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Mogao Caves
About
Mogao Caves (莫高窟), (25km from town, most people visit on pre-arranged tour or arrive by taxi. It is also possible to take the city bus to Mogao for 8 yuan each way. The bus also stops at the train station, and stops in front of the Silk Road hotel in Dunhuang city.). English tours at 9AM, 12AM and 2PM daily. A UNESCO World Heritage Site filled with exquisite Buddhist art and manuscripts. Although the city had an early connection with Buddhism due to the passage of monks traveling the Silk Road, it was not until a monk had a vision of a thousand Buddhas above the desert at Dunhuang in 4th century that the famous caves were excavated and filled with the manuscripts and treasures. It is not possible to tour the caves on your own and all visitors are assigned to different guides (included in the ticket price). The tour takes about two hours and about 15 caves will be visited; all the rest are closed. The tours are different from group to group with every group visiting the main caves. You can arrange to visit closed caves, It will cost you ¥200 per person and per cave. Note that It can be handy to bring your torch. Worth a visit even if you don't pay the steep entrance fee and tour the caves, as the museum is free to enter and contains replicas of several caves, and there are a few small temples you can easily hike to in the nearby hills. As of August 2012, Mogao ticxkets are 180 yuan for foreigners (no discounts available; tours in English at 9:00, 12:00, and 2:00), 160 for Chinese nationals, and 80 for Chinese students..
