Yueyaquan

Desert oasis

Yueyaquan, which literally translates into Crescent Lake, is a natural oasis in the middle of the Gobi desert in Dunhuang, Gansu province and was named crescent moon because its shape resembles a moon crescent.  Over the past decade, the oasis has shrunk by half in size and has been gradually stable in size with the local government’s efforts in expanding it.  Closer to the centre of the oasis, water could be seen seeping out from the central pond as the sand is much wetter.  There’s nothing like dune surfing from the sand peaks in the Echoing Sand Dunes mountains surrounding the oasis and camel riding is a must, especially to view the spectacular views of the hills and hills of rolling, golden sand dunes.  If you scoop up a handful of sand, you’ll see that the sand isn’t just yellow in colour but has a mix of colours-red, green, yellow, black and whites.  It is with the mix of colours and the rays of sunlight refracting from the sand that the array of colours can be seen from the distance.  As we were leaving the desert, we caught a glimpse of the moon hanging in the middle of the sky.  From afar, across the peaks of the sand dunes, it almost felt as though we were walking closer and closer to the moon…