The view outside the window of the train bound for Jiuquan is breathtaking. The clouds in the sky look cubic and crisp, and it feels like you can grab it with your hands. Rivers, big and small, run across the land, who have given the birth and nurtured the Chinese civilization for thousands of years.
从开往酒泉的火车车窗看出去，景色美得令人窒息。 天空中的云看起来是立方体的，酥脆的，感觉用手就能抓住它。 大小河流横亘大地， 就是这些河流孕育了千年的中华文明。
On the road to Dunhuang
Crescent Spring 月牙泉
A must-see place in Dunhuang is Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring Scenic Area, located 5 kilometers southwest of Dunhuang City/Jiuquan City. Dunhuang Crescent Spring, known as Wowa Pond, Sand Well, and “Medicine spring” in ancient times, was later renamed as Crescent Spring because the shape of the lake looked like a crescent moon at the Qing Dynasty. The Crescent Lake is about 100 meters long, and 5 meters in the deepest part. It is amazing that the lake still not exhausted after standing within the middle of desert for hundreds of years.
来敦煌的必经之地为位于酒泉市敦煌市西南5公里处鸣沙山月牙泉风景区。敦煌月牙泉，古称渥洼池、沙井，又名药泉，后因其湖面形状极其像弯弯的月牙清代后称為月牙泉。月牙泉长约100多米, 湖水最深处高达5米。 几百年过去了，湖水在沙漠里依然永不枯竭, 叹为观止。
Yumen Pass and Yang Pass 玉门关和阳关
To the west of Jiayu Pass, there are two famous Great Wall passes, Yumen Pass and Yang Pass. These were two gateways in the Han dynasty that we are familiar with from Tang poetry. Poem “The dust is light in Wei city after rinsed with the morning rain, and the willows shine the guest house vividly green . Drink a glass of wine, my friend, and once you leave Yang Pass to the west, no more old friends to be seen (Wang Wei’s “Escorting Yuan Er Envoy to Anxi”) ” was picturing Yang Pass using words. “The Yellow River is far above the white clouds, and a lonely city above multilayers of hills. Qiang flute shouldn’t to complain about absence of the willows here, because the spring breeze does not cross the Yumen Pass (Wang Zhihuan’s “Liangzhou Poetry)” expresses a majestic, desolate and lonely scene at the Yumen Pass. Today, these battle fields where generals Huo Qubing and Wei Qing in Han dynasty defeated enemy by golden weapons and strong galloping horses are no longer a desolate frontier. it is pity that the giggling tourists are out of tune with this land, and the pride and desolation of the past are only living in Tang poetry and our imagination.
嘉峪关峪关往西，有两个著名的长城关口，玉门关和阳关。这是我们从唐诗中熟悉的两个汉朝的关口。
“渭城朝雨浥轻尘，客舍青青柳色新。 劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人”。(王维《送元二使安西》) 说的是阳关。
“黄河远上白云间，一片孤城万仞山。羌笛何须怨杨柳，春风不度玉门关。”王之涣的《凉州词》道出了当时玉门关雄伟壮阔又荒凉寂寞的景象。
如今, 这片霍去病卫青金戈铁马驰的彊场, 早已不是芫凉的边境。可惜的是, 嘻嘻哈哈的旅游者与这片土地格格不入。可叹当年的豪情与苍凉只存在于唐诗和我们的想象中。
Mogao Caves 莫高窟
Mogao Caves, commonly known as Grottoes or Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, are located on the cliffs at the eastern side of Mingsha Mountain in Mogao Town, southeast of Dunhuang City, Gansu Province. It was built in the Han Dynasty, Xixia Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and other dynasties.
Known as the largest and richest Buddhist art site in the world, it has 735 caves, 45,000 square meters of murals, and 2,415 clay sculptures. The exquisite murals and statues in the cave are unparalleled and unique in the world. The Sutra Cave later discovered contained more than 50,000 ancient cultural relics, which gave arsing to a discipline specializing in the study of Sutra Cave and Dunhuang art – Dunhuang Studies.
Owing to our tight schedule and prohibition of photography inside most caves, we could only take a few random shots outside.
莫高窟，俗称千佛洞，位于甘肃省敦煌市东南莫高镇的鸣沙山东麓断崖上，始建于先秦十六国时期，历经十六国、北朝、隋、唐、五朝、西夏、元等朝代均有修建 。它是世界上最大、最丰富的佛教艺术遗址, 有洞窟735个，壁画4.5万平方米，泥塑2415尊。洞窟内精美的壁画和雕像举世无双。后来发现的经洞, 内藏有五万多件古代文物 , 以此出现了一门专门研究经洞和敦煌艺术的学科—敦煌学。
我们的时间有限，加上大多数窟内不让拍照，所以我们只好在外面胡乱拍了几张。
