The entrance to Cave 431
The Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors: These are the “must-dos” for first-time travelers to China. By any rights, the Mogao Caves at Dunhuang belong on that list. Beginning in 366 A.D., painters traveled from all over China to the oasis town of Dunhuang to fill nearby caves with Buddhist imagery. The caves were sealed around 1000 A.D. to protect them from Muslim and Tibetan invaders, so the paintings — rediscovered in the late 1800s — are incredibly well-preserved. Why, then, is Dunhuang comparatively tourist-free? Aside from its steep entrance fee (160 RMB!), it’s inconveniently located in the far northwest of Gansu Province, a 14-hour train ride from Lanzhou, the nearest big city.
Pictures aren't allowed in the original caves, but detailed replicas are open for closer examination and photography.
Visitors who make the trek to Dunhuang are rewarded with a comparatively pleasant, quiet desert town, and a not-too-crowded main attraction. Unfortunately, the only way to see the caves themselves is on a guided tour, which somewhat counteracts the general lack of people. There are three English tours per day, at 9, 12 and 3, but we ended up going on a Chinese tour instead. (You can’t take the English tour if you are using a half-price student ticket, and if you do want the English tour, you have to say that when you buy your original ticket.) Having a detailed guidebook — I like the Blue Guide to China — made up for the lack of comprehensible tour leadership.
Only nine caves were open to visitors on the day we visited, spanning the 600-year period of active painting in the caves. The styles of painting in the caves are incredibly varied, reflecting the diverse array of painters who traveled to Dunhuang to contribute to the caves. In one, the paintings resemble traditional Chinese landscape painting. In others, the walls are covered with boldly colored stenciled images of Buddha. The tour forces you to move rather quickly through the caves, so we didn’t have much of a chance to linger over the paintings. Having our own flashlight was key, as it allowed us to look at the sections of the paintings we most wanted to see, even if the tour guide was talking about something else.
To get a more in-depth experience of the caves, be sure to visit the Mogao Caves exhibition center. That’s where artifacts found in the caves are on display. Additionally, replicas of a few caves are open for closer study — and for you to take pictures. As long as you’re in Dunhuang, it’s also worth looking at the Western Thousand Buddha Caves. Although the painting is not nearly as impressive, nor are the guides so well trained, you can get up-close-and-personal with the artwork. We were the only people on our tour, so we were allowed to take as much time as we wanted in each of the caves.
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It’s strange that people only think of the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Terracotta Warriors when they think about visiting ancient China – there’s so so much more. What about the incredible Banpo Museum, the Longmen Grottoes or even the endangered city of Kashgar? You’ll need to get your skates on to visit the latter; China’s government have deemed there to be ‘nothing more’ to know about the famous Silk Road site, and controversial (to say the very least) demolition work is due to begin shortly.