On the afternoon of July 29th, Dunhuang in Gansu Province experienced a rare sandstorm, with a towering “sand wall” reaching up to a hundred meters instantly engulfing the highway. Some visitors described it as walking into a scene from a doomsday novel.
Several netizens posted videos claiming that on July 29th at 7 p.m., they encountered a sandstorm while en route to Dunhuang. In the videos, strong winds carried swirling yellow sand, forming a towering “sand wall” that swept towards them, instantly swallowing vehicles driving on the highway. The visibility dropped sharply as vehicles entered the dust, causing many to slow down, turn on hazard lights, and some even had to make temporary stops.
Many netizens commented on the videos, saying, “Last night from Da Qaidam to Dunhuang, experienced my first sandstorm in my life, it was really terrifying.” “I happened to encounter it yesterday, it scared the pee out of me, the first time I’ve encountered a sandstorm of this scale in my life, I watched it grow from a distance and engulf us.” “We were on the road, waited for over an hour, unable to see clearly, it was massive.” “It was really terrifying, I also encountered it.”
Local netizens in Gansu also expressed their shock, saying, “Encountered it for the first time in my life, scared me to death.” “I was eating outside, ended up with two ounces of soil in my big plate of chicken.”
Around 7 p.m. on the 29th, the Jiuquan Meteorological Observatory issued a yellow alert for a sandstorm.
On the morning of the 30th, many tourists who had traveled to Dunhuang recounted their experiences of encountering the sandstorm that day to Jumuxin News. One tourist from Jiangsu, Ms. Chen, recalled that the weather was normal on the 29th morning, but suddenly strong winds blew in the evening, followed by a sandstorm. With the help of a kind driver, she and her companions safely made it back to the hotel.
Ms. Xie from Hangzhou, Zhejiang, stated that this was her first encounter with a sandstorm in her life, feeling like she had “stepped into a scene from a doomsday novel.”
Ms. Zhang from Beijing also expressed that this was her first experience of a sandstorm at such close range, describing it as “pitch dark,” providing a firsthand experience of the local “specialty.”
Reportedly, the sandstorm lasted for about an hour that day. Due to this event, the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring Scenic Area in Dunhuang announced the cancellation of the stargazing event scheduled for that evening at 7 p.m.
In recent years, Gansu has experienced severe sandstorm weather in many areas.
On May 3rd this year, Dunhuang had just experienced a severe sandstorm with the highest wind force reaching level 12, leaving nearly ten thousand tourists stranded in several scenic spots in Dunhuang.
On the night of August 7 last year, during an event in a scenic area in Dunhuang where a “concert under the starry sky with ten thousand people” was being held, a sudden sandstorm forced everyone to evacuate urgently.