Singing Sand Dunes (Dunhuang)

The Singing Sand Dunes are a group of sand dunes in the Kumtag Desert near Dunhuang, in Gansu Province, China, known for producing a singing or drumming sound when wind blows across them. The dunes were known by an earlier name referring to deities before taking their present name during the Ming Dynasty, and the historian Sima Qian described their sound in the Records of the Grand Historian, likening it to music in fair weather. The crescent-shaped Crescent Lake, or Yueyaquan, sits among the dunes, and although the dunes at Hami are usually said to produce the best sound among the four well-known singing sand dune sites in China, the dunes at Dunhuang are generally ranked second; the site today draws tourists for camel rides, sandboarding, ATV riding and paragliding.