Yardang Nationaler Geopark (Dunhuang)

Yadan National Geopark, also known as Dunhuang Devil's City, stretches across a barren expanse of the Gobi Desert far to the northwest of the city, and ranks among the most otherworldly landscapes a traveler to Dunhuang can encounter. The park takes its eerie nickname from the maze-like formations of wind-carved rock that, when wind rushes between them, can produce strange sounds that early visitors likened to ghostly wailing.

The word "yardang" describes a distinctive landform sculpted over immense stretches of time by persistent wind erosion acting on layers of sedimentary rock. Here in the Dunhuang desert, that process has left behind an entire forest of ridges, mesas, and freestanding pillars, some rising to considerable height and others eroded into silhouettes that resemble animals, ships, castles, or human figures, depending on the angle of the light and the imagination of the viewer.

At sunset, the park is at its most dramatic. Low-angle sun throws long shadows across the dusty ground, deepens the ochre and rust tones of the stone, and turns the silhouette of the formations into a surreal skyline that feels closer to another planet than to the China most travelers picture. This is the moment photographers and tour groups work toward, and it explains why the geopark has become a signature stop.

The site forms a key part of Dunhuang's western sightseeing route, which typically links Yumen Pass, the Han Great Wall, Yangguan, and the Western Thousand Buddha Caves into a single loop through the desert. Yadan usually serves as the dramatic finale, the most remote and visually arresting point of the circuit.

For visitors undertaking the western route from Dunhuang, Yadan National Geopark offers a landscape unlike any other in the region, a vast natural gallery of erosion and emptiness that captures the harsh, majestic character of the Gobi frontier.