The Glossary
menlou - "gateways, pathways, or narrow streets that may serve as footpaths or traveling routes for people and small vehicles."
A crater on Mars was named after Dunhuang, a city at the crossroads of the famous Silk Road founded in 111 BC by Emperor Wudi of the Han dynasty. This city in Gansu Province might have hit big time during the ancient times, but today, none of its literal meaning, "to flourish and prosper," can hardly be traced except for several sites that are still worthy of praise such as the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Mogao Caves, a 4th-century treasure trove of exquisite Buddhist art and manuscripts; and the popular Mingshashan-Yuevaquan National Park or Echoing-Sound Mountain, a camel-rider's paradise for its "singing" sand dunes and central oasis, Cresent Lake or Crescent Moon Spring. Flights...
Dunhuang Index:
Notes on the Road: Famous Travel Blogs
With few exceptions, travelers are hardly considered as celebrities. But with the rise of the Internet and the personal blog, these travelers who keep a blog have become famous in their own right, creating their own businesses, writing syndicated columns or starring in TV commercials.
"I had sex in a hostel"
Far from home and savoring a freedom they have not previously known, most travelers become sexually adventurous, even having multiple partners during their stay in a new country. Are backpackers the new sex tourists? Steve Meyer doesn’t think so and believes that travelers are just exercising a deep human need.
Building a career with the wild
The Great Orangutan Project makes it easier for volunteers to contribute help not only by providing money but by also personally taking care and supervising the orangutans until they are fit enough to live in the wild. Considered as Asia’s last great ape, the orangutan has become a cornerstone in wildlife conservation efforts: that international cooperation can lead to the survival of vulnerable creatures.
In search of a good bath
Though a simple affair of splashing water against the body, bathing as a form of leisure has a long history, beginning with the Romans who constructed beautiful structures precisely for this purpose. Now, bathing is an industry, as spas, bathhouses and local government with their hot springs try to convince tourists to luxuriate in water.