Dunhuang is an oasis surrounded by desert and gravel in northwestern China. It was the main (and only) gateway to and from China on the route, known as the Silk Road, between China, Western Asia and the sub-continent of India.

The most prominent site in Dunhuang, the Mogao Grottoes, is a quintessential world heritage site. It is a Buddhist grotto temple and is also a heritage art museum replete with murals, statues and architectural monuments. Other than a unique treasure house of art, it also records a millennium of cultural interchange via the Silk Road between China, India, Persian, Greco-Roman and Central Asia,which is far more significant than silk or other exotic merchandise.