The Silk Road Diary 3: Desert Madness

MANILA, Philippines - I most looked forward to the desert, and it did not disappoint. Northwestern China has two significant deserts: the formidable Gobi, the fifth largest in the world with 1.3 million square kilometers, and the fearsome Taklamakan, 337,000 square kilometers often referred to as the Sea of Death, with poisonous snakes, fierce sand storms, boiling days and freezing nights. No wonder it is said that people who walk into the Taklamakan never come out again.

Fortunately, we did not have to venture far into the desert. Just 5 kms south of the city of Dunhuang in Gansu province lies the magnificent and wondrous Mingsha sand dunes, a golden expanse stretching 40 kms east to west. All the guide books and brochures will tell you that the dune is so named because it sighs, or sings. When a strong wind blows, the shifting sand is said to “roar like thunder;” when there is a light breeze, the sand produces “gentle, dulcet sounds akin to music.” Such a phenomenon has not been successfully explained, but theories abound, ranging from ancient palaces under the dunes to high quartz content in the sand to the entire population of a city buried by a cruel prince crying and beating drums in protest. Chinese scientists who for years have been conducting studies on the sighing sands say that it is just a phenomenon of resonance, but that robs it of its magic and romance.

Unfortunately I cannot attest to having heard sighing or thunderous rolls; perhaps our constant chattering was just too noisy. But visually, as you are confronted with the panorama, the sight just takes your breath away, makes your knees go weak, and reminds you just how insignificant you are in the scheme of the created universe.  

The golden sand – said to change color from red and yellow to black and white, which we again did not witness – is fine and cool, even at high noon. For RMB10, you can rent orange knee-high booties to keep the sand out of your shoes. For RMB80, you can hire a camel to take you up the dunes.

The two-hump Bactrian camels native to the area (there are 1.4 million domesticated camels and only 800 believed to exist in the wild in these two deserts, making them critically endangered) are extremely well-mannered and respond to commands in putonghua: juo xia (sit), chi lai (get up). The camels go at a very leisurely pace, with a herdsman leading five camels, and it takes about an hour to get to the midway point, where you can get a good view of the expanse of the dunes. The hundreds of camels going up and down the dunes dot the golden sands with bright colors. Along the way, I spot groundskeepers picking up litter and camel droppings, keeping the sands pristine.

From the midway point it is a rather intimidating climb to the top of the highest dunes, from where you can rent a toboggan for what must be an exciting slide down. Other means of exploring the dunes are by light plane, all terrain vehicles, hang gliders and on foot, the last for the hardy and – may I say – foolhardy.

From the camel station it is a short walk to yet another desert wonder, the Crescent Moon Spring, a crescent-shaped lake around 300 meters by 50 meters with an average depth of 3 meters. It is easy to think that this must be man-made, but it is not. The lake has been in existence for thousands of years, and surrounded by all that sand, its cool water is as clear as crystal, never drying out in the intense desert heat or freezing over in way-below-freezing winter temperatures or ever buried by the shifting sands around it.

Vegetation is lush around the lake, and many sacred temples were said to surround it in ancient times. Today there is a temple complex beside the lake. 

Dunhuang was a major stop along the Southern Silk Road, a key supply base for the caravans setting out on the arduous trek across the desert and a welcome sight for those arriving from the west. Buddhist monks and pilgrims collecting scriptures from the west also came to Dunhuang, and they were the ones responsible for the Mogao Grottoes, or the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas, with amazing murals painted on the walls of the caves. Declared a Unesco World Heritage Site, the complex of 492 caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning over 1,000 years. Guided tours take tourists to visit at most 10 caves, which give only a glimpse of the splendor of this treasure of human spirituality.

In mid-September the weather was surprisingly cold, seriously hinting of winter. A shopkeeper tells me that very soon tourist season will be over and they will shut down, as the biting cold sets in and the wild winds whip up the sands, enveloping everything in fierce sandstorms. Nature very kindly let us share in its wonder and beauty but, as in all things, she decides when and how.