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Olympic park access road, Beijing

I've spent the past few days in Dunhuang, a laid-back oasis town in eastern Gansu. Sand dunes tower over the city to the south, and the desert spreads out in all directions. Driving in at night from Liuyuan, it was almost a shock to see trees suddenly appear from out of the desert through which we drove.

The city is a tourist hotspot for its proximity to the Buddhist caves at Mogao, but there are plenty of other attractions in the area to keep one occupied. Yesterday we hired a taxi for a full day of exploration to the west of the city. We drove out of the city into the desert and began our tour at the rock formations at Ya Dan, one of the settings for Zhang Yimou's film Hero. From there, we toured the ancient northern and southern gates to the silk road. Along the way, we stopped by the crumbling remnants of the Han Great Wall. A fenced-in portion was protected, but just outside we were able to take a few steps on a portion all but buried in the sand.

Unfortunately those photos will have to wait. :p In the meantime, here's one from a highway that runs along the Olympic Park. They've since re-opened the pedestrian mall that runs between the stadiums (again, those photos will have to wait until I return). When I visited last year, most of the area was cordoned off. I walked along one of the access roads to get as close as I could, and shot this looking up at another access road that ran perpendicular to the one I was on.

Comments (4)

Eug--sounds like you're having a great trip! Can't wait to see more picts. I've always wanted to visit Dunhuang, but instead went south from Lanzhou, towards Sichuan and into Tibetan territory. It was beautiful and a bit overwhelming for a nonnative speaker, but unforgettable. Safe travels!

Posted by brian on 06 Sep 2009, 10.53 AM

hey brian! great to hear from you! i didn't even realize you were following this blog. :p dunhuang is great. i'd really recommend it to anyway. there's a lot to see (which you can cram in if you need to) and the town is pleasantly laid back and small. there's also a great restaurant i'll recommend if you ever come. i only have about a week left before i have to get back to beijing and i'm going to try to cram in as much as i can in gansu before i leave. i'm going to have to kick it into high gear. wish me luck!

Posted by eugene on 06 Sep 2009, 8.52 PM

Minimalist. I like it.

Posted by The Photodiarist on 06 Sep 2009, 9.58 PM

thanks photodiarist!

Posted by eugene on 20 Sep 2009, 1.05 PM

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Posted 06 Sep 2009   |   Photography + design © Eugene Kuo // 226.