Gansu Part 2: Dunhuang - Movie World, Yadan, Yumenguan, Yangguan
Gansu Province, Part 2: 敦煌 Dunhuang - Movie World, Yadan National Geological Park, Yumenguan, Yangguan & train trip
While we were in Dunhuang, the hotel assigned a dedicated driver to us. He took his job extremely seriously. On the 10th, he drove us around to some sites around Dunhuang.
Sometimes it felt as though we were driving into nowhere :)
敦煌古城 Ancient City of Dunhuang Movie Set
The Ancient City of Dunhuang Movie Set was originally designed for the setting of the historical film Dunhuang in 1987. These days, it continues to be a set for shooting movies in northwest China. When we went, we were almost the only tourists and we received a very eerie feeling that we were walking through an abandoned ghost town ...
No idea what this is, but it's cute
Deserted town street
Local arts and crafts
Interesting ceiling
Martial arts training
Big shot's chair
Execution grounds
We guessed that this is probably Bandit town
Yadan National Geological Park 甘肃敦煌雅丹国家地质公园
This place was very odd! First of all, the drive there was incredibly bumpy. The ticket office was a checkpoint in the middle of nowhere, then our driver pulled up to the gate of the park entrance gates and we bought a further set of tickets. We went inside and showed our tickets to the guy at the door of the tourist building, expecting to be let inside. Instead he gestured us towards a bus! :) After a few moments, a bunch of other tourists piled in as well.
The Dunhuang Yadan National Geologic Park is located on a dried up riverbed. It is approximately 25km in length and 1-2km in breadth and is 185km away from Dunhuang city. It is made up of wind-eroded rock formations. Locals call it 魔鬼城 i.e. devils town.
We had a tour guide who dropped us out at our first 景点 (scenic spot) that had the obligatory rock with writing on it, so we took photos. The terrain was extremely bleak
Here's the Yadan Sphinx
Interesting ground
Tourist taking his shirt off to post
The bus would stop, we would disperse and then return to the bus within 5-10 minutes depending on what the guide told us
Not a place you'd want to be abandoned
This is supposed to resemble city streets
I love the mistranslation of "Marco Polo, Italian Traveller" :D
Flowery sign
Han Great Wall Ruins 汉长城
I love the great wall. Around Beijing, we have the more built-up/well-preserved sections that are mostly Ming Dynasty walls. When we were in Datong, we saw the crumbling walls near the border with Inner Mongolia. Here in Dunhuang, we saw remnants of the Han Dynasty wall.
Watchtower
Me walking on the wall
Tourists at the wall
Close-ups of the disintegrating wall
Yumenguan Pass 玉门关
90 km northwest of Dunhuang City, the Yumen Pass was an important gateway to the western region in ancient times.
Yangguan Pass 阳关
Approximately 70 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang, the Yangguan Pass is the gateway to the south western region on the way to the Silk Road. Near the Yangguan Pass is Nanhu, a local grape producing area and Grape Gallery. We stopped here for lunch.
Aftermath of our lunch
Grapes
Re-built fort at Yangguan
The beacon tower is all that remains of the Pass but it's up on a hill and you're taken up there by golf buggy because the day is way too hot for walking.
Up the top, there is the usual rock with writing on it
And a view of a seemingly vast and desolate desert
Dunhuang Train
The train station in Dunhuang looks large but is actually quite small.
We had these seats on the train
Our carriage was quite crowded
Some nearby passengers were a little inconsiderate and put their belongings on our little table
Then they dumped their garbage on our table
A funny Chinese sign - I find it amusing that they put the pinyin on the sign as well as the Chinese characters. What makes them think that if you can't read Chinese characters, you can guess that 'tingcheshiqingwushiyong' means 'please don't use the toilet when the train is stationary'? :D
These two little kids started out well-behaved but become increasingly restless as the journey went on
Chinese passengers pass the time either sleeping or eating - seeds, sausages, fruit, instant noodles etc
Ubiquitous sockettes, worn by many Chinese women
The little kids were fascinated by the Canadian watching Big Brother UK on our notebook
While we were in Dunhuang, the hotel assigned a dedicated driver to us. He took his job extremely seriously. On the 10th, he drove us around to some sites around Dunhuang.
Sometimes it felt as though we were driving into nowhere :)
敦煌古城 Ancient City of Dunhuang Movie Set
The Ancient City of Dunhuang Movie Set was originally designed for the setting of the historical film Dunhuang in 1987. These days, it continues to be a set for shooting movies in northwest China. When we went, we were almost the only tourists and we received a very eerie feeling that we were walking through an abandoned ghost town ...
No idea what this is, but it's cute
Deserted town street
Local arts and crafts
Interesting ceiling
Martial arts training
Big shot's chair
Execution grounds
We guessed that this is probably Bandit town
Yadan National Geological Park 甘肃敦煌雅丹国家地质公园
This place was very odd! First of all, the drive there was incredibly bumpy. The ticket office was a checkpoint in the middle of nowhere, then our driver pulled up to the gate of the park entrance gates and we bought a further set of tickets. We went inside and showed our tickets to the guy at the door of the tourist building, expecting to be let inside. Instead he gestured us towards a bus! :) After a few moments, a bunch of other tourists piled in as well.
The Dunhuang Yadan National Geologic Park is located on a dried up riverbed. It is approximately 25km in length and 1-2km in breadth and is 185km away from Dunhuang city. It is made up of wind-eroded rock formations. Locals call it 魔鬼城 i.e. devils town.
We had a tour guide who dropped us out at our first 景点 (scenic spot) that had the obligatory rock with writing on it, so we took photos. The terrain was extremely bleak
Here's the Yadan Sphinx
Interesting ground
Tourist taking his shirt off to post
The bus would stop, we would disperse and then return to the bus within 5-10 minutes depending on what the guide told us
Not a place you'd want to be abandoned
This is supposed to resemble city streets
I love the mistranslation of "Marco Polo, Italian Traveller" :D
Flowery sign
Han Great Wall Ruins 汉长城
I love the great wall. Around Beijing, we have the more built-up/well-preserved sections that are mostly Ming Dynasty walls. When we were in Datong, we saw the crumbling walls near the border with Inner Mongolia. Here in Dunhuang, we saw remnants of the Han Dynasty wall.
Watchtower
Me walking on the wall
Tourists at the wall
Close-ups of the disintegrating wall
Yumenguan Pass 玉门关
90 km northwest of Dunhuang City, the Yumen Pass was an important gateway to the western region in ancient times.
Yangguan Pass 阳关
Approximately 70 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang, the Yangguan Pass is the gateway to the south western region on the way to the Silk Road. Near the Yangguan Pass is Nanhu, a local grape producing area and Grape Gallery. We stopped here for lunch.
Aftermath of our lunch
Grapes
Re-built fort at Yangguan
The beacon tower is all that remains of the Pass but it's up on a hill and you're taken up there by golf buggy because the day is way too hot for walking.
Up the top, there is the usual rock with writing on it
And a view of a seemingly vast and desolate desert
Dunhuang Train
The train station in Dunhuang looks large but is actually quite small.
We had these seats on the train
Our carriage was quite crowded
Some nearby passengers were a little inconsiderate and put their belongings on our little table
Then they dumped their garbage on our table
A funny Chinese sign - I find it amusing that they put the pinyin on the sign as well as the Chinese characters. What makes them think that if you can't read Chinese characters, you can guess that 'tingcheshiqingwushiyong' means 'please don't use the toilet when the train is stationary'? :D
These two little kids started out well-behaved but become increasingly restless as the journey went on
Chinese passengers pass the time either sleeping or eating - seeds, sausages, fruit, instant noodles etc
Ubiquitous sockettes, worn by many Chinese women
The little kids were fascinated by the Canadian watching Big Brother UK on our notebook