Crescent Lake of Dunhuang in China, Gansu

 China - Gansu  Comments Off
Jul 262013
 

Introduction :
The Crescent Lake is located near the city of Dunhuang in the province of Gansu in China which offers a unique oasis in the desert with a pavilion built beside it. It is a popular place with tourists with its unique beauty that lies after tiers of lofty sand-hills known as the Echoing Sands Mountains and the combination is often regarded by many as a natural wonder of the Gobi Desert with a helicopter view that looks like a crescent falling down on the desert.

Aerial view of the gorge
Full view of the crescent lake and the pavilion behind

Closer look at the lake
Closer look at the lake

Reflection of the pavilion on the waters
Reflection of the pavilion on the waters
Image attribution to black lava @ Flickr

History :
Reports has it that the Crescent Lake has been in existence for more than 2000 years, however it has been gradually disappearing due to sandstorm attacks in the Gobi Desert. In 2006, the local government in Gansu started a project to fill the lake and restore its depth to the original level.

Reflection of the pavilion on the waters
Helicopter view of the fallen crescent on the Gobi Desert

Reflection of the pavilion on the waters
Waters around the lake

Getting there :
The nearest airport to the attraction is the Dunhuang Airport(DNH) which serves the city of Dunhuang and the Crescent Lake is only around 4km south of the city.

 Posted by at 2:32 pm

Mogao Caves in China, Gansu

 China - Gansu  Comments Off
Mar 232013
 

Introduction :
The Mogao Caves are carved into the cliffs above the Dachuan River located 25 km from the center of Dunhuang county in the province of Gansu in China. It comprises of a system of 492 buddhist temple cells and sanctuaries containing some of the finest examples of Buddhist art that goes back to more than 1000 years ago. Due to its religious and cultural influences, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. The Mogao caves are also known as the Dunhuang caves or the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas.

The cliff where the caves were carved on
The cliff where the caves were carved on
Image attribution to marthaenpiet @ Flickr

One of the giant Buddha statues outside the caves
One of the giant Buddha statues outside the caves
Image attribution to kzaral @ Flickr

Entrance to the Mogao Caves
Entrance to the Mogao Caves
Image attribution to kzaral @ Flickr

10th century cave painting of Shakyamuni
10th century cave painting of Shakyamuni

History :
The Mogao caves was constructed since 366 AD with a large number of them built during the Tang dynasty era. The caves were often viewed as a remarkable achievement of Buddhist art during the 4th to 14th century. The cave paintings served as aids to meditation as well as visual representations during the quest to englightenment for hermit monks residing in the caves. The discovery of the Library Cave in 1990 that brought along thousands of relics and manuscripts was regarded as the greatest ever discovery of ancient oriental culture and plays an important part in the history of ancient China and Central Asian.

Inside of one of the caves
Inside of one of the caves
Image attribution to intothegreen @ Flickr

Painting of the Wutai Monasteries in cave 61
Painting of the Wutai Monasteries in cave 61

Shading technique in the cave paintings
Shading technique in the cave paintings

Getting there :
The nearest airport to the Mogao Caves is the Dunhuang airport (DNH) served by flights from major Chinese international Airports at Beijing and xi-an. The Mogao Caves is 25 km away from the center of Dunhuang