Five-Color Sand Therapy

Five-Color Sand Therapy

　　Five-Color Sand Therapy Has a Thousand-Year History: Sand therapy is a unique health practice in Dunhuang. The annual Five-Color Sand Therapy Festival in July and August is the perfect time for locals to sunbathe their waists and legs. During this period, people of all ages brave the strong sunlight to come to the scorching hot sand, burying their bodies in the warm sand to eliminate dampness, drive out cold, and treat rheumatism and arthritis in the waist and legs. At this time, the beach is as crowded as a pot of dumplings.

　　Currently, Dunhuang and Turpan in Xinjiang are China’s only two sacred sites for sand therapy. Turpan reaches a maximum temperature of 46°C, while Dunhuang’s daytime high in summer is 41°C and nighttime temperatures range from 16–25°C. Dunhuang offers a cooler and more comfortable climate for sand therapy. With a more homogeneous ethnic composition—Han Chinese make up 99.5% of the population—and as a well-established tourist destination, Dunhuang provides better supporting facilities for accommodation, dining, and transportation, making it a more suitable place for rheumatic and bone disease patients from all over the country to visit the Five-Color Sand Therapy Center.