Location: Gansu, Dunhuang - Mogao Caves, Mingsha Mountain & Crescent Spring, West Line
Travel Notes Summary: 11. Gansu Dunhuang West Line Day Trip. Breakfast: Halal restaurant beef noodle soup with transparent noodles, very chewy. A. Dunhuang Film and TV Ancient City - many movies filmed here including New Dragon Gate Inn, Detective Dee 3, 4, etc. B. West Thousand Buddha Caves - some Buddha statues and murals preserved inside, but unfortunately far less well-preserved than Mogao Caves. Lunch: Dining under grapevines, can pick grapes to eat after meal. C. Yangguan Pass Ruins - 'I urge you to drink one more cup of wine; West of Yang Pass you'll meet no more old friends.' Viewed beacon tower ruins and Yangguan Avenue. D. Yumen Pass + Han Dynasty Great Wall Ruins - 'Why should the Qiang flute complain about willow trees? Spring breeze never reaches Yumen Pass.' Viewed Small Square Pan City and Han Dynasty Great Wall ruins. E. Yadan Devil City - compared to Xinjiang's devil city, Dunhuang's has fewer shaped scenic spots, but the sunset slowly sinking into the Gobi still evokes the desolate melancholy of the vast desert. (Yadan is a wind-eroded landform usually only found in deserts;…
