Dunhuang, in the far north-west of Gansu province, is in one of the driest places in China, an extensive oasis that was a major staging post for the Silk Road. It was, and still is, a haven from the vast deserts of the north-west for those on the road. Sandy and stony desert crowds in close all around Dunhuang, coming right up to the last ranks of protective poplar trees and stretching away for hundreds of kilometres in all directions.

Dunhuang provides one of the best gateways to some of China's most barren desert scenery. Huge dunes nearly 300 metres (1,000 feet) high, the Whispering Sands come right to the edge of the oasis, giving a more than adequate foretaste of the shifting sands of the inaccessible Taklimakan desert further to the west. Where there are no dunes, gravelly desert stretches away towards lines of desolate hills, eroded and much gullied, coloured grey, purple and pink according to the types of rock exposed. There is no shade and the heat of the sun is intense.

Not much survives in the burning sands, yet lizards a common. These include the nocturnal Ring-tailed Gecko early in the morning or shortly before sunset one may strange toad-headed lizard Phrynocephalus albolineata member of the long-legged agamid family. Plants are few between, though a few grasses manage to get a foothold in the dunes, while clusters of xerophytic bushes may be found in the occasional dry, stony river bed.