Earth and Environment Atlas

How The Planet Works
Sign In
Text size
100%
Theme
Geological Formation

Singing Sand Dunes (Dunhuang)

Sand Dunes and Dune Fields

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. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Connections

Caused By

Erosion, Processes

Wikidata P31 formation-type mapped to formative process Erosion via reviewed judgment map (earth atlas); source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Singing Sand Dunes (Dunhuang)

In Discipline

Wikidata P31 formation-type mapped to discipline Geomorphology via reviewed judgment map (earth atlas); source citation is this entity's own cited Wikidata item.

Source Wikidata: Singing Sand Dunes (Dunhuang)
In the Other Atlases

Found In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject is found.

Source Wikidata: Singing Sand Dunes (Dunhuang)
Sources
Singing Sand Dunes (Dunhuang) (Wikipedia)
  • Lead section
    The Singing Sand Dunes (Chinese: 鳴沙山 Pinyin: míng shā shān) in Dunhuang, China, are the sand dunes that, when the wind blows, give out a singing or drumming sound.
  • In Group: Desert Dunes and Sand Seas, Lead sentence
    The Singing Sand Dunes (Chinese: 鳴沙山 Pinyin: míng shā shān) in Dunhuang, China, are the sand dunes that, when the wind blows, give out a singing or drumming sound.
View the Source
Wikidata: Singing Sand Dunes (Dunhuang)
Wikidata Q11174373, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source
Comments (0)
No comments yet. Be the first to share a thought.
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.