Dunhuang Highlight Private Day Tour to Mogao Caves, Dunhuang Museum, Singing Sand Dunes & Crescent Lake

Tour Highlights
• Visit Mogao Caves, a complex of 492 grottoes representing the pinnacle of Chinese Buddhist art.
• Admire the impressive collection of written sutras and relics excavated from Mogao Caves at Dunhuang Museum.
• Visit Crescent Lake, an oasis nestled in the desert.
• Camel riding on the Singing Sand Dunes.
• Experienced English speaking tour guide.
• Overland round-trip transfers with private chauffeur and in-transport refreshments.

About This Tour
• Departure: Daily departing from Dunhuang
• Tour Duration: Approximately 8 hours.
• Guide Languages: Chinese & English.
• Pick-up Time: Between 07:00 and 10:00, choose a departure time most suitable for you.
• Pick-up & Drop-off Place: Your accommodation in Dunhuang
• Advice on Meals: Lunch is not included in this tour, please have a big breakfast and pack snacks just in case you get a bit peckish during sightseeing. If you want to try authentic local food for lunch, please feel free to inform your guide who is always ready to help.

Tour Itinerary at a Glance
• Pick up from your accommodation in Dunhuang
• Visit Mogao Caves (3 hours)
• Lunch on your own
• Visit Dunhuang Museum (1 hour)
• Camel riding on the Singing Sand Dunes (1 hour)
• Visit Crescent Lake (1 hour)
• Transfer back to your accommodation in Dunhuang

Tailor This Tour to Meet Your Needs and Requirements
• If you want to modify this itinerary, please feel free to contact GoGrandChina by WhatsApp (+86-18309280878), Wechat (+86-18309280878) or email (info@GrandChinaTravel.com), we will create a tailor-made tour package for you.

Price Remark
• Prices are not valid during China's Official Holidays (such as National Day & Chinese New Year Festival etc.).

Price Inclusions
• Professional English language speaking private tour guide
• Air-conditioned vehicle with private experienced driver
• All admission tickets to sightseeing places
• All government taxes

Price Exclusions
• Hotel accommodation.
• Your personal expenses.
• Meals are excluded allowing you flexibility on menu.
• Travel insurance is not included. Please purchase before your trip to provide for any unforeseen circumstances.
• Gratuities to guide & driver. They are customary and would be of great encouragement and reward for quality service.

Additional Info
• Dunhuang Museum is closed on Monday tours.
• Confirmation will be received at time of booking.
• Operates in all weather conditions, please dress appropriately.
• The itinerary is subject to change due to traffic conditions or bad weather.
• The itinerary is flexible; changes can be made upon written request from travelers.
• IMPORTANT: It is required by the government regulations that travelers must provide their name, gender, nationality, passport number and date of birth to their tour operator upon booking a tour. Failure to do so could result in being denied access or admittance to sites and attractions during sightseeing. When you book this tour, please complete all required fields at checkout. Please bring your passport with you on the tour.

Cancellation Policy
• You may cancel the booking and receive a full refund up to 24 hours prior to the date of your tour.
• Cancellation within 24 hours or after the tour begins is non-refundable.
• Cancellation request will be confirmed in 2-5 business days, you will receive your refund within 14 working days..

Why Travelers Have to Choose GoGrandChina Private Tours?
• Choose your most suitable departure time, whether you are an early bird or you prefer sleeping in.
• GoGrandChina private tours are more flexible, allowing you to adjust everything on your trip to your wishes.
• GoGrandChina tour guides will be at your service to make sure you get the most from each destination. They are there for you and are responsible for making your journey special – and your needs always come first.
• GoGrandChina offers comfortable and luxury vehicles with a private & experienced driver who’s always by your side and ready to take you to your next destination.
• No shopping stops & factory visits, no chance of getting ripped off.
• No hidden costs, rest assured that there are no nasty surprises.

Know Before You Go
• Dunhuang Museum is closed on Monday tours.
• Keep your passport on you constantly. It might be needed to buy entrance tickets.
• Add us on WeChat (+86-18309280878) or WhatsApp (+86-18309280878) to reach GGC service staff at anytime.
• Pick-up time, guide's name & contact information will be confirmed by WhatsApp, WeChat or email.
• Your guide will hold GoGrandChina welcome sign with your name, waiting at the appointed meeting place.
• Meals are not included; please feel free to ask your guide for recommendations.
• Please note that if you book accommodation on Airbnb, you may not be picked up and dropped off at the door.
• We provide up to 20 minutes of waiting. If you don’t show up and cannot be contacted, this tour will be cancelled and you will receive no refund.

Hotel Pick-up & Transfer to Mogao Caves
Your private guide will be holding GoGrandChina pick-up sign and waiting for you in your hotel lobby (or other appointed meeting place) at the appointed time. You will be transferred to Mogao Caves (30 minutes).

Visit Mogao Caves (3 hours)
Situated at a strategic point along the Silk Route, at the crossroads of trade as well as religious, cultural and intellectual influences, the 492 cells and cave sanctuaries in Mogao are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art. The discovery of the Library Cave at the Mogao Caves in 1990, together with the tens of thousands of manuscripts and relics it contained, has been acclaimed as the world’s greatest discovery of ancient Oriental culture. This significant heritage provides invaluable reference for studying the complex history of ancient China and Central Asia. Carved into the cliffs above the Dachuan River, the Mogao Caves comprise the largest, most richly endowed, and longest used treasure house of Buddhist art in the world. It was first constructed in 366AD and represents the great achievement of Buddhist art from the 4th to the 14th century. 492 caves are presently preserved, housing about 45,000 square meters of murals and more than 2,000 painted sculptures. As evidence of the evolution of Buddhist art in the northwest region of China, the Mogao Caves are of unmatched historical value. These works provide an abundance of vivid materials depicting various aspects of medieval politics, economics, culture, arts, religion, ethnic relations, and daily dress in western China. The unique artistic style of Dunhuang art is not only the amalgamation of Han Chinese artistic tradition and styles assimilated from ancient Indian and Gandharan customs, but also an integration of the arts of the Turks, ancient Tibetans and other Chinese ethnic minorities. Many of these masterpieces are creations of an unparalleled aesthetic talent.

Lunch at Your Own Expense
Please feel free to ask your guide for suggestions and recommendations.

Visit Dunhuang Museum (1 hour)
Dunhuang museum is positioned in a three-floor building covering the area of 2,400 sqm. A group of people with their camels traveling along the Silk Road will greet you just in front of the museum. The museum mirrors the thriving expansion of the society and the cultural virtues exchange among China and the western countries. The museum demonstrates above 4,000 Chinese and Tibetan folk vestiges. All these relics are displayed in three sections. The first section covers the written sutras from the No.17 cave of the Mogao Caves. The second section covers the relics excavated from the graves in the Han Dynasty (206B.C.-220), Jin Dynasty (265-420), Sui Dynasty (581-618), and Tang Dynasty (618-907). In this section you will see stone pagodas, pottery box and stone beast figure which was set in a grave and believed to drive the monsters or evil away. The third section displays the prosperous culture of Dunhuang including some pretty silk floret brocade, wicker slides used for writing, treasured weapons and tools which provide valued material to study the legislation, ethos and economic infrastructure of China. The museum also exhibits relics excavated from the local area, such as paper, coins, a model of the Great Wall as it appeared during the Han Dynasty and a torch from one of its beacon towers. Dunhuang Museum reflects the flourishing social development and cultural exchange between China and the West during the time when Dunhuang was a major center along the Silk Road.

Visit Singing Sand Dunes & Crescent Lake (2 hours)

Singing Sand Dunes
Singing Sand Dunes is named Mingsha Mountain in Chinese. This sand mountain range stretches from the cliff where the Mogao Caves is located, to the Danghe Dam on the west. It is about 40km in length, 20km in width, and 100m in average height. The highest altitude is 1650m. The sand dunes are composed of tinny hyaline sands of five different colors – red, yellow, blue, white and black, and winds its way up and down showing different shapes. Some of the sand dunes stand like a golden pyramid, some lie as the fish scale, some wave like a snake. When a strong wind blows, you can hear loud sound like roaring made by the moving sands. While when light wind blows, the sand echoes like some gentle sound of orchestral music. Scientists have revealed the secrets of the Singing Sand Dunes that collision between sand grains cause the motions of the grains to become synchronized. The outer layer of the dune vibrates like the cone of a loudspeaker. The particular note depends primarily on the size of the grains.

Crescent Lake
Located about 6km south of the city of Dunhuang, the Crescent Lake (Yueyaquan in Chinese) is a fresh water spring in the shape of a half moon in the arms of the Echoing-Sand Dune. The lake is nearly 100 meters long from south to north and 54m wide from east to west and contains pure spring water. The Crescent Lake's water is so pure and clear that it looks like an emerald jewel in the sand. Along the side of the Crescent Lake is a pagoda in traditional Han Chinese architecture. A street lined with souvenir stalls leads up from the entrance to the complex. The site is popular with tourists who are taken on camel rides by guides to the peaks of the surrounding sand dunes. The lake has been in existence for at least two thousand years, but for the last few decades it has been gradually disappearing. According to measurement made in 1960, the average depth of the lake was 4 to 5 meters, with maximum depth 7.5 meters. In the early 1990s, the area of the lake had shrunken to only 1.37-acre (5,500 m2) with average depth of 0.9 meter (maximum 1.3 meter). Crescent Lake has dropped more than 25 feet in the last three decades while the underground water table elsewhere in the area has fallen by as much as 35 feet. In 2006, the local government with help of the central government started to fill the lake and restore its depth; its depth and size have been growing yearly since then. The lake's remarkable survival in the middle of the desert is believed to be due to its low altitude, while its position is also thought to prevent excess sand from the surrounding dunes falling into it.

Transfer Back to Your Hotel
Your guide and driver will transfer you back to your hotel.