By Train

There are now two railway stations available for your trip to and from Dunhuang: the Dunhuang Railway Station and the Liuyuan Railway Station.

Dunhuang Railway Station is located 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away form the city center. At present, trains connecting Dunhuang with Jiayuguan, Xian, Lanzhou, and Yinchuan leave from the station. In front of the station's square, there are many taxies and minibuses heading for downtown Dunhuang. The minibus fare is about CNY 3 and the journey to the city center is no more than 20 minutes. Moreover, buses heading for Mogao Caves coming from the Dunhuang Hotel in the downtown area stop in front of the railway station every half hour. You can take these buses to get to the Mogao Caves directly.

Before the opening of the Dunhuang Railway Station, Liuyuan Railway Station was the main transfer station for people get to Dunhuang by train. This station is about 128 kilometers (79.5 miles) north of the downtown area. Tourists can travel directly by train to Liuyuan Railway Station from Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Chengdu, Lanzhou, Urumqi, Chongqing, Lianyungang, Zhengzhou, Hankou, etc. In the square in front of Liuyuan Railway Station, there are minibuses and taxies which can take you to downtown Dunhuang. The minibus usually charges CNY 30 per person. Taxies or other cars may ask for CNY 100 per car. To get to the railway station from downtown Dunhuang, you can take the bus from Dunhuang Long-Distance Bus Station.

Tips:

1. If you take the taxies or other cars at night, you can bargain with the driver about the fare and usually you'd get some discount.
2. Do not believe the driver who quotes you a quite low price, because if he may raise the price on the way (the vast and desolate rocky desert), you may have no choice but to pay more.