Dunhuang, city in northwestern China, a famous oasis stop on the ancient trade route between China and Rome known as the Silk Road. The city is located in western Gansu province in the Hexi corridor, an arid region where humans have been creating oases since the 1st century BC.

Dunhuang is best known for nearby caves that contain Buddhist frescoes, ritual objects, and documents dating from the 4th to the 12th century AD. These may be the best-preserved examples of Buddhist frescoes in China. After having been sealed for nearly 800 years, the artifacts were discovered in the early 20th century by a Daoist (Taoist) monk named Wang Yuanlu. The first Westerner to visit the site was British archaeologist Sir Aurel Stein in 1907. Subsequently, the site was visited by numerous foreign archaeologists, many of whom removed large numbers of scrolls and paintings. Today the caves have been preserved as a research site and tourist attraction, and Dunhuang is a standard stop for both domestic and international tourists tracing the ancient Silk Road.

In 1987 a Sino-Japanese joint production of a commercial feature film entitled The Silk Road resulted in the construction of a complete replica of a Song dynasty (960-1279) town just outside of Dunhuang. This movie set has become a tourist attraction. Tourists are also attracted to Dunhuang's spectacular sand dunes. Dunhuang was first mentioned in Chinese texts during the Han dynasty (206 BC-AD 220). Population (1988) 20,200.

Mt.Echoing Sand

Mt.Echoing Sand is famous for the sounds the wind makes when blowing over the dunes. Also, the sand is said to be rather noisy when tread upon. The dunes are also famous for their size, some reaching 100m or more, relatively stable despite the fact that the dunes beyond the mountains shift frequently. Also, the sands are said to regain form overnight if tread upon the day before.

Crescent Moon Spring

Crescent Moon Spring , 6km south of Dunhuang in the Singing Sands Mountains, is quite literally an oasis in the desert. The Spring's name derives from the crescent moon shape the small pool of spring water has taken between two large sand dunes. Although the area is very dry, the pool doesn't dry up as one might expect.

White Horse Pagoda

White Horse Pagoda (baima ta) originally built in 386 AD. A legend went like this: A prominent monk about 1350 years ago rode a horse to Fusan, which is now Japan, to help spread Buddhism. On his way, his cherished white horse died in Dunhuang. He was so disconsolate that he buried the horse and built a pagoda in memory of it. After numerous renovations, the 9-story, 12-meter-tall and 7-meter-in-diameter pagoda has become one of the tourist magnets in Dunhuang.