardian from the Shanghai Museum. His explanations were more detailed and professional than ordinary guides. He told us that globally, only 10 Dunhuang guardians are selected each year. He came during the peak season. We listened in and ended up seeing 10 regular caves: one with three soaring canopies, the Library Cave, the giant Buddha in Dunhuang's iconic nine-story building (note: only the toes are from the Tang dynasty; other parts were rebuilt in the Qing dynasty), a very distinctive canopy cave (the only one where every Buddha has a canopy and each canopy is different), a cave with two standing Buddhas side by side, a cave with the nine-colored deer (remember the animated film "The Nine-Colored Deer"?), a cave with seven Medicine Buddhas, a cave with a nine-headed Buddha influenced by Tantric Buddhism, a Flying Apsaras cave from the Sui dynasty (lighter than the common Tang dynasty flying apsaras), and a cave where the reign title of the Northern Song founding emperor Qiande was wrong (Dunhuang was too far from Kaifeng, so they didn't know the reign title had changed; Qiande was only used for 6 years, but the locals didn't know, so the inscription reads Qiande 8th year, two extra years). Time was limited, so we had to give up seeing more regular caves. If you want to see more, as long as you have a ticket and remain quiet and well-behaved, you can continue following other guides' groups to sneak into more caves. In the peak season, there are several routes. Apart from the mandatory Library Cave and nine-story building, each route has different caves to visit. Each guide has keys to open 50 caves. We saw the famous Library Cave, which was empty inside, only the murals on the walls remained. Let others comment on the merits and faults of Wang Yuanlu. During peak season, there is also an emergency ticket for visitors who couldn't book a regular ticket online. This ticket allows entry to only 4 caves, including the Library Cave and nine-story building, without a dedicated guide; staff just lead you through.
There are two time slots per day to book special caves: 12:00–12:30 and 2:00–2:30. Only visitors who have booked regular caves are eligible to book special caves. Since we had a flight in the afternoon, after seeing the regular caves, we hurried to the small kiosk at the entrance to wait for the 12:00 start of special cave booking. There were many people queuing for special caves. Currently, individual visitors can only see 4 special caves: 321, 45, 57, 275. We had limited time, so we only booked two special caves: 57 and 45, costing 800 yuan total. We originally wanted to see Cave 321, but it was fully booked.
In about a week, schools in Gansu province will start their summer break, and the true peak season will begin. Then, all special caves will close, only regular caves will be open. Currently, special caves still have people and require waiting. After booking, we waited a full 18 minutes. Now Dunhuang has many study tour groups that get priority for special caves. So I thought we could visit special caves at 12:30. Actually, the study groups entered first at 12:30. We waited until the study groups finished, then started our special cave tour at 1:00 PM. We finished seeing two special caves in about 40 minutes, though it was a bit rushed. Cave 57 features murals with the most beautiful bodhisattva. Similar to the gold-layering technique of the Water-Moon Guanyin in Yulin Caves, but with added gouache three-dimensional painting technique. It used only color shades to depict the face without contour lines, very three-dimensional. It also painted a small vest and thin clothing. Cave 45 contains some of the most perfect sculptures introduced in the dome movie: two guardians, two bodhisattvas, two disciples, and the main Buddha. At 1:40 PM, we quickly boarded the bus back to the Digital Center. We arrived at the airport at 2:20 PM. Actually, the airport is very close to the Digital Center, just 10 minutes away.
If you have extra time, it is recommended to visit the Library Cave Exhibition Hall, where you can also see other unlocked caves. Then go to the Institute History Exhibition Hall and the Art Gallery. Don't miss the Art Gallery, which has detailed explanations of murals. After that, go to the Dunhuang Grottoes Art Protection Research Exhibition Center, which has replica caves: Cave 275 from the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Caves 249 and 285 from the Western Wei, Caves 419 and 276 from the Sui, Cave 220 from the early Tang, Cave 217 from the high Tang, and Cave 3 from the Yuan dynasty. These caves cover a thousand years of Mogao Caves history. They were replicated 1:1 from the original caves by Dunhuang Academy researchers, including cave model construction and interior mural restoration. The eight caves have different shapes, and the murals and painted sculptures have stylistic characteristics of their times. There is no time limit for visiting. It is recommended to set aside at least half a day for Mogao Caves. We were a bit rushed this time, looking forward to the next. Next time, after mid-October in the off-season, we can see more caves in Dunhuang.
We took China Eastern Airlines with a layover in Xi'an back to Shanghai: MU 2216 3:30 PM – 5:45 PM & MU 2336 7:30 PM – 9:45 PM, Shanghai Hongqiao.
Three people, 13 days along the Hexi Corridor, visited 8 cities: Pingliang, Tianshui, Lanzhou, Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan, Guazhou, Dunhuang. Total expenses nearly 20,000 yuan, including: charter car 1,660 yuan, train 910 yuan, bus (including public bus) 1,378 yuan, taxi 895 yuan, meals 1,766 yuan, hotels 3,735 yuan, tickets 4,764 yuan, special cave guide fee 3,690 yuan, flight tickets were redeemed with points so negligible. Overall, the trip was still a bit tight. If we had one or two more days, it would have been very leisurely. Every trip is fleeting; looking forward to the next one!
