A few kilometres to the south of town are the much-touted Yueya Quan (Crescent Moon Lake) and Mingsha Shan (Singing Sand Dune), set amidst the most impressive sand-dune scenery anywhere in China, with dunes 200-300m high. The sands reportedly make a humming noise in windy weather, hence the name. The Crescent Moon Lake is not much to look at, but is curious for its permanence, despite being surrounded by shifting sands - it was recorded in history at least two thousand years ago. Various activities take place from the tops of the main dune, such as sand-tobogganing and paragliding. The paragliding is great fun and costs ¥30 - you get to try two or three times if your initial flight isn't successful. Tobogganing costs ¥10 and feels a little safer. Climbing the dune in the first place, however, is incredibly hot, exhausting work; if you use the wooden steps you may have to pay a small fee. Or you can ride up on a camel for ¥40.

Minibuses from Dunhuang will drop you by a gate and ticket office - foreigners are charged ¥20 to enter. If you object to paying, you can reach the dunes by cutting round the side about 300m back from the gate. In the summer heat the only sensible time to come here is early in the morning around 7.30am, or in the evening. Between 5pm and 6pm minibuses cruise around Dunhuang looking for passengers (¥3 per person). Otherwise you can walk here in about 45 minutes, or cycle in twenty - just head south out of town. Park your bike somewhere before the entrance or you'll be charged an annoying ¥2 to put it in the bike park.

About 20km southwest of the city, right out in the desert, is the Dunhuang Gucheng - literally "Dunhuang Ancient City". This particular ancient city is actually a film-set less than ten years old; nevertheless, it has become a regular feature on the Dunhuang tourist trail. From a distance it looks impressive with its dramatic backdrop of desert, but the closer you get the more tacky it seems. Inside there are a number of souvenir shops, noodle stands and even yurts to stay in. There are occasional minibuses from Mingshan Lu in Dunhuang (¥10 return trip), usually around lunchtime. You can also cycle here if you can cope with the heat, or else take a taxi for ¥30.

On the way back to Dunhuang, be sure to drop in on the Baima Ta (White Horse Dagoba). This attractive, nine-tiered dagoba was built in honour of the horse belonging to the monk Kumarajiva from Kuche, which died on this spot in 384 AD. It lies amid corn fields and the remains of the old city walls, about 4km west of town, and is a pleasant place to take a breather.

A number of other historical sites lie farther away from Dunhuang but within the scope of a day trip. One is the Xi Qianfodong (Western Thousand Buddha Caves), another cave site along the lines of Mogao, if incomparably smaller and less significant. If you are a real Buddhist art buff, talk to a travel service about this place: at the time of writing it was open to groups only, and individuals were being turned away. About ten caves can be viewed, and a taxi ride there and back costs around ¥80.

Finally, there are two Han-dynasty gates, Yumenguan and Yangguan , which for periods of Chinese history marked the western border of China. They lie to the west of Dunhuang, 80km and 75km away respectively, and were originally joined together by a section of the Great Wall before being abandoned as long ago as the sixth century. Both sites today are impressive for their historic resonance and total desolation as much as for anything else: Yumenguan comprises crumbling ten-metre-high mud walls while Yangguan is little more than a ruined tower. Today, the road to Yangguan is in good condition, but that to Yumenguan is extremely rough - to visit both gates by taxi would take all day and cost more than ¥600. One exciting option, however, is to visit the two gates by camel ; a company based at Yueya Quan (tel 0937/8823122) offers escorted camel trips out of Dunhuang. To see the two gates, and bits of the Han Great Wall, takes around three days, and in the mild months of the year - early or late summer - this can be an excellent expedition. The cost of your camel, a guide, the guide's camel and a spare camel, works out at two or three hundred yuan per day (cheaper in a group). The same company also offers camel tours to Kashgar or Xi'an (70 days in either direction).