We're back online in Turpan, but first let me fill you in on the last two days! Yesterday we took a little road trip out to the geopark, where we saw the landforms that remain from erosion over the years in the shape of a bear, sphinx, and peacock. On our way back we stopped at the remains of a wall from the Han dynasty, and the Jade Gate Fortress, a stopping point along the Silk Road used for trade and defense.
On our last day in Dunhuang we road out to the Mogao Caves! There are over 300 of them with art that accumulates to over 40,000 square meters. We got to peek inside a few, but no pictures are allowed. Many of the caves had art relating to popular stories of Buddha at the time. The biggest sculture we saw of Buddha was over 35m tall On our last day in Dunhuang we road out to the Mogao Caves! There are over 300 of them with art that accumulates to over 40,000 square meters. We got to peek inside a few, but no pictures are allowed. Many of the caves had art relating to popular stories of Buddha at the time. The biggest sculture we saw of Buddha was over 35m tall, and sleeping Buddha was 15m long. We also got to take a peek at the Library Cave, a sealed off room that was discovered to contain thousands of ancient texts from temples around the region.