Frequent minibuses leave Dunhuang for the train station at Liuyuan , from an alley on Mingshan Lu, opposite the Dunhuang Fandian; the Dunhuang China International Travel Service (tel 0937/8821324), in the International Hotel, can help in buying train tickets from Liuyuan. Good English is spoken here. Alternatively, you can buy tickets from the Five Rings Hotel. Commission in both places is a steep ¥50.

There are five buses daily from Dunhuang to Jiayuguan (about 8hr) and at least one daily to Lanzhou (24hr) and all points in between. There is also a daily bus to Hami (9hr) in Xinjiang. Foreigners intending to take the fifteen-hour bus journey to Golmud in Qinghai Province (on the road to Tibet) have to buy special tickets through the Dunhuang branch of Golmud CITS, an office located in the bus station. At the time of writing this required paying ¥410 (¥100 discount with a student card), approximately ten times the normal price - and foreigners were not being allowed on to the bus without the special ticket. You can also get a bus all the way to Lhasa for a steep ¥1590 (seated) or ¥1656 (sleeper to Golmud, then seated). The justification for this rip-off is that it costs the PSB extra money to keep an eye on foreigners travelling through dangerous Qinghai, and it discourages people from getting off the bus and exploring areas that are off limits. Travellers work hard to get around it, however, and some have succeeded. One way is to plead your case with the PSB - they might give you a special permit that lets you travel for the local price. Or you could do a deal with a shady local character who can get you on the bus for ¥250. Basically, he drives you out of town, you board the bus as it passes, and he and the driver split your money.