Discovering beauty and history in a desert corner of China

For me, though, the true splendor lies in its surroundings. From the adjacent viewing platform, one can look over the Gobi Desert: its grass, sand and a few pools of water may not be as spectacular as mountains, waterfalls and volcanoes, but the vast wilderness has an austere grandeur that, to use a cliche, emphasizes one's insignificance in the world. There is also life, although it is difficult to imagine how it exists; on the tourist bus between the three sites, I saw two goitered gazelles running from the engine's noise.

Just 50 minutes on from the Yumen Pass lies one of China's great geological phenomena — Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark — a place so otherworldly it could have been transported from the Martian landscape.

Spanning about 400 sq km, the park features thousands of rock formations — gouged out over millennia by wind, rain and ice — and made all the more imposing because they stand on a flat, featureless plain of near-black sand and gravel. Through the phenomenon of pareidolia, by which the human eye attributes likenesses in random objects, the rocks assume new identities. A lion, a sphinx, a peacock, and an armada of ships are among the shapes to have been sculpted by Mother Nature. Viewing these formations is almost eerie. Combined with the unfamiliarity of the landscape, the desert's deafening silence adds a spectral atmosphere to an already primeval landscape.

Dunhuang's greatest attraction, aside from the town itself, is the globally important Mogao Caves. Just a short drive from the city center to the tourist center and a quick shuttle bus ride to the site, the honeycomb of grottoes is a testament to human tenacity. Hewn from a sandstone cliff between the 4th and 14th centuries, the Buddhist caves feature detailed murals that coat the rock and are as great a tribute to religion as any temple or cathedral. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, the caves are carefully preserved, with guided tours taking visitors to selected grottoes — a highlight of any visit to this wild, historic and beautiful corner of China.