从月牙泉走到莫高窟

When the plane descended, almost only the desert was left outside the window. A tourist who came to Dunhuang for the first time couldn't help but think: more than two thousand years ago, without airplanes and highways, why did people come here?

This question is easy to understand.

Today, it only takes a few hours to fly to Dunhuang from Beijing.

People in the past did not have airplanes or cars like today.

They have to walk a long way, and their bodies are very tired when the weather is hot. They have to look for water as soon as they finish drinking it.

There is water on the road, where people can rest, and horses can also rest.

There is no water on the road, making it difficult for people to continue walking.

Therefore, if you first look at the water in Dunhuang, you can understand why this city is here.

Thinking of this, the tourist picked up the water and took a sip.

He now has water and a car, but he still feels the weather is very hot.

People who walked this road in the past must have wanted to see a place where they could eat, drink and sleep as soon as possible.

When they see water, they know they can stop today and keep going tomorrow.

This is also what many people need most when they come to Dunhuang.

He decided to leave the famous Mogao Grottoes until the next day and go to Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring as his first stop.

Mingsha Mountain is located in the south of Dunhuang City. The continuous sand dunes constantly change their shape in the wind.

Visitors find it difficult when they first start climbing, because their feet will slip backwards after stepping into the fine sand, and they may only be able to take two steps forward if they take three steps.

When he finally reached the higher sand ridge, Crescent Moon Spring appeared below.

This crescent-shaped spring is surrounded by sand dunes. It is small in area, but it changes the meaning of the entire place.

In arid areas, a stable water source determines whether people can stay and whether a road can continue to be used.

Dunhuang is located at the western end of the Hexi Corridor, connecting Central Asia to the west and the Central Plains of China to the east.

Today, people refer to this transportation network across different regions as the Silk Road.

Silk is famous, but the goods transported on the road far exceed silk, as well as tea, spices, metals, glass and many daily necessities.

The language, religion, music and painting methods brought by travelers also meet here.

When tourists sat on the sandy slope and watched the sunset, they finally understood the first characteristic of Dunhuang: it is a city where people stop to replenish water and food before choosing the next direction.

Returning to the city in the evening, Shazhou Night Market presents another kind of Dunhuang.

Dried apricots, raisins, barbecued meats and pasta are displayed at the stalls. Shop staff greet tourists and local residents also come for late-night snacks.

Visitors ordered a bowl of Dunhuang yellow noodles, chewy noodles that are often served with a sauce made from meat and vegetables.

This kind of food is very suitable for wheat life in dry areas, and it also quietly connects ancient murals with today's dining tables: scenes of making and eating noodles appear in some murals of Mogao Grottoes.

The next day, he took a bus to the Mogao Grottoes, about 25 kilometers outside the city.

A row of caves was excavated on the cliff on the east side of Mingsha Mountain. Starting from the fourth century AD, later generations continued to build it for more than a thousand years.

There are a large number of caves, murals and painted sculptures in the Mogao Grottoes. The content of course includes Buddhist stories, but also records of music, dance, clothing, transportation, agriculture and family life.

It was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List in 1987.

This fact illustrates the protected status of Mogao Grottoes.

When tourists enter the cave, their eyes often stop at the specific details.

The appearance of a certain musical instrument, the means of transportation used by the caravan, and the clothes worn by different characters all show that Dunhuang was never isolated from the outside world in ancient times.

At that time, businessmen and travelers traveled long distances to the oasis. Some donated money to dig caves in the hope of a safe journey, while others brought the artistic habits of their hometown into the painting.

Generation after generation of painters continued to work, and patterns and expression methods from different regions remained on the same cliff.

Visitors will also encounter today's conservation rules during their visit.

Photography is restricted in the cave, and the number of openings and visiting hours are managed, because human breathing, light and large numbers of tourists will affect the fragile murals.

Projects such as Digital Dunhuang use high-precision images to record caves, allowing researchers and ordinary viewers to clearly see content that is temporarily closed to the public on the screen.

Preservation has not turned Dunhuang into a city that only lives in the past.

After returning to the city, tourists will still pass by schools, residential areas and ordinary shops. At night, they can also see young people live broadcasting on their mobile phones, friends gathering for dinner and tourists picking souvenirs at the night market.

Desert oases, transportation nodes and cultural preservation combine to explain what Dunhuang looks like today.

The day before, the tourist saw at Crescent Moon Spring how the water made people stay; the next day, he saw at Mogao Grottoes how people who stopped left their own world behind.

When the plane took off again and the desert filled the window again, he would no longer ask "Why is there a city here?"

What he wants to ask is: In a city that keeps sending people away, what will be left behind in the end?