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DUNHUANG
At a glance | General Information | History | Climate | Travel | Cuisine | Attractions

Dunhuang Attractions: Crescent Lake | Echoing-Sand Mountain | Mogao Grottoes | Western Thousand-Buddha Cave | White Horse Dagoba (Bai Ma Ta) | Dunhuang Museum | Yang Pass | The Ancient City of Dunhuang | Yumen Pass

Dunhuang at a glance:
A city of Gansu province; a town of military importance on the Silk Road; used to be called Shazhou; a throat for the East and West communication; in 1986, it is entitled to be "China historical and cultural city". Location: located in the west of Hexi Corridor of Gansu province of China. Neighboring Areas: Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Qinghai provinces, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia Hui and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Regions. Physical Features: at the west end of Hexi corridor, a tiny oasis rounded by high mountains, desert and Gobi, with the average altitude of 1,100m. Population: 100,000. Area: 3,120 sq. km. Nationalities: Han, Hui, Tibetan, Manchu, Dongxiang, Yugu, Baoan, Mongolian, Kazak, Tu, Sala, and Manchu. Climatic Features: warm variable zone, aridity climate with the frost-free period of 160 days, windy. Average Temperature: 9.3C annually, annual or daily difference in temperature great, common saying: "morning with fur-lined jacket, noon gauze", hot summer with the highest temperature over 40C. Rainfall: annual precipitation 1,982.7 mm, concentrated in spring and autumn. Mountains: Mt. Sanweishan. Rivers: Dang River, Shule River. Products: Liguang Apricot, Ziyang Peach, Mingshan Dates, Yangguan Grape, Watermelon of Murmurous Flesh, Bailan Melon, Huanghemi Melon, apple-pear, apple. Local Highlights: Qinqiang Drama, handcraft carpet.

General Information:

Throughout Dunhuang's history of over two thousand years, it has always served as a critical gateway leading to the west due to its unique geographical location at the juncture of Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang. As a result, several emperors throughout Chinese history have made improvements these western fortifications. However, Dunhuang was also a regional cultural center of sorts. The Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Dunhuang Grottoes or the "Thousand Buddha Grottoes", is located on the western cliffs of the Singing Sands Mountains. Being one of the four most well-known grottoes, it is one of the most complete collections of Buddhist frescoes and sculpture from a period ranging over ten dynasties.

History:

The oasis town of Dunhuang is situated at the edge of the Gobi desert, in the west of the present-day Chinese province of Gansu. Despite its turbulent political history, Dunhuang prospered, both on its own account - it was in a fertile area known for its melons and grapes in particular - and because it became a major staging post for traders and for missionary monks and pilgrims of Buddhism and other religions. The town was founded by Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) in 111 BC as one of the four garrison commanders which assured Chinese control over the trade routes to the western regions. For several hundred years after the collapse of the Han empire (206 BC - 220 AD), the area was subjected to successive waves of invasions, which often caused great upheaval. For example, in 439, conquest of the area by the Northern Wei (386-535) led to a relocation of 30,000 of its inhabitants to the dynastic capital in Shaanxi province. In 781, during the ang Dynasty (618-906), Dunhuang surrendered to the Tibetans after ten years' resistance. When Chinese rule was restored in 848, one local family assumed power, to be followed in the 10th Century by other powerful clans. Dunhuang was last considered a place of importance when it was under the control of the Western Xia Dynasty (210-1600 BC) and the Mongol Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD). From the time of the Han to the end of the Yuan, a most important trade route developed from China to the West, which later became known by the marvelously evocative name: The Silk Road. The ancient traveler leaving China along this road would pass through Dunhuang before braving the many hazards of the journey westwards through East Turkestan (present-day Xinjiang). Dunhuang has a special place in history because of its location close to the parting of the northern and southern routes that skirted the impassable Taklamakan desert. Silk was traded along this 7,000km braid of caravan trails from China right across Asia to the eastern Roman empire on the shores of the Mediterranean, and also to south Asia. Persian and Sogdian merchants traveled the whole length, and were such familiar sights in the Chinese capitals Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) and Luoyang that they can frequently be found, for example, portrayed on Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) figurines. This route was also used by Buddhist monks from China and Korea traveling west in search of images and scriptures, and by ambassadors and princes from the west making the long journey to China. It was by means of the Silk Road that all manner of exotic imports reached China, as diplomatic gifts or through trade, and mainly in exchange for silks: vessels made of gold and silver and the techniques for working these metals; fine glass; fragrances and spices; exotic animals such as lions and ostriches; new fruits such as grapes; dancers, musicians and their instruments. After the splendors of the Tang Dynasty, however, trade along the Silk Road was severely curtailed, and Dunhuang was left in isolation. Later trade between China and Europe was entirely by sea. By the late 19th Century, with the decline of Chinese imperial power, the whole of Central Asia, including Dunhuang, was a political void which invited foreign interest from many sides, including Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Japan. This provided the opportunity for the "rediscovery" of ancient cultures and treasures along the trade routes. Dunhuang was made a prefecture in 117 BC by Emperor Han Wudi, and was a major point of interchange between China and the outside world during the Han and Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD).