The 2016 Silk Road (Dunhuang) Historical and Cultural Study Course, held from Mar. 3rd to 13th, was participated by teachers and students from LZU and Hong Kong University . The event was sponsored by Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of LZU, and undertaken by Institute of Dunhuang Studies of the university.
Starting their tour from Lanzhou city, the study group visited and learned about such historical sites along the Silk Road within Gansu Province as Binglingsi grotto in Yongjing county, Tiantishan grotto, Confucius Temple, Luoshensi Pagoda and Tombs of Han Dynasty at Leitai in Wuwei City, Dafo Temple (the largest indoor wooden-body & clay-concreted Buddha in Asia), Mati (literally horseshoe) Temple Grotto in Zhangye City, as well as Mogao grottoes, Yangguan Pass, Yumenguan Pass, Hecang Town, Singing Sand Mountain and Crescent Spring in Dunhuang. They also visted Museum of Western Xia Dynasty and Gaotai County Museum in Wuwei and Zhangye respectively.
During the tour, professors from LZU gave the teachers and students detailed lectures on the historical and cultural background of Silk Road, and the significance and values of those historical sites and relics like grottoes. Lecture were highly praised by participatants who expressed their wishes to continue such exchange activities with LZU in the days to come.
(Translated by Xing Tingting, proofread by Zhang Lu)
