I spent an incredible day tracing the footsteps of ancient traders on the Silk Road, exploring the dramatic landscapes that have captivated travelers for over 2,000 years. From walking through a film studio that brought ancient Dunhuang to life, to standing before the crumbling walls of the Han Dynasty Great Wall, and finally witnessing the otherworldly formations of the Yardang Devil City at sunset—this journey revealed why Dunhuang became one of the most important crossroads of civilization. If you've ever dreamed of experiencing the raw beauty of the Gobi Desert while uncovering layers of history, this day trip delivers memories that will last a lifetime.
Trip Overview
When: August 7th, 2014 (Summer)
Duration: 1 day
Travelers: Family with children
Transportation: Private car + Y668 Dunhuang-Lanzhou overnight train (8:12 PM - 7:18 AM)
Evening Train: ¥261.50 (~$42 USD) for sleeper berth
Day 12: Journey Through Time on the Silk Road
The desert sun was already blazing when we set out from Dunhuang this morning. Today promised to be extraordinary—I'd read about these sites for years, and finally, I was going to experience them with my family. Our route would take us through ancient movie sets, across 2,000-year-old fortifications, and into landscapes so surreal they'd been nicknamed the "Devil City."
Morning: Dunhuang Ancient City Film Studio
Our first stop surprised me. I expected a dusty museum, but instead found myself walking through an entire ancient city built for the 1987 film Dunhuang. As I stepped through the massive gates, the modern world disappeared. Three-story mud-brick buildings lined the streets, their wooden balconies creaking in the desert wind. The city was designed using the famous Song Dynasty painting "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" as inspiration, and walking through it felt like traveling back a thousand years.
🎬 Behind the Scenes Story
The Japanese film crew originally planned to burn the entire city for the movie's climactic scene. Chinese authorities refused unless Japan agreed to pay massive environmental fees and ship all debris back to Japan. The city survived, and has since hosted over 20 films including New Dragon Gate Inn and The Hero.
My daughter immediately transformed into an explorer, climbing onto ancient carts and pretending to bargain in the marketplace. The props scattered throughout—wooden barrels, horse troughs, faded silk banners—made perfect props for her imagination. I couldn't resist taking photos of her posing as a young merchant against the weathered walls.
🎯 Practical Info: Dunhuang Ancient City
Entry Fee: ¥40 (~$6.50 USD) — Optional add-on to the main tour Duration: 45-60 minutes Best For: Families with kids, photography enthusiasts Pro Tip: Go early morning or late afternoon for the best light for photos
Mid-Morning: The Han Dynasty Great Wall
Leaving the film set behind, we drove deeper into the desert. The landscape grew increasingly barren—just endless gravel plains stretching to the horizon under a merciless sun. Then, suddenly, there it was: a low, crumbling wall snaking across the desert like a sleeping dragon.
I stepped out of the car and felt the weight of history immediately. This wasn't the polished, restored Great Wall near Beijing that tourists pose in front of. This was the real thing—2,000 years old, built by Emperor Wu's soldiers using whatever materials the desert provided.
Standing close, I could see the construction technique: layers of packed earth mixed with desert plants—tamarisk branches, reeds, and straw—that acted like rebar in concrete. Some sections still stood three meters high, while others had eroded down to mere ridges. I ran my hand along the rough surface and tried to imagine the soldiers who built this, thousands of miles from home, guarding the empire's western frontier against nomadic raiders.
🏛️ Historical Context: Han Great Wall
Built between 121-101 BC during Emperor Wu's campaigns against the Xiongnu. Unlike the Ming Dynasty wall near Beijing, this wall was built quickly using local materials. The "tian tian" (天田) system placed fine sand in front of the wall to capture footprints of intruders. Beacon towers were spaced every 5 li (2.5 km) for signal communication.
The isolation was profound. No gift shops, no tour buses, no barriers keeping you at a distance. Just me, my family, and a 2,000-year-old wall in the middle of nowhere. My daughter asked why the wall was so short compared to the photos she'd seen. I explained that this wall had witnessed empires rise and fall, that these bricks had outlasted the Roman Empire. She seemed to understand the gravity of it, standing a little straighter as we walked along its length.
Afternoon: The Yardang Devil City
After a simple lunch at a restaurant near the geopark entrance, we boarded the park's shuttle bus. The landscape outside the windows transformed with every kilometer. First, low mounds appeared on the horizon. Then they grew taller, stranger—twisted into shapes that defied geology.
🎯 Practical Info: Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark
Entry Fee: ¥50 (~$8 USD) Shuttle Bus: ¥70 (~$11 USD) — Mandatory, includes guided narration Duration: 2-2.5 hours Best Time: Late afternoon for sunset colors Pro Tip: Bring water, hat, and sunscreen—the sun is intense and there's no shade
Our first stop: the Golden Lion Welcoming Guests (金狮迎宾). The shuttle stopped, and we filed out into a world that looked like another planet. Before us stood a massive rock formation, weathered by millennia of wind into the perfect shape of a crouching lion, its head raised as if roaring at the desert.
I circled around it, watching how the light changed its appearance from different angles. The rust-red and ochre colors glowed in the afternoon sun. My wife laughed at me—I must have taken fifty photos of the same rock from slightly different positions.
The next formation had us all guessing: The Turtle Emerging from the Sea (神龟出海). From one angle, it clearly resembled a giant turtle stretching its neck from its shell. From another, it looked like a spaceship from a sci-fi movie. That's the magic of Yardang formations—your imagination fills in the details.
The Sphinx formation (狮身人面) genuinely startled me. Wind and water had carved a face remarkably similar to Egypt's famous statue, complete with what looked like a headdress. Standing before it, I felt the same awe I experienced at Giza—but this monument was entirely natural, sculpted by nothing more than time and elements over millions of years.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa (比萨斜塔) was unmistakable—a tall, slender column tilting at a precarious angle that looked like it should collapse at any moment. Yet it had stood this way for thousands of years, balanced perfectly by its massive base.
But the formation that took my breath away was the Peacock (孔雀). A towering rock arch, wind-carved into the unmistakable shape of a peacock with its feathers fanned. The intricate details were incredible—individual "feathers" created by different layers of sediment eroding at different rates. My daughter declared it her favorite, and I had to agree.
Late Afternoon: The West Sea Fleet
The final stop was the climax of our visit: the West Sea Fleet (西海舰队). I understood immediately why this geopark was nicknamed the "Devil City."
Before us stretched hundreds of Yardang formations rising from the desert floor like the sails of an ancient armada. The wind had carved them into sharp, angular shapes—each one unique, yet together forming a fleet frozen in stone. The late afternoon light painted them in shades of gold, rust, and deep purple.
I found a spot to sit and just absorbed the view. This was once the ocean floor—millions of years ago, before the Himalayas rose and changed the climate. Now these ancient seabeds stood as stone monuments to deep time. The wind picked up, whistling through the formations, creating eerie sounds that probably gave the "Devil City" its name.
My family joined me, and we sat in silence for a long moment. Even my usually energetic daughter was quiet, overwhelmed by the scale and strangeness of it all. As the sun began to set, the colors intensified—the rocks glowing like embers against the darkening sky.
Evening: The Jade Gate Pass (Yumen Pass)
Our last historical stop of the day: Yumen Pass (玉门关 / Yùmén Guān), the Jade Gate. Standing at this lonely outpost, I finally understood why this place inspired one of China's most famous poems.
📜 Poetic Legacy: "Beyond the Jade Gate, spring never arrives"
Tang Dynasty poet Wang Zhihuan's "Song of Liangzhou" (凉州词) immortalized this place:
"The Yellow River ascends far into the white clouds,
A solitary city stands amid towering mountains.
Why should the Qiang flute complain about the willows?
Beyond the Jade Gate, spring never arrives."
The poem captures the isolation and harsh beauty of China's western frontier.
The "pass" itself is modest—a small square fortress, about 25 meters on each side, built from rammed earth. It once guarded the crucial chokepoint where the Silk Road split into northern and southern routes around the Taklamakan Desert. Beyond this gate lay the unknown: the vast deserts of Central Asia, the kingdoms of Sogdiana, Parthia, and eventually Rome.
I climbed to the top of the walls, carefully navigating the eroded steps. From this vantage point, I could see the remains of the Great Wall stretching to the horizon, and the marshy wetlands of Hala Lake below. Two thousand years ago, this would have been teeming with activity—caravans of camels loaded with silk, jade, and spices; soldiers checking travel permits; merchants haggling over prices.
🎯 Practical Info: Yumen Pass
Entry Fee: ¥40 (~$6.50 USD) Duration: 30-45 minutes Location: 90 km northwest of Dunhuang, near Hala Lake wetlands Best Time: Late afternoon for photography Note: Very exposed—bring sun protection and water
Now, silence. Just the wind and the cry of a distant bird. The jade that gave the pass its name no longer flows through here. The great civilizations that met at this crossroads have risen and fallen. But the fortress remains, stubborn and enduring, a testament to human determination in the face of nature's indifference.
Night: Boarding the Dunhuang-Lanzhou Express
As darkness fell, we returned to Dunhuang and made our way to the train station. At 8:12 PM, the Y668 "Dunhuang Express" pulled into the station—a modern tourist train designed to showcase the region's heritage.
I settled into my sleeper berth, exhausted but exhilarated. Through the window, I watched the desert roll by under a sky full of stars—no light pollution for hundreds of kilometers. My daughter was already asleep, clutching the small jade charm we'd bought as a souvenir.
Tomorrow morning, we'd wake up in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu Province, hundreds of kilometers east. But tonight, lulled by the rhythm of the rails, I reflected on what we'd experienced. In a single day, we'd walked through a movie set from the 1980s, touched walls built by Han Dynasty soldiers, marveled at geological formations millions of years in the making, and stood where ancient traders once stood, looking west toward the unknown.
That's the magic of Dunhuang. It's not just a destination—it's a journey through time.
🚂 Practical Info: Y668 Dunhuang-Lanzhou Train
Departure: 8:12 PM from Dunhuang Arrival: 7:18 AM in Lanzhou (+1 day) Duration: 11 hours 6 minutes Sleeper Berth: ¥261.50 (~$42 USD) Booking: Book in advance during peak season (July-August) Pro Tip: Bring snacks and water—dining car options are limited
Reflections: Why This Day Mattered
As I drifted off to sleep on the train, I thought about why this particular day had been so powerful. It wasn't just the sights—though they were spectacular. It was the layering of history: a movie set from the 1980s recreating the Song Dynasty, built on the same desert where the Han Dynasty had constructed their defensive walls two millennia earlier, near geological formations that predate human civilization entirely.
Dunhuang represents a crossroads in the truest sense—not just of trade routes, but of time periods, cultures, and landscapes. Walking through these sites, I felt connected to something larger than myself. The traders who carried silk westward and brought Buddhism eastward had walked these same paths. The soldiers who built the Great Wall had stood where I stood. The wind that sculpted the Yardang formations will continue long after we're gone.
For Western travelers, Dunhuang offers something rare: an accessible entry point into China's deep history, far from the crowds of Beijing or Shanghai. Here, you can experience the raw beauty of the Gobi Desert, walk along authentic ancient ruins, and witness landscapes that seem truly otherworldly.
If you're planning a trip to China and want to go beyond the usual tourist circuit, make time for Dunhuang. Spend a day following in the footsteps of ancient traders. Stand at the Jade Gate and look west. Let the desert wind whisper its stories. I promise—you won't regret it.
Quick Reference Guide
🗓️ Itinerary Summary
Time Activity Duration Cost Morning Dunhuang Ancient City Film Studio 1 hour ¥40 (~$6.50) Late Morning Han Dynasty Great Wall 45 min Included in combo ticket Midday Lunch near Yardang Geopark 45 min ~¥50 (~$8) Afternoon Yardang National Geopark 2-2.5 hours ¥120 (~$19) total Late Afternoon Yumen Pass (Jade Gate) 45 min ¥40 (~$6.50) Evening Train to Lanzhou (Y668) Overnight ¥261.50 (~$42)
💡 Pro Tips for Western Travelers
Hydration is critical: The desert air is extremely dry. Drink water constantly, even if you don't feel thirsty.
Sun protection: The UV is intense at this altitude. Bring high-SPF sunscreen, a wide-brimmed hat, and sunglasses.
Best season: May-June or September-October offer milder temperatures. July-August is scorching but manageable if you start early.
Combo ticket: Ask about combo tickets for multiple sites to save money.
Photography: Bring a camera with good zoom capabilities. The formations are massive and you'll want detail shots.
Chinese name cards: Print out the Chinese names of sites to show taxi drivers:
• 敦煌古城 (Dūnhuáng Gǔchéng)
• 雅丹国家地质公园 (Yǎdān Guójiā Dìzhì Gōngyuán)
• 玉门关 (Yùmén Guān)
🎒 What to Pack
Plenty of water (at least 2 liters per person) Sunscreen (SPF 50+) Wide-brimmed hat Sunglasses Comfortable walking shoes with good grip Light, long-sleeved clothing (protects from sun) Camera with zoom lens Snacks for the train Wet wipes (desert dust gets everywhere)