We went to Dunhuang to see the Gobi Desert and the Silk Road that was used to transport goods between China and Europe for thousands of years. We visited the Mogao Caves, which are one of the greatest repositories of Buddhist art in the world. Unfortunately, we were not permitted to photograph or videotape them. The two sample caves below were presented at the Mogao Caves museum.
We spent a day on a six-site bus tour. We were the only Westerners on the bus and the driver did not speak English. He would stop and probably describe the sites for the passengers. We communicated the important things like "How much is this ticket price?" and "What time do we need to be back on the bus?" We traveled to the "Great Wall" which resembled a fence in this part of the Gobi Desert. We saw both the Yumen Pass (102 km from Dunhuang), which was the gateway to the northern Silk Road and the Yanguan Pass(78 km west of Dunhuang), which was the gateway to the southern Silk Road. The passes were originally military stations, part of the Han Dynasty series of beacon towers.
We also stopped at a film set. It was hard to tell if it was a museum or a former working site. We had about five minutes left to try on some Chinese costumes and act out a fighting scene with a wild Chinese child. He won with his dexterous axe.
The last stop on the day tour was Yadan National Park, where we saw eroded rocks in the desert landscape. They were given names such as the lion, the peacock, and battleships. We found one that I named the Liberty Bell. Lonely Planet calls this place "the Gobi Desert's awesome nothingness."
We also stopped at a film set. It was hard to tell if it was a museum or a former working site. We had about five minutes left to try on some Chinese costumes and act out a fighting scene with a wild Chinese child. He won with his dexterous axe.
The last stop on the day tour was Yadan National Park, where we saw eroded rocks in the desert landscape. They were given names such as the lion, the peacock, and battleships. We found one that I named the Liberty Bell. Lonely Planet calls this place "the Gobi Desert's awesome nothingness."
Mingsha Shan was a fantastic day of climbing, looking, and camel riding. We climbed the sand dunes for a fantastic view and stayed up top until the sun set. Down below is Crescent Moon Lake, which is not very big, but provides water for some green plants.
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