Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark

Wind Carved Yardang Landforms West Of Dunhuang, Known As The Devil City · Dunhuang, Gansu

A field of wind-carved rock in the Gobi about 180 kilometres northwest of Dunhuang, where the prevailing northeasterlies have spent tens of thousands of years cutting a dry lakebed into ridges and mesas. Geologists call the landforms yardangs; locals call the place the Devil City, because the wind funnelling between the formations moans and howls, and caravans on the old Silk Road route to Lop Nur told stories about what was making the noise. The rock stands in long parallel rows aligned with the wind, hundreds of them, weathered into shapes that guides have named - a fleet of ships, a peacock, a sphinx, a golden lion - and the effect at sunset, when the ochre stone turns red against a darkening sky, is the reason photographers make the long drive. A shuttle bus runs a set circuit through the northern section, with stops at the main formations, and the wilder southern section needs an off-road vehicle. There is no public transport: visitors come by tour bus or hired car, usually combined with the Yumen Pass and the Han-dynasty Great Wall remnants on the way.

Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark, Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Dunhuang, Gansu, China

Daily, roughly 7:00-17:00 with a later sunset shift to about 18:30 (check); closed or restricted in sandstorms.

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