5-Day Dunhuang Scenery and Culture In-depth Tour

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

Welcome to Dunhuang, the brightest star in the Gobi Desert. Your guide will meet you at the airport/train station and escort you to your hotel. The rest of the day is up to you.

Free activities: We recommend you come to the Sandbar Night Market, the liveliest place in the city, where you can take a leisurely stroll, experience the life of the locals, find delicious food, relax in the bar, or buy some interesting handicrafts and more.

Attractions: Mogao Grottoes, Crescent Spring and Singing Sand Dune

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

After breakfast, drive to Mogao Grottoes. Commonly known as the Thousand Buddha Caves, are located on the cliff at the eastern foot of the Mingsha Mountain, 25 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province, China, facing the eastern side of the Tongquan River. The distribution of the caves is staggered, the scale of the subzone ratio, and there are up to five layers up and down. It is famous for its exquisite murals and statues. It was built in the sixteen States before the Qin period, after the sixteen States, the Northern Dynasty, Sui, Tang, five dynasties, Western Xia, Yuan and other dynasties of construction. With 735 caves, 45,000 square meters of murals and 2,415 clay colored sculptures, it is the largest and richest Buddhist art site in the world.

Then, continue your trip to Crescent Spring and Singing Sand Dune. The sand mountain is a desert formed under the action of wind. The long yellow sand gathers here to form the sand mountain. The sand mountain will ring under the wind, so it gets its name. In the arms of the sand mountain, there is a crescent shaped lake, the lake grows beside the sand willow, populus euphrysalis, forming an oasis, here called "Crescent Lake". Crescent Lake is a small lake, the water is quite clear and blue. In full sunlight, the water glows with the pleasant colors of the garden.

Attractions: Yardang National Geologic Park, Yumen Pass, Great Wall of Han Dynasty,

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

After breakfast, you will be taken to explore Yardang National Geologic Park. Commonly known as Dunhuang Yadan Devil City. It is an important part of Dunhuang Global Geopark in China. At the same time, it is also one of the three most beautiful Yadan landforms in China.

Keep driving, you will get to Yumen Pass (Jade Gate Pass). Built in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yumen Pass, also known as the Small Fangpan City, prospered with the prosperity of the Silk Road, and was once a place through which merchants from the Western regions and people from the Central Plains came and went. Because Hetian jade was imported from here to the Central Plains since ancient times, it is called the Jade Gate Pass. About 5 km from Yumen Pass is the Ruin of Great Wall of Han Dynasty, also known as the Outer Great Wall, and its ancillary facilities are the outer Leh City. The Great Wall was built in the early years of Emperor Wudi of Han Dynasty. After several years of investigation by archeologists, it was found that the Han Dynasty had built a "Outer Great Wall" of more than 10,000 kilometers from Dunhuang in Gansu Province to Pyongyang in North Korea in the east. It was the "Outer Great Wall" built by the Han Dynasty and longer than the Ming Wall.

Attractions: Yulin Grottoes, Suoyangcheng Ruins 

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

After breakfast, you will be transferred the Yulin Grottoes, also known as Wanfo Gorge, is one of the important grottoes of Chinese Buddhist grottoes art, located in Guazhou County 76 kilometers south of the Yulin River on both sides of the gravel cliff. Yulin Grottoes was built in the Northern Wei Dynasty. The grottoes' shape, mural content, artistic style and the title of the donors all show the close connection with the art of the Mogao Grottoes. As an integral part of Dunhuang art, Yulin Grottoes has high historical and artistic value.

The key town of the Silk Road, Suoyangcheng Ruins, is at the western edge of the Hexi Corridor and is the hub leading to the Western regions. Thousands of years passed, and this place was deserted. But history will remember that there have been countless wars and fires here, through the flow of monks' business trips. This was once a precious oasis in the midst of  an extremely arid desert.

After sightseeing, drive back to Dunhuang city.

Attractions: No

Meal: Not Included

Hotel: Not Included

Today is free for you until you tour guide see you off at the airport/train station.