page_title: Dunhuang
section_title: Other historical sites
hierarchical_section_title: Dunhuang / Culture / Other historical sites
caption_attribution_description: English: Crescent Lake (Dunhuang) Deutsch: Mondsichelsee in Dunhuang, China
context_page_description: Dunhuang is a county-level city in Northwestern Gansu Province, Western China. The 2000 Chinese census reported a population of 187,578 in this city. Dunhuang was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and is best known for the nearby Mogao Caves. It has also been known at times as Shazhou and, in Uyghur, Dukhan.
  Dunhuang is situated in an oasis containing Crescent Lake and Mingsha Shan, named after the sound of the wind whipping off the dunes, the singing sand phenomenon. Dunhuang commands a strategic position at the crossroads of the ancient Southern Silk Route and the main road leading from India via Lhasa to Mongolia and Southern Siberia, as well as controlling the entrance to the narrow Hexi Corridor, which led straight to the heart of the north Chinese plains and the ancient capitals of Chang'an and Luoyang.
  Administratively, the county-level city of Dunhuang is part of the prefecture-level city of Jiuquan.
context_section_description: Crescent Lake and Singing Sand Dunes
  The Yumen Pass, built in 111 BC, located 90 km (56 mi) northwest of Dunhuang in the Gobi desert.
  The Yang Pass
  White Horse Pagoda
  Dunhuang Limes
caption: Crescent Lake
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