I don't say that about many places. I've simply seen too many that disappointed and too many that surprised to rave on and on about a place. But Dunhuang in Gansu province China? Oh, oh, how I pine for the wide swathes of desert, the lonely roads, the dunes, and the sand biting into my face.

And those caves? Are they really all they are built up to be? Can you trust the hype? Well, if I could return to any place in China today it would be Dunhuang in first place. (Yangshuo would be second.) The art in the caves is just too blessed, splendid, colorful and timeless to miss. Really, if you ever get the chance to go to China make Dunhuang one of your stops. You will not regret it.