Mingsha Shan camel ride

How much is the Mingsha Shan and Crescent Lake ticket?

CNY 110 from April to October and CNY 55 from November to March. One ticket is good for repeat entry over 3 days.

Book a day ahead (two or three days for a weekend or holiday) through the official WeChat account 鸣沙山月牙泉 or Trip.com; tickets are also sold at the gate. Re-entry on days two and three works by ID and face check. From 1 June 2026 the summer hours were 05:00 to 20:30, with visitors already inside allowed to stay until about 21:00. Everything you might pay for:

Sources: Sina Travel, June 2026; China Discovery; Sina Travel on the winter price.

How much is the camel ride at Mingsha Shan, and how long is it?

About CNY 100 per person on China Discovery's page, with 2026 Chinese reports up to CNY 120. The ride takes about 1.5 hours including a rest on the ridge.

Camels walk in strings of five, each string led by a camel man on foot. The route covers about 3 km from the entrance, up along the zigzag edge of the dunes to a high point, with around 30 minutes there, then down towards the lake (China Discovery). Children under 1.4 m can share a camel with an adult for CNY 50 extra; the ride isn't recommended for people over 65. Photographers along the route charge about CNY 20.

Lean back when the camel stands up and lean back again when it kneels: it rises back legs first and kneels front legs first. Keep your phone in a zipped pocket. Sand and a dropped phone don't mix.

Do you need sand boots at Mingsha Shan?

Yes. Rent the shoe covers for CNY 20 to 30. Sand fills any shoe within minutes, and by midday in summer it is hot.

The covers are cloth boots that pull up over your shoes. You can bring your own and save the fee, but almost everyone rents. Climbing the big dune on foot is slow: every step up slides half a step back. Take it in short stretches and stop to look back over the lake.

• Sunglasses and a scarf: the wind lifts fine sand, and it ends up in your eyes and teeth.
• Water and sunscreen: there is no shade on the ridge.
• A plastic bag for the camera: sand gets into lenses and phone ports.

Sunrise or sunset at the Crescent Lake?

Sunset for most people, sunrise if you hate crowds. In summer the sun sets around 20:30 to 21:00, and the ridges fill from about 18:00.

In July and August the midday sand is too hot for a pleasant climb. Visitors who want the sunset from the top queue for camels at about 18:00 and start climbing then; arrive at 19:00 and you may watch it from the queue. A 4-star guest on a Mogao and dunes tour made the same point the other way round: in summer, go to the dunes late in the afternoon, when the sun is already low.

Sunrise is calmer. The gates open early in summer and the morning camel strings go out with a small CNY 10 supplement. Since the ticket lasts 3 days, you can do both.

A long private day: Mogao, the dunes and the lake, lunch and dinner, then the Silk Road show at the Dunhuang Theater.

★ 5.0 · 13 hours · from $389

Explore the Mogao, dunes and Silk Road show day → Tour details

Is sand sliding at Mingsha Shan worth it?

For CNY 20 to 40 a run, try it once. You sit on a board and slide down a marked slope; the climb back up is the hard part.

Sand sliding is the cheapest thrill on the dunes, and kids love it. The other extras cost more: desert motorbikes run at about CNY 120 per person, and glider flights over the dunes range from CNY 160 to 1,600 depending on the distance. None of these comes with a tour. The private Mogao day lists sand skiing and the camel ride as optional extras, and the day with entry excludes the slide and the camel.

What is the Crescent Lake, and is it still natural?

A spring-fed lake about 100 metres long and 25 metres wide in a hollow of the dunes. Its water is natural, but since 2018 a replenishment scheme has kept the level up.

The lake has survived between the dunes for at least two thousand years because the wind blows sand up and away from the hollow instead of into it. The water was the weak point. After the Danghe reservoir was built in the 1970s the groundwater dropped, and the lake's maximum depth fell from 7.5 m in 1960 to about 1.3 m by the 1990s. A water treatment and replenishment project from April 2018 has raised and widened it again (Wikipedia).

The pavilions on the bank make the classic photo. The electric cart from the entrance costs CNY 10 one way if you would rather save your legs for the dune.

Which Dunhuang tours include Mingsha Shan and the camel ride?

Five tours on this site include the dunes, and none lists the camel ride as included. Plan on paying for it on the spot.

All of them put Mogao in the morning and the dunes in the afternoon, which is the right order. One guest who rode on the private day in 2020 summed it up: "The afternoon was great - completely different. Had a camel ride up the dunes and a walk around the lake."

How do you get to Mingsha Shan on your own?

By taxi in about 15 minutes for around CNY 15, or by city bus 3. The gate is 5 to 6 km south of the centre.

Bus 3 runs from the town centre to the scenic area for a couple of yuan. A taxi starts at CNY 5 and the ride costs around CNY 15. After sunset the gate gets busy with everyone leaving at once, so expect a short wait for a car. The Shazhou night market, back in the centre, makes an easy dinner stop afterwards.

Planning both big sites in one day? See how many days to spend in Dunhuang.

Frequently asked questions