Dunhuang Yardang National Geopark (Chinese: 敦煌雅丹國家地質公園), also dubbed Ghost Town (魔鬼城), is a national park in Dunhuang (敦煌), Gansu (甘肅) Province, China. The geopark is located about 180 kilometers northwest of Dunhuang's town center.
The geopark covers an area of around 400 square kilometers, all visitors must take the designated tourist bus.
Some of the uniquely shaped rocks in the geopark are named ‘Mongolian Bao’, ‘Camel’, ‘Stone Bird’, ‘Peacock’ and ‘Lion’, etc.
Unexpectedly, the ‘Sphinx’ here looks like the real one, and there are also some ‘pyramids’ around it, which give you an impression of Egypt.
The unique rock formations in the park developed over a period of 700,000 years. The Yardang geomorphic formations found in the Dunhuang Yadan National Geopark are the largest in China.
Yardang has been created over time by the soft part of the earth's surface being eroded by wind and rain, with the hard part of the rocks remaining in the desert.
The word ‘Yardang’ is of Turkic origin, meaning ‘steep bank’, and was first introduced to the English-speaking world by a Swedish explorer in 1903.
The last scenic spot of this tour is ‘Fleet of the West Sea’ (西海艦隊), the shipshape rocks stand on the ocean like Gobi, look so splendid.