Mingsha Mountain - Crescent Spring
Mingsha Mountain, also known as Shensha Mountain and Shajiao Mountain, starts from the cliff top of Mogao Grottoes in the east and is connected to the Danghe Reservoir in the west, stretching 40 kilometers from east to west. , 20 kilometers wide from north to south and tens of meters high.
In a green basin surrounded by the peaks of Mingsha Mountain, there is a pool of blue water shaped like a crescent moon. This is the Crescent Moon Spring.
Crescent Moon Spring is located at the northern foot of Mingsha Mountain. It is more than 300 meters long from east to west, more than 50 meters wide from north to south, and has a water depth of about 5 meters. The shape of the spring resembles a crescent moon, so it is named Crescent Moon Spring. The spring is surrounded by Mingsha Mountain, but it is not covered by quicksand. It always has rippling blue waves and is crystal clear. It never overflows after long rains or dries up after long droughts. The scenery is very beautiful. The magical thing about it is that quicksand can never fill up the clear spring. In the past, people had difficulty understanding the mysteries of nature, but they used their rich imagination to create beautiful myths and legends to explain natural phenomena.
Water and fire have always been incompatible, and it is difficult for clear springs in the desert to survive. But Crescent Moon Spring is like a crescent moon falling in the yellow sand. The spring water is cool, clear, and delicious. It has been lying quietly in the embrace of the sand mountain for thousands of years. Although it is often attacked by strong winds and fierce sand, it still has rippling blue waves and gurgling water! It is like the eyes of a peerless beauty - clear, beautiful and passionate; it is like the lips of a fair lady - mysterious, gentle and attractive; it is like a tooth of white melon - green, sweet and crystal clear.
Beside the Crescent Moon Spring, the white poplars stand tall and graceful, the weeping willows dance with their silk threads, the scent of Elaeagnus angustifolia is astonishing, clumps of reeds sway, and pairs of wild birds fly, the scenery is poetic and picturesque. On the platform on the south bank of the spring, there are a large complex of ancient buildings with carved beams, painted beams and intricate paintings, such as the Palace of the Queen, Dragon King's Palace, Yaowang Cave, Yuquan Tower, and Leiyin Temple. There are schools of fish swimming in Crescent Moon Spring. It is said that the fish is called "Iron Back Fish", which can cure difficult and miscellaneous diseases; the grass is called "Seven Star Grass", which has the effect of aphrodisiac. If you eat fish and grass, you can live forever. Therefore, Crescent Moon Spring is also called "Medicine Spring".
The earliest record of Crescent Moon Spring can be found in the Eastern Han Dynasty's "Xinshi Sanqin Ji": "There is Shajiao Mountain in the west of Hexi. The peak is steep and steep, surpassing the stone mountain. The sand grains are thick and yellow, like dry hesitation. Another mountain There is a spring in the sun, and the cloud is a manhole, which has lasted through the ages and has not been filled with sand." The "shajing" recorded here is today's Crescent Moon Spring. Since then, records about Crescent Moon Spring have appeared frequently in historical books, and are closely connected with Mingsha Mountain. "Yuanhe County Chronicles" of the Tang Dynasty records: "There is a spring in Mingsha Mountain, called Shajing. It has been filled with sand throughout the past and present, and the water is extremely sweet."
According to historical records, Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring have been desert wonders for more than two thousand years. For thousands of years, people have always wondered why Mingsha Mountain, a sand dune, has remained unchanged for thousands of years when facing this wonder of the sea of ??sand. And why is the Crescent Moon Spring in the sea of ??sand "the spring reflects the moon but is dust-free" and "the moon spring is clear, and the sand will never fill the spring, and the spring will never dry up"? The ancients were puzzled by this miracle created by nature, and in the end they could only sigh that "the mountains are magical and the springs are mysterious."
According to research, Crescent Moon Spring is surrounded by towering sand mountains, and the mountain col is shaped like a crescent according to the shape of the spring. The wind blowing into the depression surrounding the mountains will spin upward due to the principle of aerodynamics, so the Crescent Moon Spring is formed. The sand flowing down from the mountains around the spring is sent back to the other side of the ringing sand ridge on all sides. This is why the spring water is not covered by yellow sand. For more than two thousand years, it is precisely because of this unique topographic movement that the sand mountains and springs have maintained a contradictory yet harmonious natural life and existence state. Despite the raging wind and sand, Crescent Moon Spring still has sparkling clear water.
Crescent Moon Spring, a dream-like mystery, has not been submerged by quicksand or dried up by drought for thousands of years. There is this spring in the vast desert, this water in the black wind and yellow sand, and this scene in the midst of desolation. It captures the rhythm of heaven and earth, the magic of creation, and makes people intoxicated. "The sky is clear and blue, the Crescent Moon Spring is extremely beautiful, the Silver Mountain is surrounded by sand, and there is a pool of clear water with green ripples." "Crescent Moon Dawn" is one of the eight scenic spots in Dunhuang. Crescent Moon Spring is a national key scenic spot, one of the top 40 tourist attractions in China, and is known as the best desert spring in the world.