One Day Yadan National Park Visit

Yumen Pass, Dunhuang

Devil city, also known as Yadan physiognomy, is located in the Northwest of Dunhuang which is in Gansu Province and borders Lop Nur Lake in the west. Located  at the intersection of Gansu Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, it is about 170 km away from downtown Dunhuang. The Yadan National Park is of special interest to Geologists as the area was actually onace the bottom of the sea and was then somehow raised to the current level, exposing the rocks to wind erosion. It is the largest Yadan landform discovered to date, covering an area of about 400 square km. Two other sites worth visiting on the way to Yadan are Yang Pass (Yangguan) and  Yumen Pass.
 

The easiest way to get around Dunhuang is to hire a car or taxi but please do remember to agree a price first and bargain. CNY300.00 to CNY400.00 is an acceptable amount. You can also ask for help with bargaining and obtaining a taxi from your hotel or a local travel agency. Road condition here are generally fine, except for a short stretch near Yumen pass where is unpaved. 
 

It takes about 1 hour to get from Dunhuang to Yumen pass (CNY40.00), whrere you can see fragments of the Great Wall built during the Han dynasty. If you wish to take in the sunrise over the ruins then make sure you leave early in the morning.  Yumen Pass was one of two critical defense positions protecting Dunhuang from Western invasion about two thousand years ago. At that time, anyone wishing to take the Silk Road west (or east into China through Dunhuang) had to pass through this spot. The renowned Tang Dynasty poest, Wang Zhihuan, descirbed the unique scenery and atmosphere here. We have to pay a road roll when we pass through this area, which also serves as the entrance fee to Yumen Pass and its sights. You may like to spend a little time here wandering around and taking pictures, however the highlight of today's journey is the next stop: Yadan National Park.  
 

Han Dynasty Great Wall, Dunhuang

After about another hour's drive, you will arrive at Yadan National Park. It is CNY50.00 net for the entrance fee, and CNY20.00 net for the tram which you take around the park. The buildings located in Ghost City are varied, ranging from 4-5 meters, to more than 20 meters in height, and from dozens of meters to hundreds of meters in length and width, to look like a mediaeval castle. The styles of the buildings inside are elegant and quite unusual. Inside the castle you will find city walls, streets, multi-storied buildings, squares and sculptures. There are few buildings on the outskirts of the town but in the town you can see sand hills scattered randomly in different shapes, some resembling ivory towers, while others look like hay stacks. Devil City is divided into southern and northern districts and every scenic area within this region is genuinely breathtaking. Many world-famous buildings have their roots in this town, such as the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, China, the Potala Palace in Tibet, the Arab Mosque and the pyramids in Egypt. Many tourists say that being in Devil City is almost like visiting a magnificent museum of architecture. If you have time, you may choose rent a 4WD jeep or take a camel ride in order to explore the area further. Make sure you prepare enough water and snacks for this stretch of the trip as there is only one small restaurant in Yadan area and the food is notoriously expensive.  
 
The next stop is Yang Pass (CNY50.00 net), also known as the Southern Pass, originally built by Emperor Wu in the Hang Dynasty as one of the two most important passes (the other pass is the Yumen Pass (Yumen Guan).
 
Then, after a journey of about 2 hours, head back to Dunhuang in the evening.