Shopping in Dunhuang

Local Specialties and Souvenirs

Dunhuang City is a favorite tourist city in China, but not a modern city and it maybe a little difficult to find large, luxurious emporiums or supermarkets here. In spite of this, tourists will find handcrafts, gifts and souvenirs readily available in Dunhuang City. Dunhaung City was called 'Gua (melon) Zhou' in ancient times, meaning the hometown of fruits. Dunhuang City is teeming with many kinds of fragrant sweet fruits; some excellent kinds are particular to Dunhuang City that you may not find in other places.
The Shazhou Night Market is the largest outdoor market in Dunhuang. The entire market is unofficially divided into separate specialty areas such as handicrafts, antiques, tea and local products.
The road in front of the market is lined with over 100 stalls specializing in selling handicrafts and other cultural odds and ends like crystal, jade, Dunhuang silk carpets and "glow in the dark" stone cups made from local materials. However, the vendors drive hard bargains and it may be difficult to drive down prices.
Handcrafts of carpet, painted sculpture, craftworks of camels, luminous cup, calligraphy and painting and Dunhuang wax printing, etc are the most famous. Luminous Cup, known as a Yangguan Jade Cup, is a rare drinking vessel that glows in the dark, hence the name. The cup is made of the fine jade quarried from Mt. Qilian containing abundant mineral substances. Using the cup to drink is good for people's health. Camels are the most important animals for transportation on ancient Silk Road, which is called the pride of desert and people venerate its grittiness and hardworking, make flannelette effigies of it. It has been taken as the mascot of the China Art Festival. Now it is a specialty local tourist souvenir. The recommended factories or stores for tourists to buy handcrafts are as follows.
Dunhuang Shi Luminous Cups Factory (manufacturers of luminous cups)
Address: No. 11 in Yangguan Dong Lu (East Yangguan Rd.)
Dunhuang Shi Carpets Factory (manufacturers of handcrafts of carpets)
Address: No. 24 in Danghe Bei Lu (North Danghe Rd.)
Dunhuang Painting and Calligraphy Yuan (selling paintings and calligraphies)
Address: No. 36 in Mingshan Road
Crescent Lake Craftworks Factory (manufacturers of art wares)
Address: Crescent Lake Village of Yangjia Bridge, Dunhuang City
Museum Store (selling paintings, calligraphies and antiques)
Address: No. 8 in Yangguan Dong Lu (East Yangguan Rd.)

Craft camel

The camel is the main conveyance tool on the ancient Silk Road. It is also one of the special animals in the big desert. It bears the heat and strict cold, and also bears the hunger and the thirst. People often use it to take things in the desert so it is called "the boat of the desert" in the Gobi desert. Its firm and unyielding meekly toleration just like the people there and once was taken as the mascot of the Chinese art stanza in Dunhuang. The handicrafts of the folks take cotton as birth, binds the specially flannel craft to the outside of camels which have different shapes that can make person release. It is the really and only memorial good product with special features of tour.

The craft wax dye of Dunhuang

Since 1990s, Dunhuang ushers in wax dyer skills of the region of Yunnan and Guizhou, process the dress goods, the wall hangs, shade towels, Xincha with the images of Zao Well in Mogao Hole, grass patterns, Buddha, bodhisattvas, Feitian, Jile etc. The ice crack reason that wax dyes have only is very in keeping with to express the lingering charm that the mural spot falls off to fall as soon as publish, then it is welcome among the Chinese and Foreign guests. Independent designed processed products in calligraphy and painting hospital of Dunhuang, they are simple, direct, clear and quick, and the tone is soft, so they are the best.

Carpet of Dunhuang

The history of carpet of Dunhuang is long. It is passed from generation to generation. The carpet of Dunhuang is good at imitating the art patterns of Dunhuang, adopts the fine traditional handicraft to process and as a result, the final handicraft is choiceness, the color is fresh and gorgeous. The raw material with the deluxe wool whose fiber is long, thick and thin is moderation, the luster is good, and pull is strong. The quality of carpet of Dunhuang is solid and it takes long time to whet, the categories are numerous, and the price is cheap. Carpet of Dunhuang is taken as the very ideal living quarters and exquisite articles hung on the wall by visitors.

Luminous cup in Dunhuang

Luminous cup in Dunhuang is also called Yangguan Jade Cup. It takes the high-quality ink jade, topaz and jaspers which are produced in Qilian Mountain as the raw material, inherits the traditional craft work to chisel and carve and as a result. It is a very valuable alcohol container. The shape of luminous cup is interesting and novel, the style is special, the quality is clean. Pouring on the good wine, the color is rich in hues, just like the jadeite. Pouring into the beautiful wine, radiant green jade of alcohol and women. Particularly like the bright moon reflects to shoot, pure jade liquid through thin giving out light such as the cup wall of the eggshell, is really too wonderful to be described. Wang Han who was a Chinese had said that:" Luminous cup, beautiful wine and grape". The poem is famous because of the luminous cup. The luminous cup is more famous because of the poem. The reputation of luminous cup that Dunhuang produces is the best.

Melon of Dunhuang
The category of melons and fruit of Dunhuang is numerous, and each is sweet than honey. "The shell melon" presents the oval, getting name because of likeness shell. Its body is big, even the small melon is heavy more than ten catties; the big melon is heavy 30 catties or 40 catties. The skin is thin and meat is thick, the color presents the dark yellowish green, the pulp of melon is fresh red, and the seed is small and little. If wipe lightly once with the clean dish cloth each two days, it can be deposited to the Chinese New Year.
Tasting the sweet red, the melon is round and smooth. Although it is small, juice is much and meat is delicate, the quality is excellent and good. The surface is green and white alternate. If the color is fresh and gorgeous, it is red within and the seed is sparse and little. The flavor of melon is sweet; give a bite to flow the juice to be stained with the lips joss stick readily. Because the quality is frailty and the skin is thin, easily ripped, so you can eat it without the knife.
About Bailan Melon, there are local products; they are also the species that were bought in from Lanzhou, Xinjiang and the United States. In its melon white show green, clean such as jade, thin green of sweet juice of pulp of melon desire drop, and have the light thin and delicious wine flavor, eat a piece, remaining joss-stick rounds, all day long not spread. In addition, we can often see many species in the market such as The Huozhou No.1"," Hongxincui"," honeydew melon"," muskmelon"," the 1000-year egg melon" etc., its color and form are very good, possessing singly the taste, also being subjected to visitors' good opinions.

The grapes in Yangguan

The grape of Dunhuang can be eaten freshly and made the stem again, can be also made wine and can be matched in excellence with the grape of Turpan. The main species contain Wuhebai, Manaizi, Zizhenzhu...etc., and the yield of year amounts to more than 3800 tons. The Yangguan Wine Factory of Dunhuang produces Yangguan wine, takes local grape as the raw material to make by fermentation and as a result, the wine belongs to the grape juice, the taste is joss-stick, enjoying in retrospect extending far.

Daily Articles Shopping
Shop Index:
Luminous Cup factory in Dunhuang City
Address ：No.11 of Yangguan East Road of Dunhuang City
Telephone：8822593
Main products：Luminous cup
Carpet Factory of Dunhuang City
Address ：No.24 of Danghe North Road of Dunhuang City
Telephone：8833465
Main products: Handicraft carpets, silk carpets
Calligraphy and Painting Hospital of Dunhuang
Address ：No.36 of Mingshan Road of Dunhuang City
Telephone：8829434
Main products: Calligraphy
Glasses Factory of Dunhuang
Address ：No.8 of Shazhou North Road of Dunhuang City
Telephone：8822458
Main products: Crystal stone glasses
Yueyaquan Craft Factory
Address ：Yueyaquan Village of Yangjiaqiao Country
Telephone：8825304
Main products: Handicraft products
Guolu Store of Dunhuang
Address ：No.32 of Mingshan Road of Dunhuang City
Telephone：8829114
Main products: Handicraft products
Folk Museum
Address ：Yueyaquan Village of Yangjiaqiao Country
Telephone：8825305
Main products: Calligraphy, handicraft products
Mogao Hole Craft Art Store
Address ： Mogao Hole View District
Telephone： 8869067
Main products: Calligraphy, books and periodicals
Museum Store
Address ： No.8 of Yangguan East Road of Dunhuang City
Telephone： 8822981
Main products: Curio, calligraphy