As well as an exit to the West, Dunhuang was for more than two thousand years a crucial entrance in to China. Travelers followed a string of oases, skirting around the unforgiving sands of the Gobi and Taklamakan Desert. In this fashion they would also avoid the ghosts and demons that were said to haunt the desert. It was said that the desert was so desolate and devoid of life that the bones of those who had died in it were used as signposts.
Imagine the pleasure, then, of the travelers as they reached Crescent Lake. Locals say that it takes the shape of the eye of a beautiful woman, lucid, clear and seductive. Yet the very existence of the beautiful desert oasis of Crescent Lake is threatened.
Over the last thirty years the water has dropped at least twenty five feet. This is as a result of two things – the local farmers have redirected the water to feed their crops. Secondly the population of Dunhuang has more than doubled in that period. A desperate attempt to feed the lake from an artificial aqueduct failed (due to pollutants) and so each year the lake slowly shrinks a little more.The Dang River which flowed past the city and was what inspired the original settlers to live there has been dammed. That was a few decades ago and certainly, the yield of the local farms improved. However with that improvement came the inevitable human arrivals to assist with further expansion. More people meant more demand for water and so the underground water table inevitably began to drop.
The key to retaining the oasis will be in the reduction of water consumption. Despite the tourism that the Crescent Lake attracts the amount of glacial melt from the distant Qilian Mountains that feeds the Dang River has not changed for many centuries. If the Three Forbids is rigorously enforced then perhaps the Crescent Lake will be enjoyed by many generations to come.
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