A Geographer in the desert - Experiencing Dunhuang in the mid-1990's
Although Dunhuang was small at that time in the 1990’s there felt much to see, to experience including a movie location way out by the dunes where historical dramas had been shot.
As usual I was at my happiest wandering around town, watching everyday scenes, sitting at small food stalls writing notes and just taking in the experience of Dunhuang. With every journey comes the time to depart, leaving behind places that temporarily were 'homes from home' but each departure again emphasized what had been Dunhuang's early geographical isolation. My first exit in 1996 was by road, passing beacon towers from crumbling sections of Great Wall, to Liuyuan on the railway from Langzhou to Urumqi. The following year it was from Dunhuang along a sand swept highway climbing up towards the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
If I were to return today a train could carry me from Beijing or Lanzhou directly to Dunhuang and soon a new line will open up to Qinghai - modern Silk Road travel!
