Tracing the Silk Road

The Silk Road is not a single road but a set of junctions. Since the Han and Tang dynasties, caravans, monks, and envoys moved between the oasis cities in the Hexi Corridor, where beliefs, art, and languages have overlapped for over a thousand years, ultimately leaving their marks in grottoes, passes, and ancient cities.

Eastern End: Chang'an

Xi'an is the eastern starting point of the Silk Road. The Qin Dynasty with the Terracotta Army, the Tang Dynasty with the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and the Tang Dynasty Nightless City, and the Ming Dynasty with the Ming city walls—all three layers of history lie on the same land. It is recommended to first create a timeline at the Shaanxi History Museum before seeing the actual artifacts, as the order will feel completely different.

Hexi Corridor

Lanzhou (with the Yellow River running through the city), Zhangye (with the Colorful Danxia and the Great Buddha Temple), Jiayuguan (the westernmost pass of the Ming Great Wall), Dunhuang (with the Mogao Caves and Crescent Lake) — all four stops are connected by high-speed rail, and the terrain transitions from loess, Danxia, and Gobi to desert.

Dunhuang

The Mogao Caves are the highlight of the entire route. Photography is completely prohibited inside the caves, and touching the murals is not recommended — the moisture and carbon dioxide exhaled by humans can be harmful to the thousand-year-old murals. Visits are guided by tour guides, and caves are allocated randomly; this is the usual protection protocol. The Digital Exhibition Center and the Display Center are the best places to understand the overall context, so don’t miss them.

The Addition of Qinghai Lake

Adding Qinghai Lake and Chaka Salt Lake before Dunhuang completes the Northwest Grand Loop: you can see six types of landscapes at once — plateau lakes, salt lakes, yardangs, Gobi, grottoes, and Danxia.