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City guide · 敦煌 · 古称沙州
Dunhuang
A key Silk Road town where the great desert's lone smoke meets the thousand-Buddha caves — a place of grandeur and glory
Dunhuang City, under Jiuquan in Gansu Province, lies at the westernmost end of the Hexi Corridor, with the Qilian Mountains' outliers to the south and the Gobi and yardang landforms to the north. The Mogao Caves, the Singing Sands Mountain and Crescent Lake, Yangguan Pass and the Yumen Pass form its world-class human–natural coordinates: Buddhist art burned undimmed on the cliffs for a thousand years, and camel bells once set out from here toward the Western Regions and Central Asia. The city itself is small; the layout of the old Shazhou town and the lamps of the night market are how today's travellers stop over on the Silk Road. Generations of guardians at the Dunhuang Academy have turned the proposition "Dunhuang is in China, Dunhuang studies are worldwide" into daily work.
History
How the city came to be
Dunhuang, meaning "grand and glorious", lies at the western end of the Hexi Corridor, on the Dang River oasis. In the Yuanding years of Emperor Wu of Han (around 111 BC), Dunhuang Commandery was established, one of the four Hexi commanderies, commanding the throat of the Silk Road's central and western sections. After Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions, merchants and monks travelled back and forth without cease, and from the Sixteen Kingdoms through the Sui and Tang, the Mogao Caves were carved and built for over a thousand years. In the Tang, Dunhuang was Shazhou, the forward post for governing the Western Regions. After the Song and Yuan, as the maritime Silk Road rose and the Jiayu Pass closed, Dunhuang gradually declined. In 1900 the Daoist priest Wang Yuanlu discovered tens of thousands of documents in the Library Cave at Mogao, sparking the worldwide field of "Dunhuang studies". After 1949 the Dunhuang Academy took up the duties of protection, research and promotion, and Dunhuang became a symbolic place name for the exchange of human civilisations.
- 111 BCThe Western Han established Dunhuang Commandery, one of the four Hexi commanderies
- 366The monk Lezun carved the first Mogao cave on the opposite bank of the Sanwei Mountains
- Tang dynastyShazhou (Dunhuang) was the key Hexi town and a Silk Road relay hub
- 1036Western Xia took Dunhuang; cave building continued to grow
- 1372After the Ming closed the Jiayu Pass, Dunhuang grew increasingly cut off and its residents moved inland
- 1900Wang Yuanlu discovered the Mogao Library Cave (Cave 17)
- 1944The National Dunhuang Art Research Institute was founded (predecessor of the Dunhuang Academy)
- 1987The Mogao Caves were inscribed on the World Cultural Heritage list
Stories
Stories of the city
The three treasures of Crescent Spring and why it never dries
Legend · Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring
About the Crescent Spring, Dunhuang folklore tells of three treasures (a folk legend): iron-backed fish in the spring, seven-star grass growing on its banks and five-coloured sand on the mountain — the fish and grass were both said to be usable as medicine, prolonging life. The more widely known question is why the drifting sand cannot bury this spring. The older generation's explanation carries a mythical colouring; modern geological research gives another set of answers: the Crescent Spring lies in a low-lying area with continuous groundwater recharge, and the embracing sand mountains' terrain makes the wind form a swirling, rising airflow along the ridges, so sand grains falling on the spring's surface are carried away by the wind — sand mountain and spring water thus reach a delicate balance. Legend and science do not contradict each other here: the first is the feeling Dunhuang people hold for this oasis, the second is the real reason it has not dried in a thousand years. Every summer the spring's edge also hosts starry-sky themed events; the miraculous clear spring in ancient eyes is now the whole city's summer-night living room.
Geology and history of Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring
History · Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring
Mingsha Mountain stretches about 40 kilometres east to west and was anciently called Shensha Mountain; the singing of its sand ridges in clear weather is its signature — as a person slides down a sand slope, the grains rub together and give out a humming sound. The Crescent Spring runs nearly 300 metres from north to south and takes its name from its shape like a crescent moon; anciently called Shajing, it is recorded from the Han dynasty and was a famous Dunhuang scenic site through Tang and Song. The most marvellous thing is the coexistence of spring and sand: ringed by tall sand mountains on all sides, the spring water has nevertheless not been buried by drifting sand in a thousand years — geology generally explains it by groundwater recharge together with the rising winds formed by the special terrain and the sand-fixing vegetation and straw checkerboards around it. The buildings by the spring were destroyed over time; most of today's are modern restorations in the original style, and since the 2010s the locality has continuously implemented geological-heritage protection and water-replenishment works to guard the spring's surface.
A wisp of smoke that led to the Library Cave
History · Mogao Caves, Dunhuang
The Taoist priest Wang Yuanlu made himself caretaker of the Mogao Caves at the end of the 19th century. On 25 June 1900, following the drift of a wisp of incense smoke, he discovered a sealed cave behind the wall of a passage, piled with scrolls, paintings and textiles sealed away in the 11th century — the Library Cave. In 1907 the British explorer Aurel Stein came and, in exchange for a 'donation for repairs', took away a large number of scrolls and paintings; in 1908 the Frenchman Paul Pelliot removed thousands more. These artefacts remain scattered across museums around the world.
People
People connected with Dunhuang
Must see
Places you shouldn’t miss
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Local life
Food and local daily life
Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring
Must-try
- Donkey meat with yellow noodles
- Hu-style mutton stewed pancakes
- Xingpi shui apricot drink
- Sand-onion scrambled eggs
- Grilled lamb skewers with naan
Donkey meat with yellow noodles (Dunhuang's No. 1 famous dish — yellow noodles with braised donkey meat); Hu-style mutton stewed pancakes (mutton stewed with flatbread, strongly north-western in flavour); Xingpi shui apricot drink (brewed from Guang apricots — thirst-relieving and refreshing); Sand-onion scrambled eggs (desert wild onions, freshest in spring); Grilled lamb skewers with naan (the standard pairing of the Shazhou Night Market)
| Where to eat | Dunhuang's Shazhou Night Market and Dunhuang Town areas are the most concentrated, about ten minutes by taxi from the scenic area; the scenic area itself has only simple meals and kiosks |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | Donkey-meat yellow noodles come in generous portions — two people can start with one main dish plus cold dishes; the apricot drink is sweet-sour and appetising but not low in sugar; at the night market, confirm the pricing unit for skewers before ordering |
| Typical price per person | CNY 50–100 per person (market reference); night-market barbecue runs CNY 80–150 per person |
| Tips | Dining around the scenic area is scarce and pricey; main meals are best taken back at the Shazhou Night Market area in central Dunhuang; eat and drink your fill two hours before climbing, and bring your own water since prices inside the park are high |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
Mogao Caves, Dunhuang · Donkey meat with yellow noodles · Hu-style mutton stewed pancakes · Xingpi shui apricot drink
Must-try
- Donkey meat with yellow noodles
- Hu-style mutton stewed pancakes
- Xingpi shui apricot drink
Donkey-meat yellow noodles (handmade yellow noodles with donkey-meat sauce), huyang menbing (mutton braised with flatbread), apricot-skin drink (sweet-sour drink of stewed dried apricots), Li Guang apricots / grapes around Mingsha Shan and Crescent Lake, mutton noodle soup
| Where to eat | Shazhou night market, restaurants in Dunhuang city, simple meals at the Mogao Caves Digital Exhibition Centre |
|---|---|
| Dining etiquette | Many restaurants in the north-west are halal — don't drink alcohol or bring non-halal food into them |
| Typical price per person | CNY 40–80 |
| Tips | There are no proper meals at the scenic sites, so eat in the city first; apricot-skin drink cools you down but is high in sugar; in summer bring water and sun protection. |
Prices are typical rates as of October 2026, not exact quotes; CNY equivalents are approximate where exchange rates fluctuate.
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