Humming Sandy Mountain and Crescent-Moon Spring

The Humming Sandy Mountain, Mingsha Mountain in Chinese, sits in a place that is 5 kilometers away south from the town of Dunhuang County.

It winds a long way, about 40 kilometers from the east to the west and 20 kilometers from the south to the north. The highest peak Mountains to 250 meters and takes a precipitous look like the blade of a knife.

Yellow sand covering all the hills ripples gently like the surface of rivers. In front of the sand hills, a spring measuring 25 meters from the east to the west and 100 meters from the south to the north.

It clears visitors' tired eyes with its jade clarity and the shape of lovely newborn moon, which indicates its name ' Crescent Spring'. Visitors who come to the Humming Sandy Mountain usually tour the spring as well.

When you reach the top of the Humming Sandy Mountain, you may be fascinate by an interesting practice as slipping downhill which can induce a sonorous thunder of the sand. This indicates the Chinese word 'Mingsha'. Specially, when it is fine and the wind rests, the sand may play special music sounding like the orchestral music.

Long ago ancient people have described this Mountain with the word 'The Sand Mountain sings as it is clear'. In addition, when the sun cast its last light immersing all the hills, the Sand Sea of the Humming Sandy Mountain may beautify its hills with thousands of colorful magic flowers blossoming along the sides and valleys.

The blue Crescent Spring encloses the foot of the Humming Sandy Mountain. Plenty of float grass grows at the bottom waving in the clear water. Whether it is rainy or dry, the transparent spring changes little.

By the spring there are buildings of the Ch'ing Dynasty such as the Bodhisattva Temple, the Medicine God Temple, etc. Old trees and green grass surround them forming a silent, ethereal landscape. People said that the spring is rich in 'iron-back fish', 'seven-star grass' that are regards as three treasures of the local area with the 'five-color sand' of the Humming Sandy Mountain.

The moving sand seldom accompanies the clear spring in nature. But in Dunhuang, Gansu Province, the strange sand hills always takes the clear sweet springs as their shadow, which make them outstanding among lots of tourist attractions in the world.

Many visitors reaching the hills are urged by the anxiety of taking off shoes and stockings and just want to step up to the top feeling sand touching their feet. It is a special experience as if your were communicating with the sand and we hope you can try it yourself one day.

Long in history and still to this day, the Humming Sandy Mountain, and the Crescent Spring got a titled as 'The Wonders of the Desert'. During the May Festival period of every year, young men and women go here together to climb sand hills and walk in the sands of the spring. Some even, seek for the romantic feeling of ancient people by citing poems and painting pictures.

Tourists coming to Dunhuang will not only visit the Mogao Caves but also Humming Sandy Mountain and Crescent Spring.