Grottoes , Dirt, Old Wall, and a Pass....

"What goes with a Chinese outing?"

Hello once again, as you may remember last month Liz and I took a trip to Dunhuang here are some more pictures of that trip.

The following site descriptions came right from the "Touring Map of Dunhuang, China" brochure. (Note: grammar was corrected to increase meaning)

"Mogao Grottoes: The Mogao Grottoes were first dug in 366 AD. It is said the first cave builder was a monk named Le Zun and his action aroused the local peoples support, from then on, the projected lasted more than 1000 years... The total number of grottoes is 492 in which there are 2800 sculptures and 45000 square meters of murals."

Comment: They didnt let us take any pictures inside the grottoes (actually no cameras were allowed inside the area). eh?! I've you seen one "man-made-cave" with a statue of a Buddha, you've probably seen them all... We saw about 15 different grottoes...after the first 5, they all started to look alike.


"Yadan Landforms: The Yadan Landforms are situated in the northwest of the Yumenguan Pass, covering a total area of about 20 square kilometers. The landforms were superlatively marvelous with different size of areas, and varied forms of topography. You will find varied land structures here like animals, personal images, psgodas, temples, buses, and boats, and you will acclaim the natural arts as acme of perfection [note: direct quote...hhehehe]

The grand outlooks of the Yadan landforms were accumulated by the clay after many floods in addition to rains and storms for long time and here once were the lower reaches of Shulehe River in the ancient times. It will be possible that after a number of years the land forms will slowly disappear with rains and storms." [note: I cannot make this stuff up]"

Comment: Think "Wyle E. Coyote and the RoadRunner." Interesting for the first 15 minutes... Dont we have the same structures in Arizona?


"Great Wall of Han Dynasty: The majestic and magnificent Great Wall is a great creation of ancient Chinese and [shows] the spirit of unceasing efforts to improve themselves of Chinese nationalities. In the Western Han Dynasty early, the length of the Great Wall of about one thousand kilometers was build...in order to defend the Central Plan from Xiongnu tribes', guard the central government, and assure the Silk Road remained unblocked....Most of the Great Wall of the Han Dynasty was leveled in the past two thousand years...[during this time] methods of building the Great Wall [varied, this portion] was build with clay, reeds, and branches of red willows."

Comment: Think of the small "mud fort" you build as a child...(dirt + water = MUD: MUD + Sticks = "Old Wall")


"Yumenguan Pass: The Yumenguan Pass, established in the Western Han Dynasty, is located 95 kilometers northwest of Dunhuang, [it resembles] a square [structure] and the well-preserved body of wall was built with a stable loess with each gate in the west and east. The wall is as high as 10 meters with upper width 3 meters and [base] width is 5 meters."

Comment: I still dont quite understand the significance of this place, but "hey, it was part of the tour."

Enjoy the pictures.