敦煌莫高窟

Why this place

The Mogao Caves are the greatest Buddhist cave site in the world: 735 caves cut into a desert cliff, with 45,000 square metres of murals and 2,000 painted sculptures spanning a thousand years, from the fourth century to the fourteenth. The library cave found here in 1900 held tens of thousands of manuscripts.

What to see

• The caves themselves, in small guided groups — the number of caves open rotates to protect them
• The Northern Wei, Tang and Yuan caves, which show how the painting style changed over a millennium
• The site museum and the replica caves at the visitor centre, which show the best caves in detail
• The Mingsha dunes and Crescent Moon Lake, 20 minutes away
• The Yumen Pass and Yadan landforms, further out in the desert

What to eat

• Dunhuang is known for its apricot drinks and its 'yangrou fentang' (lamb with vermicelli)
• The night market, which is the social centre of the town

How to plan

Two days: the caves one morning, the dunes and the desert sites the rest.

Best time

May–October; the site is in the desert and hot in midsummer

Practical tips

• Book Mogao tickets weeks ahead in summer — the standard ticket includes several caves and a guide; the 'emergency' ticket shows fewer