It's close to midnight and a night market in the middle of a desert in northwestern China is still bustling with people.

With delicacies such as kebabs, pies and noodles on the table, tourists are embracing a perfect autumn night in Dunhuang, Gansu Province.

Ms. Cai was soliciting hungry and curious tourists by putting mouthwatering kebabs in front of her two restaurants. The 40-year-old restaurant owner has been running the business in this night market since 2003 when it was first opened.

"We survived the days when I didn't need to hire a cook because tourists were rarely seen in the market during the pandemic," said Cai, who had four restaurants in this market alone before the COVID-19 hit the tourism industry.

"Now I have a five-member team in the kitchen. During the summer, I even hired ten extra staffers to wait tables. The business is really coming back as tourists surge," she said while she served two dishes for a table.

Cai said tasting food is the most direct way to experience local life and she kept improving her menu so that tourists can have a good impression about local cuisine.

After satisfying the stomach, tourists can take a walk among the market's stands which sell various kinds of souvenirs. Dressed like Flying Apsaras, flying gods in Dunhuang art, Su Mo stood out among the crowds while she was enjoying her last moment of her two-day trip in Dunhuang.

Su just came back from a photo shoot in Mingsha Mountain, or Singing Sand Dunes, which attracts millions of tourists through its breath-taking desert landscape. Recently, Flying Apsaras cosplay and riding camels gained huge popularity among tourists.

The 23-year-old lady, who came from the city of Shiyan, Hubei Province, is a keen lover of Hanfu (traditional clothing for Han Chinese) and ancient-style makeup. She designed her own makeup and spent a month practicing the signature poses of the flying gods.

"I enjoyed the sunrise on a camel's back and sunset on the slope of a sand dune. I also saw the amazing colors of murals and learned about the history of Dunhuang at the Mogao Grottoes. These are unforgettable memories to me," said Su, who also highly recommended local mutton.

"Since coming to China for work, I have been reading a lot about the history and culture of this unique country, including the history of Dunhuang and I know that historically, Dunhuang was one of the important cities on the ancient Silk Road, attracting many tourists," said Kabir Jurazoda, director of CAREC Institute, who visited Dunhuang for the first time when he was invited to take part in the Sixth Silk Road (Dunhuang) International Cultural Expo opening on September 6.

CAREC Institute is an intergovernmental organization contributing to the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) Program through knowledge generation and capacity building.

In the director's opinion, Dunhuang is not only a beautiful tourist site, but also an object of research tourism, which will attract many researchers from the Central Asian region and beyond.

"The natural landscapes of the Yardang landform, the singing sand dunes and the Crescent Moon spring show us how nature's ability to turn a landscape into a work of art. Don't forget the Chinese people, unique culture and modernity, which, combined with the tourist attractions, make Dunhuang a must-see destination for foreign tourists," Jurazoda added.

He also pointed out the potential of cooperation in developing tourism in Central Asia which has a wide range of historical and cultural heritage, unique gastronomy and local traditions, a rich network of historical cities and natural endowments that traverse national boundaries.

"The countries of Central Asia and China can jointly create a tourism region that will provide visitors with a quality tourism experience along the Silk Road, which is the most important route connecting our countries' tourist attractions, outstanding natural and cultural resources. In addition, the main national and transnational roads of the region, such as the Pamir Highway, the Karakorum Highway, the Genghis Khan Trail and the Trans-Siberian Highway, are connected to the Silk Road," said Jurazoda.

He added that countries can promote a common brand such as "Visit the Silk Road" by developing and launching a China-Central Asia tourism web portal, as well as organizing joint tourism promotion activities, and business initiatives for tour operators and other types of tourism services providers.

"Dunhuang tour operators can jointly explore China-Central Asia tours for tourists from China, Central Asia and other countries. The cooperation of the companies allows the tourists not only to discover the beauties of Dunhuang, but also to visit and get acquainted with Central Asia," said the director.

Speaking of Dunhuang's role in promoting tourism cooperation, he noted that the city can share its knowledge of tourism development through relevant capacity building, and skills development programs should be developed to bridge the skills gap between countries, especially for participants in the regional tourism value chain.