Photos

Within walking distance of Dunhuang town centre are some enormous sand dunes at the start of the Kumtag Desert, most notable of which is Mingsha Shan, or 'Echoing Sand Mountain' in English which is renowned for the sound it makes when you slide down it. They say it sounds like thunder and at first I was sceptical, however they really aren't lying! At first it starts quietly, but as you slide further down it the sound really booms to the point where it's almost disconcerting!

This picture was not taken from Mingsha Shan, but was taken from another dune some 5km away which also shares the same characteristics. It looked close to the top of the biggest dune, but even with a bunch of young, fit and healthy guys the ascent took over 1 hour. Walking on dunes really isn't as easy as it looks!

As with most of my recent trip west across China, we weren't blessed with great light, but a dusty and subdued light where the sun disappeared some 1 hour before sunset due to the dust and haze in the distance. This is around the time I took the photo when I realised the light would only get worse from here on in. I've seen some very orange looking photos of these dunes, however this really wasn't the dunes I saw so I've eased off on the contrast adjustment and colour embellishment as this is what I feel you could actually see (or something like it!).

Let me know what you think!