Dunhuang is situated in the common boundary of Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Xinjiang Province. Dunhuang, long ago referred to as ‘Sha Zhou’ (beautiful desert oasis), was the hub of middle and eastern silk routes in ancient times.
The total area of Dunhuang is 31,200 square kilometres with population of the 188,000 in 2005.
Gansu Province, with great length, has a pronounced difference between the climates of north and south. Dunhuang City, situated in the north of the Province is land locked, and surrounded by high mountains, its great distance from the moist sea breezes helped form its arid continental climate. The annual average temperature is 9.3 Cbut ranges from 24.7 C in July to -9.3C in January. Dunhuang is fervent in summer and bitterly cold in winter with precipitation outstripped by evaporation.
The fluctuation in temperature between day and night suggest tourists should bring a warm, winter clothing for use in the morning and evening. Other essentials are sunglasses, caps, sunscreen and gauze-kerchiefs. The air here is extremely dry in most of the time for the frequent wind. Lip balm is thus highly recommended. It is necessary to have enough water and fruits every day here.
History
Dunhuang was made a prefecture in 117 BC by Emperor Han Wudi, and was a major point of interchange between China and t
he outside world during the Han and Tang dynasties. Located near the historic junction of the Northern and Southern Silk Roads, it was a town of military importance. Its name is mentioned as part of the homeland of the Yuezhi or “Rouzhi” in the Shiji , but this mention has also been identified with an unrelated toponym, Dunhong. Edges of the city are threatened with being engulfed by the expansion of the Kumtag Desert, which is resulting from longstanding overgrazing of surrounding lands.
Early buddhist monks accessed Dunhuang via the ancient Northern Silk Road, the northernmost route of about 2600 kilometres in length, which connected the ancient Chinese capital of Xi’an to the west over the Wushao Ling Pass to Wuwei and emerging in Kashgar. For centuries Buddhist monks at Dunhuang collected scriptures from the west, and many pilgrims passed through the area, painting murals inside the Mogao Caves or “Caves of a Thousand Buddhas.” A small number of Christian artifacts have also been found in the caves , testimony to the wide variety of people who made their way along the silk road. Today, the site is an important tourist attraction and the subject of an ongoing archaeological project.
