Silk Road caves and singing desert dunes
Dunhuang was a key oasis on the Silk Road, where caravans gathered before crossing the desert. Outside town, the Mogao Caves, a UNESCO site, hold nearly five hundred Buddhist cave temples painted and sculpted over a thousand years. Visits are timed and limited to protect the murals, so book ahead. On the edge of town, the Mingsha Shan dunes rise over Crescent Lake, a small spring-fed pool with a pagoda, best at sunset or by camel. The Yumen Pass ruins mark the old frontier to the west.