Silk Road and Dunhuang
Mogao cave art, desert dunes and the Gobi frontier
The Silk Road through Gansu is the great overland journey of Asia. Dunhuang holds the Mogao Caves — 735 painted grottoes cut into a desert cliff over a thousand years, and among the most important Buddhist art anywhere. Ride a camel out to Crescent Moon Spring, a crescent of water in the dunes that has not dried up in two thousand years.
Follow the corridor east and the landscape keeps changing: the rainbow-striped Danxia hills at Zhangye, and Jiayuguan, the lone fort that marked the western end of the Ming Great Wall.
This is a long, dry, spectacular route. We run it with a private vehicle and driver rather than a coach, and we plan the driving days so nobody spends nine hours in a car.
Places to see in Silk Road and Dunhuang
The highlights we build into almost every Silk Road and Dunhuang itinerary. Your own list can be longer, shorter, or somewhere else entirely.
Mogao Caves, Dunhuang
735 painted Buddhist grottoes cut into a desert cliff over a thousand years.
Crescent Moon Spring
A crescent of water and a Ming pavilion among the dunes, reached by camel.
Jiayuguan Fort
The western terminus of the Ming Great Wall, standing alone in the Gobi.
Zhangye Danxia Landform
Rainbow-striped sandstone hills, best at sunrise or sunset.
Singing Sand Dunes
Forty-meter dunes that hum when the wind moves them.
Shazhou Night Market
Apricot juice, lamb skewers and Gansu noodles in Dunhuang.
Yumen Pass
The Han-dynasty gate where the Silk Road left China.
Jiaohe Ruins, Turpan
A 2,000-year-old city of mud-brick walls, eroded but intact.
Gaochang Ruins
The Tang oasis kingdom near Turpan's vineyards.
More places in China
Tell us what you want to see in Silk Road and Dunhuang
We do not publish fixed packages or prices, because almost nothing about a good trip to China is fixed. Send us your dates and interests and a specialist will design an itinerary around them — with a clear, itemized quotation.
- Your own English-speaking guide and private vehicle
- Hotels chosen for location, not for commission
- Tickets and permits booked on your behalf, including timed entries
- Free revisions until the trip is right
We reply to every inquiry within one business day.