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Dunhuang

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Asia : East Asia : China : North West : Gansu : Dunhuang
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Dunhuang (敦煌; Dūnhuáng) is a city on the old Silk Road. It is in Gansu Province in north west China.

[edit] Understand

The city was founded by Emperor Wudi of the Han dynasty in 111 BC at the cross roads of two trading routes on the Silk Road, and the name 'Dunhuang', meaning to 'to flourish and prosper,' gives some indication of the town's prominence in ancient China. It is much less important today.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

Dunhuang Airport (IATA: DNH) is 13km east of town center. Flights are available to Beijing, Lanzhou, Urumqi, and Xian.

[edit] By train

Dunhuang Train Station (敦煌火车站; Dūnhuáng Huǒchēzhàn) is about 12km outside the town to the northeast. There is also a ticket agent in town, across the street from Dunhuang Hotel, which sells tickets for most trains. Note that the train connection to Dunhuang is relatively new.

Travel times and train numbers for departures from Dunhuang as of early 2008:

  • Jiayuguan - #7528, departing at 16:10, arriving at 21:49
  • Lanzhou - #N858, dep. 19:25, arr. 09:14
  • Urumqi - #T216, dep. 20:44, arr. 10:48
  • Xian - #K592, dep. 09:39, arr. 09:26
  • Yinchuan - #N854, dep. 14:30, arr. 08:27

[edit] By bus

Dunhuang has two bus stations diagonally across from each other. Most frequent buses leave from the main bus station and not the long distance bus station.

[edit] Get around

[edit][add listing] See

  • Mogao Caves (莫高窟), (25km from town, most people visit on pre-arranged tour or arrive by taxi, CITS has daily tours leaving at 8:30AM from front of the Feitian hotel, city buses to the caves have been seen). English tours at 9AM, 11AM and 2PM daily. A UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with exquisite Buddhist art and manuscripts. Although the city had an early connection with Buddhism due to the passage of monks traveling the Silk Road, it was not until a monk had a vision of a thousand Buddhas above the desert at Dunhuang in 4th century that the famous caves were excavated and filled with the manuscripts and treasures. Nearby is the White Horse Pagoda, built by a monk from India in honor of his horse, which died in the process of bringing the monk to China. It is not possible to tour the caves on your own and all visitors are assigned to different guides (included in the ticket price). The tour takes about three hours and only few of the many caves will be visited. The tours are different from group to group with every group visiting the main caves. ¥180 (¥100 off season) for English tour (docent is required), ¥80 for students..  edit
  • Sand Dunes, (Next to Crescent Lake, take bus 3). Worth a trip. Entrance fee for the dunes and lake park is ¥120 (¥60 low season); an additional ¥60 per person for a camel ride (as of September 2008)..  edit

[edit][add listing] Do

  • Summer of Dunhuang Variety Show. June-October. Performances of singing and dancing in the Silk Road traditions.  edit
  • Camel Trek, arranged by Charlie Johng's Cafe, Mingshan Road (Across the road and 50m north from the long-distance bus station), ☎ +86 13893763029 (). Typically leave around 4-5PM. Get to know the desert firsthand on a 2 to 7 day camel trek across spectacular sand dunes. A typical trek goes for 3 days and includes a visit to the Mogao Cave. Alternately, just camp out in the desert for a night to experience the Gobi Desert's night sky, sunset and sunrise. Bargain hard, but going rate is between ¥250-500 per day.  edit

[edit][add listing] Buy

  • Night market, (Downtown). Good dried fruits and nuts (walnuts, dates, raisins, apricots, small tomatoes...). Many souvenirs.  edit

[edit][add listing] Eat

There's a normal-priced supermarket opposite the long-distance bus station (beside Feitian Binguan) to stock up on water, snacks and other groceries.

  • Charlie Johng's cafe, Mingshan Road (Opposite the long-distance bus station and 50m north). Reasonably priced western meals available. ¥25 for English breakfast set.  edit
  • Night market skewers stalls, (downtown night market). Lamb, potato, mushroom, bread... skewers; yogurt.  edit

[edit][add listing] Drink

[edit][add listing] Sleep

[edit] Budget

  • Feitian Hotel Dunhuang, 22 Mingshan Road, ☎ (0937)8822726 (fax: +86 937 8822311).  edit
  • Charlie Johng's Dune Guesthouse (敦煌月泉山庄), 甘肃省敦煌市月牙泉鸣沙山沙生植物园 (Transfer available from Charlie Johng's cafe; see Eat. Otherwise take bus #3 to last stop and walk 400m to the right (look for signs).), ☎ +86 13893763029 (). An idyllic if somewhat out of the way converted courtyard house, the facilities are basic but functional and reliable. The dunes are mere metres from the doorstep, and Crescent Moon Lake is reasonably close. Warm staff and very reasonable prices make this a good choice for the price-conscious traveller. Dorm ¥20, double/twin ¥100, traditional Kang room ¥160.  edit

[edit] Mid-range

  • Grand Sun Hotel Dunhuang, 5 North Shazhou Road, ☎ +86 937 8829998 (fax: +86 937 8822121).  edit
  • Dunhuang Hotel (敦煌宾馆; Dūnhuáng Bīnguǎn), 14 Yangguan East Road, ☎ +86 937 8822538 (fax: +86 937 8822195).  edit

[edit] Splurge

  • Silk Road Dunhuang Hotel, Dunyue Road (4km south of town, 10 minutes by car south of town, the dunes are 20 minutes walk away or accessible by bus 3, taxis are easily available at the hotel), ☎ +86 937 8882088, [1]. Nice and clean hotel. Chinese/western restaurant. Roof-top cafe with beautiful views on the dunes, breakfast served here too. English speaking staff. Baby cot available. Doubles ¥680.  edit

[edit] Get out

Silk Road - The route between Dunhuang and Cherchen (Qiemo) is probably the hardest to do in all of the Silk Road travels since public transit is complicated between the two points.

One leg of the trip is often closed due to washouts in the river canyon or landslides in the mountains, and is closed to most traffic in the winter. Be sure to ask, before you leave Dunhuang, whether the road between Shimiankuang and Charklik (Ruoqiang) is open.

Regular buses run daily each morning from Dunhuang, Gansu Province, 731 km to Huatugou (花土沟), a small oil drilling town in northwest Qinghai Province, and daily each morning the other direction. This road, a paved highway the entire way, crosses the Altun Mountains over Dangjin Pass (当金山口, 3680 m, 39º19'14"N, 94º16'11"E) at the provincial border between Qinghai and Gansu which runs along the crest of the Altun Mountains. One source says that the road rises from 1000 m to the 3680 m pass in just 20 kilometers. This road is subject to delays or closure in winter due to icy conditions.

Twice daily minibuses run the 65 km in 1.5-2 hours for Y15 between Huatugou and Shimiankuang (石绵矿 literally: asbestos mine), a tiny worker hamlet north of a large surface-level asbestos mine. It's better to stay overnight in Huatugou than in the very basic lodging at the asbestos mine. Ask the Huatugou taxi driver for the Petroleum Guesthouse -- 石油 shí yóu 宾馆 bīn guǎn. There's also very basic lodging across from the Huatugou bus station -- ask the bus driver to point you in the right direction.

Some maps do not show Huatugou (38°08'60"N, 90°52'00"E, 2,859 m) and instead show Youshashan, about 5-10 km southwest. If neither town is shown, Huatugou is just northeast of Gaz Hure Hu lake. Some maps do not show Shimiankuang (38°15'00"N, 90°52'00"E, 3,200 m) and instead show the small oil refinery village of Mangnai Zhen, about 10 km southeast. If neither town is shown, Shimiankuang is right where Highway 315 crosses the provincial border. Older maps show Shimiankuang and Mangnai Zhen in Xinjiang Province, but the area was moved administratively some years ago into Qinghai Province.

The 241 km road from Shimiankuang, at the border of Qinghai and Xinjiang, to Charklik (Ruoqiang), Xinjiang, is a rough road, much of it unpaved, over a 4,000 m pass and through a narrow river valley as well as across the desert. This is the rough leg mentioned above. Buses cannot manage this road, so "public cars" run once a day (sometimes twice a day, depending on demand) along this route. These are apparently semi-official 4WD SUVs, but you don't buy tickets at the bus station. The cost in 2007 was Y100, paid to the driver upon arrival. These cars run quite packed, so arrive early. The "public cars" do not operate in winter.

The "public car" usually leaves from in front of the bus station in Charklik (Ruoqiang) at 08:00 Beijing time (06:00 unofficial local time) and arrives in Shimiankuang about 6 hours later, and generally in time to catch the afternoon minibus from Shimiankuang to Huatugou. The 09:00 morning minibus from Huatugou meets the "public car" leaving from Shimiankuang about 11:00. (The minibuses are scheduled to leave Huatugou at 09:00 and 17:00. This implies that the departures from Shimiankuang to Huatugou are at about 11:00 and 19:00.)

From Charklik (Ruoqiang) to Cherchen (Qiemo), the bus leaves at 10:00, takes 5 hours to cover the 351 km and costs 58Y. In the other direction, a daily bus leaves Cherchen (Qiemo) for Charklik (Ruoqiang) at 10:00.

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