Westward from Outer Mongolia and into Xinjiang
Jiayuguan Great Wall, Mingsha Mountain & Crescent Spring, Dunhuang (Mogao Caves), Hami
Jiayuguan
Jiayuguan is famous because it is typically seen as the Western terminus of the ancient Chinese Empire, and naturally, at such a point the Great Wall of China (“GWC”) is present. Built to protect China from the marauding bands of raiders from Central Asia, including the Mongols and the Xiongnu (whom I have mentioned previously on this blog), the GWC needs little introduction. It is enormous and it is not just a single wall, it exists in multiple layers, built at differing times by different administrations, and in vastly different states of repair. Driving through western China, one will occasionally see remnants of it, normally out in the desert. En route to Khara Khoto I caught a few glimpses of it, alas, these were a fair distance into the desert and proximate to Chinese military bases, so I opted to avoid the trek in to see them lest I arouse suspicions. When I did see the GWC in this context it was very much in poor condition, the rammed earth core and, in some cases, the mud brick exterior, being badly weathered or outright collapsed.
Main wall structures:
Whilst I really do not like anything remotely touristy, I could not pass up the GWC site in Jiayuguan which has been extensively repaired and updated, and of course it comes with all the usual tourist amenities one finds in China, and which I endeavoured not to photograph. I made an exception for the camel ride which I could not resist, I do love a Bactrian camel, I think they are my spirit animal, see below.
Camel friends:
The most significant structure is the substantial portions of wall surrounding what is effectively a gate to the western lands, beyond which lay the unknown, and for some, a gateway to exile. I can imagine many an exile or Silk Road trader stepping through this gate knowing full well that they may never return to “civilisation” as it were. Fortunately, when one steps out of the gate, it has been left relatively open, i.e. very little building beyond electrical towers exists in line of site from it, save a few small tourists stalls close to the wall to the left and right of the gate exit. Hence, walking through the gate still provides the sense of walking into the vast wastes and the unknown with the mountains in view.
Views from the top of the walls and through gate to the west, also, well-worn cobbles.
Leaving Jiayuguan, I was able to see some refurbished sections of the wall snaking its way up the mountains, I managed to get a few quick photos from the car. Alas, with my injured foot from the cab mishap in Xi’an, I was not going to be walking up that.
Dunhuang
Dunhuang is home of the famous UNESCO World Heritage site, the Mogao Caves (or grottoes), which I discuss in detail further down in this post.
Firstly, Dunhuang itself; It is a pleasant town where I stayed in a decent hotel, had some good food (posted on Instagram), managed to hurt my back (somehow? getting old?) and then had a bit of a misadventure trying to find a massage recommended by the hotel… The downtown core of Dunhuang has a bustling night market and some water features by the river which are both very pleasant.
The night scene in Dunhuang, featuring one of Central Asia's famous horses as the evening's entertainment. I certainly did not visit the local karaoke bars.
Mingsha Mountain & Crescent Spring
En route to Dunhuang I stopped for a couple of hours at Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring. These were sadly a bit touristy, but the site is large and sparse enough that it does not feel crowded, and I had to visit because they’re one of the famous Silk Road travel images. I will not dwell on these for long, but in short, Crescent Spring is exactly as it sounds, a desert spring, and doubtless a stop for many a parched traveller in ages past. Mingsha Mountain, which surrounds the spring is not really a mountain at all, but in fact an enormous sand dune, with numerous other dunes behind it. It is a very pretty site and certainly encapsulates a classic Silk Road image of sand dunes and camels. I took some photos of the structure next to the spring which felt restful, despite there being a fair number of visitors present, and then hiked up part of the large sand dune for some elevated photos.
Crescent Spring and Mingsha Mountain (impressively large dunes!):
I had considered hiking all the way to the top of the dune to see what lay beyond, but with my foot/ankle still quite sore I decided against this. I should have stopped to check a satellite map before finalizing this decision, as behind it and one further dune is the most spectacular unencumbered view of rolling sand dunes towards mountains. I very much regret this decision cand curse my injury.
The Mogao Caves
About 20 km from the city of Dunhuang, through the scrub and the rolling desert and passing near to the mountain foothills, one comes to a series of cliffs along a river, carved into these are the Mogao Caves. There were originally carved around 1000 caves and now around 750 remain in the cliffside and surrounding area. Of these, around 492 are under preservation. The first caves were constructed around 366AD and the latest during the 14th century AD. Containing around 45,000 square meters of murals and 2,000 painted sculptures, and tens of thousands of rare manuscripts (50,000 of which alone were discovered in the Library Cave – more on this later), the Mogao Caves are said to be the richest repository of Buddhist art and other treasures in the world.[1]
The surrounds of the Mogao Caves:
I have added a few of my own photos of the exterior of the Mogao Caves below (photography is not permitted inside, and visitors are only able to see ~10 caves per visit).
Exterior photos of the Mogao Caves:
The Mogao Caves absolutely exemplify the classic Silk Road theme of transcontinental relations and the spread of Buddhism throughout Asia.[1] I will not attempt to further justify their grand significance as it cannot be more succinctly described than others have done already, so I have provided some references (along with photos) where the reader can look on their own time in case of interest.
What I thought would be most interesting and insightful /original would be to include here a section specifically on the 10 caves I visited first-hand, to the extent I can find photos to jog my memory. These are, 16, 17, 96, 249, 259, 323, 324, 325, 328, and 334.
Credit for these images goes to either their original 19th / 20th century photographers, The Dunhuang Academy, Dunhuang Foundation, and/or various Chinese tour sites which seem to have replicated some of them. I do not take credit for the following images of Caves 16-334.
Cave 16
Cave 16 is renowned for having many thousands of unique Buddha images covering its walls, its own set of statuary, and also for containing Cave 17.
More information and images available here:
Interior of Cave 16:
Cave 17
Cave 17 is within the north wall of the entrance way to cave 16. It is also known as the “Library Cave” because when discovered it was found to contain around 50,000 documents. It also contains a statue of Hong Bian, and eminent Buddhist monk from the 9th century.
More information and images available here:
Looking into Cave 17 from Cave 16:
Cave 96
Cave 96 was built during the Tang Dynasty and is the largest and certainly the most impressive, it contains the impressively sized seated Maitreya Buddha statue. As you can see from some of the images, it was not always housed in the pagoda which is present at this time.
More information and images available here:
Interior of the enormous Cave 96, and also showcasing an original photo prior to the external pagoda being constructed:
Cave 249
Cave 249 contains many impressive images of supernatural beings. The inclusion of angelic beings feels very much to be a Western influence.
More information and images available here:
Interior of Cave 249.
Cave 259
Cave 259 has few images I can easily find, though it does contain the Buddha following image of a meditating Buddha taken by Irene Vincent in 1948. It dates from approximately 442-534 AD, during the Northern Wei Dynasty.
An interesting Buddha image from the interior of Cave 259. Note that when this photo was taken in 1948, that cave would have been without the external curtain wall which has been added to aid in its preservation.
Cave 323
Cave 323 was built in the early Tang Dynasty, and it details certain journeys of the Buddha and various monks, including Zhang Qian who made enormous contributions to the opening up of the Silk Road, with his Westward journeys. It also contains statuary which has been restored/repainted during the Ming Dynasty.
More information and images available here:
Interior of Cave 323.
Cave 324
I cannot seem to find any images of the interior of Cave 324, I may update this later.
Cave 325
I cannot seem to find any images of the interior of Cave 325, I may update this later.
Cave 328
Along with the usual detailed imagery, Cave 328 contains several fantastic pieces of statuary (of the Buddha, disciples and Bodhisattvas). Unfortunately, some of the statues were removed previously and/or are damaged. That said, there is a silver lining regarding the damage, as it allows you to gain some insights into their construction. My favourite element of this cave was actually the incredibly detailed and luxurious painted patterns on the clothing of the statues, which you can still see in some detail. Cave 328 was built during the early Tang Dynasty, but has had some restoration.
More information and images available here:
Interior of Cave 328. Unfortunately, the low resolution of this photo does not to justice to the detailed elements I described above.
Cave 334
Cave 334 contains more painted statuary both of religious figures and also Kings, who appear to be wearing armour.
Further images available here, credit to China Discovery for the images (though I am not sure where they obtained them):
Interior of Cave 334
Lastly, it would be remiss of me not to further mention the thousands of documents discovered in the Mogao Caves, from Sutras to Star Charts, many embellished with fantastic calligraphy. Large numbers of these were discovered by early explorers to the area including some of the famous explorers I have mentioned previously. Many of these documents were fortunately preserved (and rediscovered) by Buddhist monks who lived in and around the caves up until the 1930s. Unfortunately, some of these early Western/foreign explorers did not leave the caves empty handed, taking with them some statuary and even murals (for example, American Langdon Warner, whose damage I witnessed in one of the caves (#328)), these items now exist in Western museums. Large quantities of documents were also removed for study and preservation, and I admit I have slightly more sympathy for this given the typical frailty of documents.
Documentary Dunhuang:
I hope the description of each of these caves and the little highlight of some of the enormous documentary record gives the reader an insight into the experience of the Mogao Caves, and also an insight into their enormous cultural and artistic importance.
Hami
From Dunhuang we headed onwards towards Hami as we started the northerly Silk Road route westward. I was only in Hami for one night and arrived at around 5pm as it were, so regrettably I did not explore much of the town (aside from an evening stroll) nor explore any sites it might have. I opted instead to settle in with a surprisingly decent bottle of Xinjiang red wine and write a few blog posts.
Next up, Turpan and its excellent archaeological sites!
Cheers,
Simon
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