Forging a familial bond by camelback at cultural crossroads

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Dunhuang is not just an ancient oasis in an arid land, but a spring of love for my family.

The Silk Road settlement has not only inhabited an important position in global trade and cultural communication for centuries, but also has come to occupy a special place in my own heart and in my bond with my daughter in recent years.

That's because one of the most cherished memories Lily and I share was our trip to Dunhuang six years ago, when she was 7 years old. We came to film the fun short-video series, Desert Dream, about Dunhuang, the Silk Road and the Belt and Road, which won a national award and earned millions of views online.

Rather than just clipping together mundane montages of ports, cargo containers and trains, we designed a daddy-daughter cultural treasure hunt through Dunhuang. This led us to explore the Mogao Caves, night market and Crescent Moon Lake, and their role in cross-cultural communications in the past, present and future.

At one point, we're riding a camel across the Singing Sand Dunes, when Lily asks what cultural treasure we'll find next. I give her a hint: "It's under us". She guesses: a camel.

In the end, Lily buys a stuffed camel toy for her little brother, since he didn't get to ride a real camel like she did, personifying the spirit of sharing that the Silk Road and BRI embody.

When I returned to Dunhuang a few weeks ago for the 8th Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo, I bought another plush camel toy as a surprise for my now-14-year-old daughter, since she'd given hers to her brother. Mostly, it was a reminder of our special time together in the arid region, delighting in an authentically intimate family experience we shared virtually with millions of people around the world.

Dunhuang itself was a co-writer of this series' imaginative storyline, but the scripts mostly wrote themselves, inspired by our sincere feelings and actual interactions.

One unscripted moment that wasn't captured on camera but is forever recorded in my mind was when I literally stumbled across another type of cultural treasure.

I was trudging up the dunes, shin-deep in loose sand, when I fell. My hand shot out to catch my fall. To my surprise, my fingers folded around an unidentified object buried beneath the surface.

When I stood up and opened my hand, my palm was cradling a glistening gemstone carved with an auspicious Tibetan inscription.

It was likely a trinket lost by another traveler. But to me, the find felt like a gift from the desert — a serendipitous treasure whose meaning I could write myself. I keep this amulet in a box of mementos as my children grow up, alongside their baby photos and stick-figure drawings.

During my most recent trip to Dunhuang for the Global Mayors Dialogue, our film team expounded on the concept of camels as carriers not only of goods but also people and culture along the Silk Road — and how they continue this journey today, in the era of high-speed trains and the internet.

In the intro, I reunite and reminisce with my "old friend", the camel who carried Lily and me several years ago.

Dunhuang conjures such creativity in ways few destinations do.

One of the greatest takeaways from the recent cultural expo and mayors' meeting is that the city is increasingly leveraging new ideas to update tradition — a transformation I've chronicled since my first visit 15 years ago.

Travelers to Dunhuang are going beyond classical archaeological sites, such as the Mogao Caves and Yangguan Pass, to also explore novel boutique bookstores and creative DIY workshops. There, they create their own arts and crafts featuring ancient symbols like the thousand-handed Guanyin (Bodhisattva of Compassion) and nine-colored deer.

They're discovering there's much more to Dunhuang than just the camels and caves that serve as its age-old icons. The city is preserving the past while inventing the future.

It's a place where tradition invites innovation, the Silk Road intersects with the Belt and Road, and personal experiences enrich civilizational exchanges.

Dunhuang is a destination where we can all come together, across family, culture and time — overcoming every border and boundary — to meet one another and connect.

It's not just an oasis that pours water into the desert, but a fountain of shared humanity in a sometimes desolate and divided world.