Historic Sites • Caverns & Caves
Open now
Top Parks & Nature Attractions in Dunhuang, China
Nature & Parks in Dunhuang
Category types
Types of Attractions
Nature & Parks
Traveller rating
Good for
12 places sorted by traveller favourites
- Things to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, number of page views, and user location.
Recommended Outdoor Activities (19)
Revenue impacts these recommendations, learn more.
Historic Walking Areas • Nature & Wildlife Areas
Open now
Nature & Wildlife Areas
Open now
Bodies of Water
Open now
Geologic Formations • History Museums
Open now
Mountains • Points of Interest & Landmarks
Open now
Geologic Formations
Open now
Nature & Wildlife Areas
Open now
What travellers are saying
- xcschlrMilwaukee, WI816 contributionsFor Chinese tourists, the only way to book a visit is to do it online. Even though the online booking site does not work for visitors from overseas (i.e., those who do not have a Chinese ID), the ticket office always reserves tickets for overseas visitors to purchase. You first watch a widescreen film about the religious artwork to gain some understanding of the historical background, and then take a museum bus to see the caves. The carvings are magnificent. In summer 2024, the number of English-speaking tourists was relatively small, and the museum did not provide many curators who can speak English and resulted delays in the English tours. We took a Chinese tour to avoid the delay, and I acted as the interpreter for my English-speaking companion.Written 27 August 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- F8124KTlucyb29 contributionsThe crowds have died down now the frenzy of Chinese summer tourism has abated, and the kiddies are back in the classroom. My mobility impairment meant the sand mobiles were the only option to scale the epic dunes. The yellow ones are the way to go as they are faster than the green. While pricey, at 450RMB to scale the first dune and an additional 450 to proceed to a dune further afield, it was absolutely worth it. Our driver was a lead foot and it was very exciting. He doubles as a photographer, getting us to pose and using our phone to take many fantastic shots. We were relatively undisturbed and had a spectacular view of the sunset. Our driver was in no hurry to get back and we spent a good 60 minutes appreciating the views. Weather was perfect. Much better than the Disney spectacle below.Written 1 September 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- C BEurope72 contributionsThis is a nice pool nestled in the sand dunes. It is important to note that you cannot just go to this pool it is completely contained within the larger park that includes the sand dunes. The admission to the park is around 100 RMB, but once you pay you can either walk about 20 minutes to the pool or buy a ticket on a small shuttle.Written 13 July 2021This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- xcschlrMilwaukee, WI816 contributionsI’ve been to a few geoparks in different parts of the world (e.g., Cappadocia in Türkiye and Yehliu in Taiwan) that have rock formations somewhat similar to those in this park, but they all differ in color and shape. In Dunhuang Yadan Geopark, the shapes of the rocks are more varied, the color is much lighter, and the areas that some clusters of rocks occupy seem significantly larger. Because the traffic of tourists can be very large in the high season, visitors must ride in the park’s eco buses to see the formations for the purpose of protecting the environment, and the length of time for which the bus stops at each scenic spot is strictly controlled. Each scenic spot looks desolate, and unusual shapes of the rocks make you feel that you are on a different planet. We had a great experience there and also enjoyed the 2-hour drive from Dunhuang to the park, as we saw the largest solar farm in the world with many extremely bright sunlight reflectors and wild horses in a nature preserve that looks like African prairie.Written 27 August 2024This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
- Konstantin-GermanMoscow, Russia279 contributionsThe site provide the possibility for great experience in the heart of Goby desert.
It is very exiting.Written 29 December 2017This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Vera P35 contributionsAs of July 2016 the road to the park from Dunhuang is under construction and it takes 5hours (200km) one way to get there.We took a driver for 600rmb there and back plus waiting.
What bothered us is not the price of the driver or the driving time but the usual annoyances you face when travelling to national parks in china.
You pass through the jade pass scenic area on the way and have to purchase a ticket (40rmb). You see an old ruin of a tower and a ruin of a wall.
At the park you pay entrance fee plus obligatory bus (over 100rbm) You can only take the jeeps at third scenic spot so you must take the bus first. You are driven to 4 spots.no English explanation.total time around 1-1.5 hours. If you want to see more you need to take a jeep which is another 400 rbm. So it is the usual rip off. You cannot get close to the stones or wander in yourself.
The landscape is very eerie and cool.
As soon as the road is better I would recommend to go (If you like rocks ;)).Written 28 July 2016This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - Adventurer-HK2013Hong Kong1 contributionInteresting place -- was amazed to find that the edge of the desert starts just about 200 metres from a peripheral city road.
Climbing the sandhills in sandals to begin with was almost too much to bear -- the hot sand kept falling onto my naked feet! I almost decided to give up, but glad I didn't, because on reaching the crest of a huge mound of sand, looking down to the Crescent Moon lake, of course it wasn't so bad. I would have loved to have "tobogganed" down the sand to the camels waiting at the bottom, but judged it too dangerous for my cameras, should I come off! Nevertheless, quite a memorable event.Written 3 September 2013This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - simontrantWinchester, UK80 contributionsThese caves which go by various names (Thousand-Buddha Gap, Yulin Caves/Grottoes) are magnificent and, in my view just as good as those at Mogao. However, at the time of writing (4/17) it is something of a challenge to reach them. But, my goodness it was worth the effort. The presentation is not on the same level as the introduction at Mogao. Indeed, there is no introduction but the caves are marvellous. The road is gravel most of the way but it looks as though it is being upgraded. As a result there were less than 100 visitors. The caves are either side of the river where it runs through a canyon. The paintings are remarkably well preserved. 43 caves are from the Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Western Xia, Uiger, Yuan and Qing dynasties. We were only a small group and so received almost personal attention and the caves were much bigger than Mogao and very cold once inside. Some of the black ink drawings were exquisite. There has been some restoration carried out some 100 years ago to the figures and to the paintings so the colours are quite bright but a great deal of the art is original. There is little in the way of facilities although a new visitor centre is being built. I would suggest one takes one's own torch although the guide will have one but the caves are large.
Clearly the site will, in due course, be on the tourist route but I would suggest one visits whilst it is so simple and charming.Written 9 April 2017This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews. - SmartTravelerMuar, Malaysia858 contributionsThe name Juiquan , came from the Han dynasty general Huo Qubing, who poured a jar of wine into a local creek celebrating his battle victory. The creek was later called Jiu Quan meaning , "Wine Spring".
Jiuquan Park is a neat and pleasantly landscape green space outside the town.The pathway in the park are engraved with historic murals and chinese calligraphy in granite and bronze. There is a ancient Zuogong Willow tree dated back 130 years ago.
The attractions are the huge sand stone statues of the heroic general , horse chariots and his warriors .At the side , are smaller statues of his foot soldiers with spears in battle formation.The victorious general was pouring his wine into a pool.
.Written 21 December 2015This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
