Splendid Dunhuang: Millennial cultural embassy

"I am very anxious to see you, but I have no luck" - a Sogdian woman named Miwnay who followed her husband to do business in Dunhuang, northwest China's Gansu Province, lamented in a letter to her far-away mother, in which she indulged in bouts of nostalgia and pined for home. Sadly, her mother never had a chance to read of her grief, as the letter was engulfed by a sandstorm and buried under layers of thick sand. Thousands of years later, the letter was found by archaeologist Aurel Stein, shining a light on the bustling trade and cultural exchanges between East and West along the ancient #SilkRoad.

Lying at the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, #Dunhuang is located at a cultural and religious crossroads on the ancient Silk Road. Over 700 years ago, when Italian adventurer Marco Polo first arrived at Dunhuang, which was crowded with people of different nationalities, he was left spellbound by the thriving fusion of international trade and culture. As the first trading cities encountered by foreign merchants, Dunhuang turned into a fantastic marketplace and led to a cultural big bang that created an unprecedented connection between East and West. The ancient Silk Road has been swallowed up by time, but Duhuang remains a vibrant hub of exchanges as the Belt and Road Initiative has reinvigorated the city, injecting a new energy into this ancient oasis.#TalesofCities

SplendidDunhuang:Millennial