Mingsha Mountain, also known as Shensha Mountain and Shajiao Mountain, starts from the cliff top of Mogao Grottoes in the east and connects Danghe Reservoir in the west. It is 40 kilometers long from east to west and 20 kilometers long from north to south, reaching tens of meters.
In a green basin surrounded by Mingsha Mountain peaks, there is a crescent-shaped clear water, which is the crescent spring.
Crescent Spring is located at the northern foot of Mingsha Mountain. It is more than 300 meters long from east to west, 50 meters wide from north to south and about 5 meters deep. The spring is shaped like a crescent moon, hence the name Crescent Moon Spring. The spring is surrounded by Mingsha Mountain, but it is not covered by quicksand. It is always rippling and crystal clear, and the scenery after a long rain and drought is very beautiful. Its magic lies in that quicksand can never fill the clear spring. In the past, people could not understand the mysteries of nature, but created beautiful myths and legends with rich imagination to explain natural phenomena.
Fire and water are always incompatible, and desert springs are hard to exist. But the crescent moon spring falls in the yellow sand like a crescent moon. The spring water is cool and clear, sweet and delicious. It has been lying quietly in the arms of the sand mountain for thousands of years. Although it is often attacked by strong winds and fierce sand, it is still rippling and flowing! It is like the eyes of a peerless beauty-clear, beautiful and affectionate; Just like my fair lady's lips-mysterious, gentle and charming; It is like a melon tooth-green, sweet and crystal clear.
By the crescent spring, poplars are slim, weeping willows dance and floating silk, Elaeagnus angustifolia flowers are attractive, reeds sway and the scenery is picturesque. On the platform on the south bank of the spring, there are a large number of ancient buildings, such as Niangniang Hall, Dragon Palace, Wangyaodong, Yuquanlou and Leiyin Temple, which are carved with beams and painted with buildings, and intrigued with each other. Fish swim in groups in the crescent spring. According to legend, fish is called "iron-backed fish", which can cure intractable diseases; Grass is called "seven-star grass" and has the function of promoting aphrodisiac. Eating fish and eating grass can make you live forever. Therefore, Crescent Moon Spring is also called "Medicine Spring".
The earliest record of "Crescent Moon Spring" can be found in Xin's "III" in the Eastern Han Dynasty: "There is Shajiao Mountain in the west of the river, and its peak is steep, surpassing the rocky mountain, and its sand grains are coarse yellow and dry." The sun in the mountain has springs, the clouds are manholes, and the quicksand in the ages is not filled. "The' manhole' mentioned here is the crescent spring today. Since then, records about Crescent Moon Spring have frequently appeared in history books and are closely linked with Mingsha Mountain. "Yuanhe County Records" in the Tang Dynasty records: "Mingsha Mountain has a spring and is called a manhole. It has been filled with sand since ancient times, and the water is extremely sweet. "
According to historical records, Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring have become desert wonders for more than two thousand years. For thousands of years, people have been wondering why Mingsha Mountain, as a sand dune, has remained unchanged for thousands of years. And why is the crescent spring in Shahai "the spring reflects the moon and there is no dust" and "Yue Quan is clear, the ancient sand does not fill the spring, and the spring does not dry up"? This miracle created by nature puzzled the ancients, and finally they had to sigh as "the wonder of mountains and the mystery of springs".
According to textual research, the sand hills around Crescent Spring are towering, and the ravine is crescent-shaped with the shape of the spring. The wind blowing into the depression around the mountain will rotate upward due to the aerodynamic principle, so the sand flowing down from the mountain around the Crescent Spring will be sent back to the other side of the ridge of Mingsha Mountain in all directions. This is why spring is not covered with yellow sand. For more than two thousand years, it is precisely because of this unique topographic movement that the sand mountain and the spring water have maintained a contradictory and harmonious state of natural existence. Despite the sandstorm, the crescent spring is still crystal clear.
Crescent Moon Spring, a dreamlike mystery, has not been submerged by quicksand or dried up by drought for thousands of years. There is this spring in the vast desert, this water in the black wind and yellow sand, this scene in the desolation, which won the rhythm of heaven and earth, and the magic of nature is fascinating. "Wan Li clear sky, absolutely breathtaking beauty. Yinshan is surrounded by sand, and a pool of water is green. " "Crescent Moon" is one of the eight scenic spots in Dunhuang. Crescent Spring is a national key scenic spot and one of the 40 major tourist attractions in China, and is known as the first spring in the desert.