Dun Huang Dajiudian Hotel Dunhuang

... constant travel, so we decided to take it really easy. We spent the morning exploring the dunes.
We all decided against the camel rides but decided to go for the jeep safari across the dunes.
Quite good fun. The sand below the surface actually consists of tiny and heavy-ish bits of stone. The dunes don't really get pushed out of shape because of this. The surface sand just gets blown up by the ...

... only see a handful of caves. The caves suffered badly at the hands of an earthquake so to support them new fronts were built but these looked like 60's style urban concrete so ruined any impression of gaining a feel for what they looked liked. The frescos inside the caves were amazing and there was a really cool HUGE Buddha but overall we left a bit disappointed.

Time for another long train journey.

... due to a mistranslation, we thought that it costs money to take stairs; money that none of us brought with us. So we are all schlepping up this sand dune just feet away from the stairs that would make our lives so much easier. And when we finally got to the top we found out that the stairs were actually free but it was the slide down that cost money. Hilarious not. It was too hazy to see the sunrise but it was still really pretty. It was actually really cold out so we were ...

... able to see a fraction of the caves in the time we had available.

http://en.wikipedia.o rg/wiki/Mogao_Caves

The site was rediscovered in the early twentieth century by European explorers. The most infamous crime was the ransacking of the library cave when over 20,000 ancient documents were sent to the west. Defenders of the explorers or raiders claim that these documents would have been lost in the Cultural ...

... fluid than the ones made during the last 1000 years.

Next to the cliff there is a small museum exhibiting some photographs and replicas of wall paintings. There is a large section devoted to the theft of Dunhuang’s artwork in the late 19th and early 20th century by Western archeologists and explorers. One key culprit in the theft was a Chinese Taoist priest who came from Hubei province and was the "curator" of these ...

... ells, a anar de compres, a anar al restaurant, a anara de compres i anar al restaurant. Una domestica ciutat d hotels, farcida de llumets de colors, als arbres, als retols, a cada linea de les facanes, on cada dia es dissabte i no hi a embussos, ni llargues distancies, ni enravessats barris antics, ni carros, ni tartanes. La desmesurada maquina d estat xina (que s anuncia al canal internacional de la CCTV, el 9, amb la maxima "cap a una ...

... Now speak of Li Guang, he's fighted many fierce wars, set up a high reputation,and the Emperor Wudi also appreciated his bravery and gift. But he never bestowed a title of nobility on General Li, as he frequently did on other generals. Li Guang was disappointed on this of course. He just worked harder to hold his own dignity, finally he committed a suicide during his final war againss Huns. At that time, he ...

... the sand stung any exposed skin, and when near the top we had to turn away to protect out eyes. After a hour or so the wind relented and we then made a fire, with the expertise and experience of the local guy, who did not seem to notice the strong wind, still fierce. We had noddles for dinner and also some marshmallow type things we had bought and cooked on the fire using twigs, to the local guys confusion as to what ...

... siecle, les han ont etendu leur frontiere au long des routes commerciales et la soie coulaient hors de l empire en echange de ces chevaux. Avec les produits de l ouest vinrent egalement des idees et des languages et vers le 3 eme siecle le boudhisme, venant d Inde, prend racine dans le bassin du Tarin puis au long du corridor du Hexi (Etroite bande de terre entoure par des hautes montagnes dans la province du Gansu qui fut pendant des siecles le ...

... desert. They are actually mountains of sand that stretch on endlessly. We climbed and climbed and then ran down the ridges of the dunes: stumble, almost fall, jump into soft sand and snow, laugh, run faster, faster. The sun was so bright against the snow. At one point I looked across the desert and saw camels in the distance. Of course they were tourists on their way to Crescent Moon Lake...but I imagined the tourists away and replaced them with ...