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DUNHUANG

Dunhuang originally means "brilliance" or "magnificence", which is a hint that it must once have been an important city. Its position at the intersection of two trade routes was what made Dunhuang flourish. The coming and going of horse and camel caravans carried new thoughts, ideas, arts and sciences to the East and West. It has always been known as a famous oasis stop on the ancient trade route--Silk Road between China and Rome. Dunhuang is best known for nearby caves that contain Buddhist frescoes, ritual objects, and documents dating from the 4th to the 12th century AD. These may be the best-preserved examples of Buddhist frescoes in China. Since the first century B.C. when Emperor Han Wudi started to expand the empire westwards, it was an oasis irrigated by the Tang River and began to serve as an important way station on the main trade route between China and Central Asia. In 1986, it is entitled to be "China historical and cultural city".

Geographical Features
Located at the west end of Hexi corridor, a tiny oasis rounded by high mountains, desert and Gobi, with the average altitude of 1100m The city is in the northwestern part of China, at 42N, is at approximately the same latitude as the cities of Boston, Rome, and Barcelona. The total size of the city is 31,200 sq km, in among a cultivated land size is 23,000 sq km. The Qilian Mt. ranges along the city with the Beishan Mountains in the north and Dieshan-Minshan Mountains in the southwest. There is the Yellow River and tributaries such as the Dang River and Shule River passing by this area together with the other inland rivers in the Hexi Corridor irrigate the city. The agricultural production around Dunhuang consists of cotton, wheat, millet, and melons. The city's manufacturing plants produce agricultural tools, chemical fertilizers, and edible oils. The city's climate feature is temperate, dry and temperatures shift greatly from day to night. The annual temperature is 9.3Co . The daily difference in temperature is great, and the common saying: 'morning with fur-lined jacket, noon gauze', and hot summer with the highest temperature over 40Co . The annual average rainfall annual precipitation 1982.7 mm, concentrated in spring and autumn.

People
The total population of the city is 100,000. This was an area where many races lived together. Chinese (in the ethnic sense), Hui, Tibetan, Manchu, Dongxiang, Yugu, Baoan, Mongolian, Kazak, Tu, Sala, Manchu and others, together with Han Nationality are residing here.

History
Dunhuang was very important in history. For many periods of Chinese and Inner Asian history, it marked the western limit of direct Chinese administrative control and military authority. Located near one of the important nodes of the routes across Eurasia, Dunhuang experienced a variety of cultural influences. While the history of Dunhuang and its region has much in common with that in other cities in Inner Asia, part of its distinction lie in the degree to which life in Dunhuang has been documented.

Dunhuang and the Silk Road
The oasis town of Dunhuang 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. It was one of the four garrison commentaries that assured Chinese control over the trade routes to the western regions. Dunhuang was considered a place of importance when it was under the control of the Western Xia kingdom (990-1227) and the Mongol Yuan dynasty (1271-1368). 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 seven thousand kilometer 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. 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.

Attractions:

Mingsha Hill and Crescent Moon Spring

A sandy hill 250 m high in the southwest of Dunhuang, the Mingsha Hill composed of many sand dunes covers 40 km from east to west and 20 km from south to north. The Crescent Spring on the Ming Sha Mountain is 6 kilometers to the south west of Dun Huang City. The Ming Sha Mountain is the east extension part of Kurutak desert. Its bulk is not high and large, 40 km from east to west, 20 km from south to north, about 100-200 meters high, and only 1,758 meters for the main peak. Situated in the northern part of the Da Sha Mountain, the peak of the Ming Sha Mountain is only 1240 meters above sea, but the sand ridge is as sharp as a knife with clear edges and corners. Dunes in the forms of shield, parabola and crescent rise and fall intricately, presenting a splendid sight. The red, yellow, green, white and black sands are fine and slippery which sparkle colorfully. Between two sand dune hills, there is a crescent green lake mirrors in the embrace of dunes, which looks like the bright eyes of a maiden, i.e. the Crescent Spring. It is 218 meters from west to east, about 54 meters from north to south and 5 meters deep on an average. It turns along the mountain, wonderfully existing with the Ming Sha Mountain like twins.

White Horse Pagoda

The White Horse Pagoda was located on the outskirts of Dunhuang city. According to legend, in September of 382, Emperor Hujian ordered Taiguang, general of a well-trained cavalry and Jiangfei, general of Lingjiang garrison to head an army of 70,000 men and horses to attack Guizi. In 384, they succeeded in overrunning the country and some 30 others in the western region. Their trophies included 2,000 camels and countless relics and treasures. Then they sent the eminent monk Jiumoluoshi to return to the eastern region to preach scriptures. On reaching Dunhuang, Jiumoluoshi had a dream in which he was told by his mount, the White Horse that it had been assigned by the Buddhist Patriarch to carry him eastward until the thoroughfare and would now leave the mortal land for Hulu River to be other mount. The next day, he awoke to find the death of the White Horse. The local Buddhist followers buried the horse at the foot of the city wall and built a pagoda after its name as commemoration. The magnificent Pagoda has 9 floors with a height of 12 meters and a diameter of 7 meters. It was made of adobes with a column inside and coated on the outside with mud and lime. The brick foundation is octagonal with a 3-meter wide face each. The Pagoda on the whole is in the Lamaism style of the Ming Dynasty.

Ruins of Yangguan

The ruin of ancient city is seventy kilometers west of Dunhuang County town. It used to be a pass on the southern route of the Silk Road. A large number of cultural relics dating to the Han Dynasty (206 B.C. -220 A.D.) have been unearthed among the ruins of the old city. To the east of Yangguan lie the remains of Shouchang City, and to the north is a well-preserved ole beacon tower on Dundun Hill. Outside of these ruins there is nothing but desert with few human traces.

Yumen Pass

Situated in the Gobi Desert eighty kilometers northwest of Dunhuang County. The remaining building of the Yumen Pass on the northern route of the Silk Road is a well-preserved square structure, 24 meters from east to west, 26.4 meters from north to south, and 9.8 meters high. It was built with yellow mud bricks. The desert outside Yumen Pass bears few traces of human activity.