Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Trip.Best Top 14 Best Things to Do in Dunhuang [2024]
Explore the best things to do in Dunhuang! Uncover top activities and experiences for an unforgettable visit.
Updated Nov 2024
- 8.84.6/519649 reviewsFrom14.24"Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring are a famous scenic spot in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, attracting countless tourists with their unique desert wonders and beautiful natural landscapes. Mingsha Mountain - **Geographical location**:Mingsha Mountain is located 5 kilometers south of Dunhuang City, 40 kilometers east and west, about 20 kilometers north and south, and the main peak is 1715 meters above sea level. -**Natural landscape**:Mingsha Mountain is famous for its strange phenomenon of sand motion and sound, the sand is delicate and soft, suitable for sandboarding activities. In sunny weather, the mountain experience the sound of silk bamboo orchestra, spread tens of miles. -**Cultural background**: Mingsha Mountain was called Shajiao Mountain in the East Han Dynasty, and Mingsha Mountain was called in the Jin Dynasty, and it was named because of its sand movement. -**Travel experience**: Tourists can ride camels across the desert, experience the fun of sandboarding and mountaineering, and watch the sunrise and sunset on the top of the mountain to feel the magnificent and vast desert. ###2. Crescent Spring - **Geographical location**: Crescent Spring is located in Mingsha Mountain surrounded by, nearly 100 meters in north and south, about 25 meters in width from east to west, and the spring water is shallow in the east and west, about 5 meters in the deepest, shaped like a crescent. -**Natural landscape**: Crescent spring water quality is sweet, clarified like a mirror, surrounded by green trees, like an oasis in the desert. The spring water has never been buried by quicksand, and has never been evaporated and dried, known as the "first spring of the desert". - **Cultural background**: Crescent Spring is known as Shajing in ancient times, also known as Yaoquan, and Crescent Spring in the Qing Dynasty. Its shape is similar to a crescent moon, so it is named. -"Dunhuang.Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring6.1 km from downtownDesertsNighttime sightseeing
No.1 of Fall Viewing Attractions in DunhuangHighlights: Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake is located south of the City of Dunhuang. The site features a mountain and a spring that are symbols of Dunhuang. You should visit the sightseeing area in the afternoon to avoid the heat of the midday desert. Once the sun goes down, you can climb the mountain. From its peak, you can enjoy the desert and Crescent Lake at the base of the mountain. The scenic area offers a variety of recreational activities, including camel riding, sandboarding, motorcycling in the desert, archery, and helicopter tours.Show Less - 8.34.4/58274 reviewsFrom7.5"The overall itinerary is not very tight, but the harvest is full, and the overall arrangement is still very satisfactory. This season, there are few people and it is not cold, which is very suitable for travel. How to shoot gold is strong in autumn, and the sky is infinitely beautiful blue."Dunhuang16.7 km from downtownGrottoesUNESCO World Heritage - Cultural SitesNighttime sightseeingNo.2 of Fall Viewing Attractions in DunhuangHighlights: The Mogao Caves, also called Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, is located in the southeast of Dunhuang city. The Mogao Caves scenic area consists of the Mogao Caves Digital Center and the Mogao Caves. The Mogao Caves Digital Center shows short films about the caves. After thousands of years of carving, the caves have a large number of murals, cultural relics, and etc. It's a world-famous Buddhist art destination. The artistic characteristics of the caves are mainly reflected in the ingenious combination of architecture, statues and Dunhuang murals, and the artistic styles of many dynasties are vividly and harmoniously presented.Show Less
- 7.64.3/52647 reviewsFrom30.8"See Dunhuang again to see art and history, culture and feelings. Better than "See Pingyao again", photographed the atmosphere and heritage of Dunhuang, and let us re-know Wang Yuanxuan. I really need the script of this play."Dunhuang.Dunhuang Airport/Dunhuang Railway Station8.8 km from downtownFeatured performanceLive ShowHighlights: "See also Dunhuang" via a multi-level interpretation, including the Mogao Grottoes, murals, rock walls and various cultural elements, reappearing the Mogao Grottoes from the opening of the cave to the prosperous, and then to the Taoist priests to show the long-standing mystery Throughout the process, each interpretation space will remake the connection point between the present and history. "See also Dunhuang" guiding the audience to re-interpret the mysterious and graceful art of Dunhuang dance music by the resurrection and restoration of the exquisite and oriental classical sight of Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes.Show Less
- 7.24.5/52121 reviewsFrom7.5
59 review"The scenery is great, but the guide map is not very clear. I was a little confused when I went out, and said that Yangguan only went out and could not go back. It was very inconvenient for friends to store and pick up after buying a book. Can be improved or reminded in advance."Dunhuang56.6 km from downtownHistorical SitesNo.3 of Fall Viewing Attractions in DunhuangHighlights: The Yangguan Ancient Site, also known as the Yang Guan Museum, is located on the west side of Dunhuang City. It was constructed during the Western Han Dynasty Wudi Period and is an important gateway of the South Silk Road. It was named after the its location of southern Yumen Pass. In the scenic area, there are a number of tower buildings that are imitations from the Han Dynasty. There are a number of exhibition halls set up to show the numerous artifacts from the ancient Silk Road. Here you can visit the cultural relics, view the architecture and stroll around the residential street.Show Less - 7.24.3/51694 reviewsFrom6.46116 review"The service of the bus driver is in place, the fare is reasonable, and the visit time in Dafang Pancheng is expected to be extended to an hour. It is recommended to lay a plank road across Dafang Pancheng in the right location, so that the audience can feel the grandeur of Cangcheng from the inside of Cangcheng! The museum is good, the yellow noodles in the museum restaurant are very good 👍"Dunhuang71.6 km from downtownAncient TrailsHistorical SitesUNESCO World Heritage - Cultural SitesHighlights: Yumen Pass was built in the Eastern Han Dynasty, also known as Xiaofangpancheng, which is the throat of the Silk Road leading to the Western Region. Because Hetian Meiyu entered the Central Plains from here since ancient times, it was called Yumenguan. With the erosion of thousands of years, Yumenguan has lost the appearance of the year. The current Yumenguan looks like a relic of a rammed earth pile. It is square and consists of four walls of earth. It opens on the northwest sides of the earth wall.Show Less
- 7.24.6/5832 reviewsFree87 review"Very good, when I first arrived in Dunhuang, everything was still unfamiliar. I booked a museum to explain, and I could roughly understand the customs and customs, know what I want to play, and what I want to play. The interpreter is very attentive, specific, careful, and also provides a lot of suggestions to solve the puzzle."Dunhuang.Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring1.4 km from downtownMuseumsHighlights: The Dunhuang Museum is located in the south of Dunhuang City. It is a museum that displays the historical relics of Dunhuang in the Silk Road and the precious cultural relics in Mogao Grottoes. The museum has a very special appearance and looks like the walls of the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty and the beacon tower. Entering the interior of the museum seems to be a group of grottoes. The walls and corridors inside are all in the form of ancient cave corridors. The museum has multiple exhibition halls, but the main exhibition is the theme exhibition of the Dunhuang Museum - "The City of Huaying Intersection".Show Less
- 7.14.5/52209 reviewsFrom7.5"Follow China's geography to travel without stepping on thunder! The sunset is watching! The starry sky on the way back is also watching! Not that it can't afford to go abroad, but China's geographical culture is enough to satisfy our own cognition! The narrator is not very good, like who owes you, the last class is you can get off work, since we went, you can understand that you are tired if you are not off work, but we are more than 60 kilometers from the city to the other side. Is it idle?"Dunhuang>100 km from downtownGeological SitesHighlights: Yadan National Geological Park, also known as Dunhuang Devil City, is an important landscape for tourists visiting the Dunhuang West Line (including Yumenguan, Han Great Wall, Yangguan, Xiqian Buddha Cave, etc.) in the Gobi Desert in the northwest of Dunhuang City. . The park is dominated by large and unique Yadan landforms and it looks fantastic and spectacular on the Gobi. Every evening, during the sunset, it is a wonderful place to shoot photos. Jinshi Yingbin, Pyramid, peacocks and Xihai fleets are important attractions in the scenic area.Show Less
- 6.64.7/5241 reviewsFrom38.57"The actor carefully prepared, just standing on the edge of the angry King Kong, although there is psychological preparation or was shocked, the whole play is white clothes teenagers as the main line, the scene is beautiful."Dunhuang.Dunhuang Airport/Dunhuang Railway Station8.6 km from downtownFeatured performanceTheaterDramaNo.2 of Night Attractions in DunhuangHighlights: "Music of Dunhuang" is the world's first cave-style immersive experience drama supported by the Central Propaganda Department, planned by the Propaganda Department of the Gansu Provincial Party Committee, and produced by the Gansu Performing Arts Group. The work traces back to the Dunhuang culture, and uses the in-depth interpretation and sorting of the Mogao Grottoes murals and the ancient books of the Sutra Cave to activate the research and development results of Dunhuang ancient musical instruments and ancient music scores. It uses high-tech means such as holographic projection and 3D wire to interpret the moving story of the young man Bai from the Western Regions in pursuit of art in a fully immersive presentation. The play uses national musical instruments such as the five-string pipa, panpipe, lotus Ruan, and the timbre of Dunhuang imitation musical instruments, and interprets a variety of Dunhuang dances such as the Huxuan dance, waist drum and pipa dance, and the Kalavinka dance. With the repertoire music taken from the Dunhuang ancient music scores and the Western Regions tunes, it restores the music and dance scene in the Dunhuang murals, fully demonstrates the charm of Dunhuang's ancient music culture that has been passed down for thousands of years, and brings the audience a full range of audio-visual feasts.Works created by:The repertoire of "Music of Dunhuang" involves many professional fields such as literature, music, dance, choreography, stage lighting, costume design, etc. The creative team brings together many elite artists in various fields and experts in Dunhuang art and culture research. In order to reproduce the charm of Dunhuang music, dance, poetry and painting, the creative team has conducted in-depth research in Dunhuang many times, and has ingeniously conceived and presented the script conception, music arrangement, dance choreography, multimedia visual design, costume design, stage lighting design, etc., fully showing the magnificent scenery and grand momentum of Dunhuang culture.Theater format:The theater design of "Dunhuang" breaks through the limitations of traditional theater space dimensions. Based on the 735 caves of Mogao Grottoes, a "living" Cave 736 was created. By replicating the characteristic shapes of the Sutra Cave, Buddha niches, lotus platform, and caisson in the cave, combined with the music and dance scenes activated from the murals, an immersive cave theater that can be seen, heard, walked, and interacted is created. The total area of the theater is 18,000 square meters. It is the world's first cave-style immersive experience theater and a perfect combination of modern technology and Dunhuang art.How to watch the show:The "Dancing Dunhuang" theater is a huge stage without boundaries, divided into three major viewing areas, ABC, and each area carries a different viewing experience. Throughout the performance, the audience follows the movement trajectory of the protagonist Bai in the play, walking, standing, or sitting, exploring each space of the theater from shallow to deep, and gradually understanding the plot of the whole play. With the coordination of stage structure, scientific and technological means, and digital technology, you can not only feel a strong visual shock, but also experience a realistic cave crossing, allowing the audience's sensory emotions to fluctuate and change during the performance, and feel the brilliance and prosperity of poetry, dance, music, and painting in Dunhuang art at close range, and enjoyArt experience.Performance Mode:Equipped with various sound, light, electricity and mechanical equipment, the "Music of Dunhuang" theater breaks the boundary between people and stage, allowing the audience to be in the theater, appreciate the actors' performances at a closer distance, experience the changes in light and shadow, and feel the intersection and fusion of performers, music, light and shadow. It truly realizes immersion in music, light and shadow, performance and soul, which is impossible to achieve in traditional theaters.summary of the story:Bai from the Western Regions, with her persistent pursuit of music, followed the Western Regions princess to the Central Plains as a dowry. She was attracted by the splendor and charm of the Central Plains civilization, and constantly integrated the musical elements of the Central Plains and the Western Regions to form a new court music.During the Lantern Festival, Bai encountered a dancing girl, but could not recognize her because of the crowd. Dejected, Bai traveled to the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, and was shocked by the profound art in the murals. He then abandoned all distractions, devoted himself to art, ushered in self-sublimation, and stayed in the Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang forever.It implies that in life, one needs to experience thousands of experiences and go through many entanglements before one can break the shackles of desire, understand the truth of the world, gain inner awakening, and cultivate the ability and wisdom to transcend everything and turn around freely.Synopsis:Chapter 1: "Origin of Wonderful Music" - Interpretation of Western Region MusicIn the early years of the Tang Dynasty, Bai Shi from the Western Regions was famous at a young age and looked down on all living beings. However, the elusive sound of birdsong made him fall into great anxiety. He decided to follow the Western Regions delegation to the Central Plains to meet the emperor and open up a whole new world for himself.Chapter 2: Music on the Silk Road - Interpretation of the ritual music of the Central PlainsWhen passing through Dunhuang, Bai was shocked by the magnificent and vast musical world and mysterious music scores in the murals. He decided to stay there for a while to study and thus began to dream of integrating the essence of Eastern and Western music.Chapter 3: "Shangyuan Taegae" - the interpretation of folk music in the Central PlainsThe gorgeous Lantern Festival in Dunhuang brought Bai Shi into a long-lost taste of the human world, and people's desire for a happy life made him feel compassionate. After the prosperity faded away, facing the murals, Bai Shi fell into solitary thought, as if he had merged into it.Chapter 4: "A Magnificent Chapter" - Interpretation of Dunhuang MusicIn the Dunhuang murals, there are flying fairies more graceful than girls on earth, lanterns and flames more splendid than the Lantern Festival, and the heavenly sounds of the birds that he has been pursuing. When all these came together, Bai finally understood that the selfless dedication to fame and the mixed joys and sorrows of heaven and earth are the vast realm of artistic creation. Facing the bright moon alone and playing a pipa tune, this young man who pursued his dreams finally created a work in Dunhuang that comforted his life and realized his grand dream of integrating Eastern and Western music.Show Less
- 6.54.0/5926 reviewsFrom5.18"The scenic spot does not have Dunhuang Silk Road Heritage City, but you can visit it together. It feels like this should be a photography base. It shows a lot of movie series and variety shows. Photos behind the scenes. If you like to take pictures in ancient costumes, it should still be very popular."Dunhuang15.4 km from downtownFilm StudiosHighlights: Dunhuang Western Movie and Television Base, also known as Dunhuang Film City and Dunhuang Ancient City, is located on the southwest side of Dunhuang City. It is an important attraction for tourists to visit the Dunhuang West Line. Visitors can come here to admire the ancient architecture and streets of the northwest, take photos of the ancient patina, and carefully find and discover familiar scenes in many movies and TV series.Show Less
- 6.55.0/5605 reviews"Experienced such a camping in the desert, I still can't forget it. I participated in an event in the desert utv. The camp staff was very responsible and could actively solve problems. It was very good to meet this standard in the desert."Dunhuang.Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring4.6 km from downtownCampgroundsNighttime sightseeingNo.3 of Night Attractions in DunhuangHighlights: Dunhuang Mingsha Mountain Desert Camping Wild Luxury Base is located in the southwest of Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring Scenic Area. Here, you can climb Mingsha Mountain to feel the desolation and vastness of the Northwest Desert, and you can also ride off-road motorcycles to experience the speed and passion of galloping in the desert. The base currently provides a variety of recreational activities: sand motorcycle experience, UTV all-terrain vehicle surfing, sand boarding, camel riding, horse riding, zipline, swing, seesaw, etc. At the same time, it can provide a variety of desert experience projects such as team building, cross-country, barbecue, hiking, photography, tent camping, etc. At night, you can watch and shoot the vast starry sky in the desert.Show Less
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