Gansu Travel｜Art and Life in the Jiuquan Desert

From the vast Gobi Desert in Guazhou to the Crescent Lake at Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang, the journey crosses not only geographical space but also two different artistic expressions: on the Gobi, "Son of the Earth" sleeps quietly in the vast world; by Crescent Lake, the chorus of tens of thousands echoes in the desert night sky. One is tranquil, the other lively. These two seemingly unrelated scenes, in the autumn of the Hexi Corridor, powerfully interpret the connection between life and nature:
👦 Son of the Earth: Quiet Life in the Gobi
In the early morning at Guazhou Gobi, the wind sweeps fine sand across the surface, and a baby sculpted from red sandstone sleeps peacefully in the vast expanse. This sculpture, created by Professor Dong Shubing from the Academy of Fine Arts at Tsinghua University, is 15 meters long, 4.3 meters high, and 9 meters wide, mainly made of red sandstone. It curls up on the boundless Gobi, showing stunning vitality. The "Son of the Earth" is not a traditional Buddha statue or a historical figure sculpture but a large baby figure. It uses the sky as a quilt and the earth as a bed, with a serene expression, as if a child in the arms of Mother Earth, guarding this ancient land. Near the Son of the Earth, there are other sculptures to see first, such as the "Walking Boy," then the "Son of the Earth," and finally the "Emperor Wu of Han" and "Heavenly Realm," to experience the charm of sculptural art.
♨️ By Crescent Lake: Life’s Song in the Desert
Arriving at Dunhuang Mingsha Mountain Crescent Lake Scenic Area at sunset, the atmosphere sharply contrasts with the tranquility of Guazhou: the desert night is brilliantly lit, and visitors and musicians ignite passion with their singing, turning this millennia-old wonder into a youthful sea of music. Standing atop the sand dune, overlooking the light reflections on Crescent Lake, and listening to strangers singing with one voice, I suddenly understood the marvelous landscape of "sand and water symbiosis." This is not just a natural wonder but a perfect fusion of culture and nature.
Sometimes I can’t help but feel that the intersection of history and the present continuously plays out on this road: in the Gobi, the "Son of the Earth" quietly listens to the thousand-year history of the Silk Road; in the desert, the chorus of thousands shows the youthful vitality of the era, together writing an endless hymn to life on this land.

Post by JAIDEN HUBBARD | Oct 18, 2025