A tourist day in Dunhuang

I am usually a rather reluctant tourist but one day can be a treat.
So we paid our money, jumped on a bus and set off to the Mogao Caves - which are also called the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas. I had learned that these are infact a World Heritage sight - but I really did not know what to expect.
I was totally blown away. Hundreds of caves have been carved into the side of sandstone cliffs- between the fouth and fourteenth centuries by folk wishing to pay homage and give thanks, and hopefully to gain blessing, by Buddha. Inside there are a variety of paintings, carvings, sculptures - depicting hundreds of Buddhas and his followers and disciples, and the entries to the caves are then enclosed by intricate woodwork. The largest Buddha was at least 3 stories high. ( Sorry - no photos allowed inside) The survival of these caves has been miraculous - pehaps due largely to the fact that this area was taken by the Tibetans in 781AD. Even the Monguls did not manage to wreck them.
Relatively recently, they have been threatened by treasure seeking archeologists - and so many of the treasures and scrolls and silk paintings can now be found in the British Museum, in France and even St Petersburg.
It is obviously a major tourist attraction - but mainly by Korean, Japanese and Chinese tourists, often as part of a pilgrimage. We were informed however, that this year has been a very bad tourist year due to the Olympics, and also the recent devastating earthquake which was in the adjacent province. However - the massive bus park, huge trinket shops,acres under concrete and generally regimemted feel to the place made us realise that we were lucky to have viewed these wonders in relative peace.
It was then off to the Sand Dunes. This was for me all very amusing as the Chinese Tourist Board have managed to exploit these and yet still give the tourist a thrilling experience. They are magnificent dunes - and you can walk up them, slide down them on sleds, slide down on tubes in a special shute, go on a camel ride, fly over them in a microlight, go on a 4x4e jaunt, and ofcopurse but Cowboy hats and trinkets at any number of stalls. Just for walking on the dunes - a fastidious tourist can hire a set of leggings- bright orange just in case of getting lost-to prevent the sand from entering ones shoes!
Again - demand for all these activities was low and I thoroughly enjoyed wandering around the hundreds and hundreds of camels and marvelling at the scale of this venture.
What a relief that I am only a real tourist occassionally though!