Mogao Grotto

The Magao Grottos, popularly known as the Thousand Buddha Caves, were built on the eastern cliff of Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers to the southeast of Dunhuang city. In 366 A.D. a monk named Yuezun had a vision of the Buddha over the Sanwei Mountain opposite the cliff of the Mingsha Mountain, so the devout believer set to build the first cave on the cliff. Since then more and more caves have been carved over a thousand year. The Grottos is the largest in the world and the best-preserved treasure house of Buddhist art, keeping 492 caves, 45,000 spare meters of murals, and about 3,000 painted statues. The discovery in 1900 of a secret library cave, which was sealed around the mid-11th century and remained untouched for nine hundred years, has further made Dunhuang an extremely important site for the studies of medieval Chinese civilization.

Mingsha Sand dune

Located at 5 kilometers south of Dunhuang City, Mingsha Mega dune is one of the famous desert wonders in the world. Mingsha Dunes consists of typical pyramid sand dunes with rolling ridges and steep crests and when people slide down the slope, rhythmic sounds is produced from the sand. Earliest record of it is more than 2000yrs ago.


Yang and Yumen Passes

Both were built in Han Dynasty (before 111 BC), they were not only ancient military strong points but also the only passage of the Silk Road from China to the West.