敦煌的世界文化遗产
甘肃省敦煌市和瓜州县属于古代敦煌地域范围，现存3处世界文化遗产，即莫高窟、玉门关遗址和悬泉置遗址。
莫高窟位于甘肃省敦煌市区东南25千米鸣沙山东麓的断崖上，与山西大同云冈石窟、河南洛阳龙门石窟并称“中国三大石窟”。莫高窟现存735个洞窟、45000平方米壁画、2400多尊彩塑，被誉为“全世界最大的画廊”“东方的卢浮宫”。世界遗产委员会对莫高窟的评价是：“莫高窟地处丝绸之路的一个战略要点。它不仅是东西方贸易的中转站，同时也是宗教、文化和知识的交汇处。莫高窟的492个小石窟和洞穴庙宇，以其塑像和壁画闻名于世，展示了延续千年的佛教艺术。”
玉门关设于西汉元鼎六年（前111），位于距今敦煌市西北90千米的疏勒河边。汉玉门关遗址区包括小方盘城、大方盘城、汉长城边墙及烽燧遗址，包括20座烽燧、18段长城边墙遗址，东起仓亭燧，西至显明燧，在长约45千米、宽约0.5千米的区域内以小方盘城遗址为中心呈线性分布。作为“丝绸之路：长安—天山廊道的路网”上的重要关隘，玉门关遗址确定了小方盘城和大方盘城遗存年代、性质，以及古驿道具体位置和走向，是古代中原通往西域的重要门户。
悬泉置遗址位于敦煌市与瓜州县交界处，是中国汉代邮驿系统中级别最高的驿站。其主要职责有二：一是接待过往人员，提供饮食、住宿、车马；二是传递政令和邮书。悬泉置遗址的发现，重点标注了丝绸之路在这一路段的具体走向，作为 “丝绸之路：长安—天山廊道的路网”真实存在的驿站，第一次确证了丝绸之路这条交通线在历史上的存在。悬泉置出土的汉简，从机构、人员、运作到往来，详细地记录了汉晋时期如何经营丝绸之路，展现了中原王朝与广大西域地区频繁交往的史实。
World Cultural Heritage
Dunhuang City and Guazhou County in northwest China's Gansu Province are parts of the ancient Dunhuang region and home to two existing World Cultural Heritage sites: the Mogao Caves, the Yumen Pass ruins and the Xuanquan Posthouse Site.
The Mogao Caves, located 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City at the eastern foot of Mingsha (Sounding Sand) Hill, are numbered among the "Three Great Grottoes of China" alongside the Yungang Grottoes in Datong, Shanxi Province, and the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, Henan Province. The 735 caves, 45,000 square meters of murals, and more than 2,400 painted statues have collectively earned titles such as "the largest gallery in the world" and "the Louvre on the Orient". The UNESCO World Heritage Committee evaluated the Mogao Caves as such: "Situated at a strategic point along the Silk Route, at the crossroads of trade as well as religious, cultural and intellectual influences, the 492 cells and cave sanctuaries in Mogao are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art."
Yumen Pass, established in 111 BC during the Western Han Dynasty, is located approximately 90 kilometers northwest of today's Dunhuang City along the Shule River. Its ruins encompass the remains of Xiaofangpan Fort, Dafangpan Fort, sections of the Han-dynasty Great Wall, and beacon towers. The site includes 20 beacon towers and 18 segments of the Han-era frontier wall stretching from Cangting Beacon in the east to Xianming Beacon in the west. These structures are distributed linearly across a corridor measuring 45 kilometers long and 0.5 kilometers wide centered around the Xiaofangpan Fort ruins. As a strategic pass in the routes network of the Chang'an-Tianshan corridor along the Silk Road, the Yumen Pass ruins provide critical archaeological evidence to date and determine the function of Xiaofangpan and Dafangpan Forts and map the precise route and direction of the ancient post road, and served as a vital gateway between the Central Plains and the Western Regions.
Located at the boundary between Dunhuang City and Guazhou County, the Xuanquan Posthouse Site is the highest-ranking post station of the Han-dynasty postal system. Its main responsibilities were twofold: first, to accommodate travelers by providing food, lodging, and transportation; second, to relay government orders and mail. Discovery of the Xuanquan Posthouse Site pinpointed the specific route of the Silk Road across the area. Remains of a real post station along the Silk Road pointed to a network of routes from Chang'an to the Tianshan Mountain Corridor and provided confirmation of the historicity of this transportation route. The Han-dynasty bamboo slips unearthed there meticulously document the operations of the Silk Road during the Han and Jin (265-420) dynasties, detailing how it was managed and showcasing the frequent interactions between the Central Plains dynasties and the vast Western Regions.
