Dunhuang was not on our projected route, and i twas a good idea to use a few spare days to come here. This city might well be one of the highlights of all my Silk Road travel.
First we went to visit the famous Mogao caves, another 1000 Buddha site. The real number seems to be around 800 caves. Half of them are temples, and only some 40 are open for visitors. These breathtaking temples are well preserved, and even survived the disasters of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The oldest ones are from the 4th century. In some of them are giant Buddha statues, the tallest one measuring 35 meters.
In Mogao is also the “hidden library” discovered in 1900. Some of the oldest manuscripts of humanity were discovered here.
Our next visit was for the “Moon Crescent Lake” an absolutely fantastic place. This little lake lies between up to 300 meters high dunes, and by a wonder of nature, the sands falling from the dunes are blown up on the opposite site again, thus preserving this unique site from being buried under the sand. Unfortunately, the average water level is just around 1 meter today, against 4-5 meters some 50 years ago.
The Mogao caves
