# Yangguan Pass Scenic Area (阳关景区)

Dunhuang, Gansu Province · Northwest, China · Guidebook rating: 4/5
Canonical: https://cnatrip.com/en/places/yangguan-pass-scenic-area
Language: en

## Key facts

- **Admission:** ¥50 (includes the Yangguan Museum)
- **Opening hours:** 8:00–20:30 (1 April–7 October); 8:30–19:30 (8 October–31 March)
- **Time needed:** 2–3 hours
- **Getting there:** Take a bus from Dunhuang Bus Station to Nanhu Township, get off at the Yangguan junction, then walk for 30 minutes to reach the site
- **Good for:** History & Culture, Nature

## About Yangguan Pass Scenic Area

At the foot of the hills lies a small reed lake, strikingly beautiful against the Gobi and desert. The drive there and back passes yardang landforms, tall poplars, tamarisk and reeds in the river valleys, and a little hut on a distant hilltop where grapes are dried, making for a journey that is never dull. “Let me urge you to drink one more cup of wine: west of Yang Pass, there are no old friends.” This ancient fort, recited by poets and scholars for centuries, has kept watch over its last beacon tower for a thousand years.

## Tips from the guidebook

- Yangguan’s Eyes and Ears: Located 75 km southwest of Dunhuang, the ruins of a beacon tower—4.7 m high, 8 m long and 7 m wide—are known as the “Eyes and Ears of Yang Pass.”

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Source: China Self-Guided Travel 2025 (《中国自助游》, Tianjin Science & Technology Press, Aug 2024), p. 758. Prices, hours and transport details are as printed in the August 2024 edition and may have changed. Always confirm with the venue before you travel.
Site: China Trip (https://cnatrip.com) — independent China travel guide in 13 languages.