Dunhuang City
Throughout
Dunhuang's history over two thousand
years, it has always served as a critical gateway to the west, because
of its unique geographical location at the juncture of Gansu, Qinghai
and Xinjiang. As a result, throughout the Chinese long history, several
emperors have made improvements of these western fortifications.
However, Dunhuang was also a regional cultural center. 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. It is one of the most complete collections of Buddhist
frescoes and sculpture from a period range over ten dynasties.
Local
Features: Buddhist Grottoes
of Dunhuang
The
Buddhist Grottoes of Dunhuang at Mogao are a great treasure house of
Buddhist art. The art forms of architectures, sculptures and paintings
are combined organically into the great expressions of Buddha worship
that have begun from the Han Dynasty and continued through the Tang,
for more than 1,000 years. After the discovery of approximately 50,000
Buddhist writings and Holy Scriptures at Dunhuang around 1900, Dunhuang
gained a great fame for its Buddhist art relics. It was only natural
that the United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization
have listed Dunhuang's Mogao Grottoes on its list of the world's
cultural legacies worthy of special protection in December of 1987. The
mural paintings of Dunhuang are especially famous and focus on
presenting images of the Buddha and Buddhist legends, but also include
examples of landscape paintings, historic architectures, portraits of
the noble patrons, various auspicious animals, plants and other
decorations. One of the main themes of the frescoes is the fiction;
heavenly maidens painted into the frescoes act as frames on the murals
or otherwise decorate the paintings.
Dunhuang Climate
The
best time to visit Dunhuang and the ancient Silk Road is from May
through October. In the depths of Inland China, Dunhuang has a very dry
climate. It has three special characteristics. The first is lots of
direct sunshine. The second is little rainfall. The annual average
rainfall here is only 39.9 mm. The rainfall in summer is 63.9 percent
of annual rainfall while winter rainfall is only 7.5 percent.
Therefore, evaporation can be a problem in this climate. The third is
the climate's four distinct seasons. Winter and summer have huge
temperature differences (annual temperature difference reaches 34
degrees). Lastly, sand storms can be a problem in the Dunhuang, with
the wind sometimes reaching speeds of 3m/sec.
Dining
Overview
As
the main staple of the local diet, it revolves around wheat flour
noodles. Noodles are served with lamb, chicken, or beef. On the other
hand, Dunhuang Rang Pizi (a special food in the western area) has long
been one of the most popular dishes in the city. These noodles are
actually made from pea flour and are clear, white, cool and slippery.
The noodles are seasoned with hot peppers for a cool, yet spicy feel
that is just perfect for desert weather (as least that's what the
locals would say!). Shazhou Night Market is one of the best places in
Dunhuang to try authentic Dunhuang specialties. Virtually all of the
very best of Dunhuang's northwestern cuisine can be found here: Saozi
Noodle, stuffed bread and even mutton kebabs. In addition, you will
also have opportunity to sample Huanghe sweet melons, grapes and Hami
melons.
Entertainment
Overview
During
the peak tourist season (from June to October) the Dunhuang Hotel
arranges performances of song and dances from 6pm to 8pm every evening,
known as the "Summer of Dunhuang". This show means to be a complete
reflection of the culture of Silk Road. You can see examples of the
folk art of the Muslim, Tibetan, Uigur and Mongolian peoples of China's
"wild west". Part of the show's repertoire is an interpretation of a
dance depicted in the frescoes of the Mogao Grottoes!
Shopping
Overview
The
Shazhou Night Market is the largest outdoor market in Dunhuang. The
entire market is unofficially divided into separate specialty areas
such as handicrafts, antiques, tea and local products. The road in
front of the market is lined with over 100 stalls specializing in
selling handicrafts and other cultural odds and ends like crystal,
jade, Dunhuang silk carpets and "glow in the dark" stone cups made from
local materials. However, the vendors drive hard bargains and it may be
difficult to drive down prices.
Top
of page
Link
http://grid.lzu.edu.cn/chinagrid2008/index.html
Silk
Road to China:
A site about
the Silk Road, especially Dunhuang, with maps and cave art.
Dunhuang
Art Through the Eyes
of Duan Wenjie:
A collection of writings on Dunhuang cave art by the former director of
the Dunhuang Academy, Professor Duan Wejie, translated by the Indira
Gandhi National Centre for the Arts and mounted on their website.
The Dunhuang Academy:
An integrated national academic institution devoted to the
conservation, management and research of the grottoes group in Dunhuang. |
