Jangala Dunhuang
A minimalist desert hotel near Mingsha Mountain with its own vineyard and vegetable garden.
- Neighbourhood
- Qili Town, near Crescent Moon Spring
- Status
- Open
Why we recommend it
Dunhuang draws visitors for the Mogao Caves and the dunes. Jangala gives the oasis a small, design-led place to stay: 25 rooms on a site of some 10,000 square metres, taking its references from the Silk Road and the nearby cave temples.
The idea is a private retreat rather than a sightseeing base. The hotel grows grapes and vegetables on site, makes use of natural light and renewable energy, and builds its programme around the desert: visits to the caves and expeditions devoted to their murals, cycling, camel riding, desert camping, meditation, wine-making workshops and private dinners at sunset. It suits travellers who want quiet after the dunes. Readers after a larger, more traditional hotel within walking distance of Crescent Lake should see Silk Road Dunhuang Hotel, the fort-style hotel on the edge of the Gobi.
Rooms & Suites
The categories begin with the Oasis View rooms and include family rooms and several suites: the Courtyard Suite, a Premium Suite with terrace, a Family Suite and the Jangala Two-Bedroom Suite. The Courtyard Suite has an outdoor terrace fitted with a projection wall and a telescope for the night sky, which is one of the better reasons to come this far into the desert.
Dining
The hotel has a restaurant and a bar, as well as the Mirage Bar on the roof. It keeps its own vineyard and organic vegetable garden, and wine-making workshops and private sunset dinners are among the activities offered.
Design
The buildings use natural materials and a deliberately minimalist language intended to sit quietly in the desert. The Living Room, the main lounge, combines marble surfaces with deep sofas and doubles as a boutique and a space for art exhibitions. Outside, the Water View Theatre is an open-air stage that hosts performances through the year.
Wellness & Spa
There is a fitness centre, and meditation sessions are part of the programme, alongside cycling, camel riding and desert camping.
Location
Jangala is in Qili Town, outside the centre of Dunhuang, in Gansu province. Dunhuang Mogao International Airport is 13 kilometres away, the town centre 15 kilometres and the Mogao Caves about 35 kilometres. For the principal sights, see Visiting the Mogao Caves, OKYTO’s guide to a thousand years of Buddhist painting at Dunhuang, and Dunhuang Beyond the Caves, covering the singing dunes, Crescent Lake and the Han frontier; the cave visit itself is described in OKYTO’s experience page on the painted caves of Mogao.
- Address
- 12999 Jingguan Avenue, Qili Town, Dunhuang 736200, Gansu
- Website
- Official website