After having listened to this 1980 recording several times recently, I am still completely floored by this album. In fact, I still can't believe that I got this out of the New Age section and for only seven dollars.

As a fan of 1970s electronica and progressive rock, I was only vaguely familiar with Kitaro's work in the Far East Family Band, and even less familiar with his solo work: everything that I had read mentioned New Age this or New Age that. Only brief mention of Kitaro had been made in the prog circles, and upon consulting the Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Rock found that they had nothing to say about his solo work whatsoever apart from providing a discography and mentioning him only briefly in a huge section on the Far East Family Band. To further complicate matters, I have personally found three different release dates for this album (1980, 1981, and 1985) and the rest of his discography is equally confusing. As such, I entered into my first experience with the music of Kitaro blindly....more or less.

The instrumentation on this album is heavy on the analog synths and the dreamy, soft soundscapes that would not be out of place on a Tangerine Dream or (especially) Vangelis album from 1977 - 1979 are everywhere on Tun Huang (aka Silk Road 3). I would also throw 1975 Pink Floyd in there too, but that might be stretching it a bit...but not much I might add. The analog synthesizers used by Kitaro include instruments by Roland, Prophet (Prophet V), and Moog (mostly mini-moog), along with the mellotron - everything sounds incredibly warm and organic. Kitaro is also quite the multi-instrumentalist and plays a full drum kit and percussion on a few tracks, along with the sitar (on Lord of the Sand only), tabra, acoustic guitar, chanting bell, and wind chime. Joining Kitaro on this album is violinist Yasuo Kojima - he contributes some excellent playing.

It is however (as it should be), the music that has me so excited. It is richly textured, contemplative, deeply haunting and sad at times, exhilarating, sweeping - you get the idea. Musically, there is far, far too much going on in this recording to simply lump it with the static and motionless approach of ambient music or the homogenized mood pieces that characterize much of current New Age music. Harmonies are used to good effect, there is melodic counterpoint and dynamic range along with shifts in rhythm, not to mention variation in timbre. The pieces all flow together in one song-cycle suite which adds a bit of drama to the overall work, although there is a slight break between Tun Huang and Free Flight. All in all, this was a very nice way to draw the Silk Road trilogy to a close.

Well, stumbling upon this Kitaro album completely made my day and it is very highly recommended to electronica fans and open-minded proggers. For those folks that liked this album, you may also like Albedo 0.39 (Vangelis, 1976), Opera Sauvage (Vangelis, 1979), Force Majeure (Tangerine Dream, 1979), and Tangram (Tangerine Dream, 1980).

I agree with the previous reviewer. This is music from an age when everyone important to New Age music was creating sublime vibes. This is also from the time when India was flowing through Kitaro's own life experience, as he sat at the feet of Osho Rajneesh. Deuter was there as well, and in fact, this is the only Kitaro release (perhaps with OASIS) that is in a class with Deuter's first 10 albums. Such was the dispensation of the 70s, such was the Buddhafield around the master... It does not matter what you think of Rajneesh -- just as it doesn't matter that The Incredible String Band reached their own highest peak while involved with Scientology. I haven't heard all of Kitaro's output, but I know SILK ROAD is considered the best of his early work. Wrong! Very wrong. Listen to this one for penetrating perfection. TUNHUANG is practically a symphony of zen-like meditation. Criminal that it's not too available now.

This is by far, my favorite Kitaro album, with Ki being a close second. There is no doubt in my mind, that this era was Kitaro's artistic peak. As with much of his albums at the time, Tunhuang is warm, smooth, lush, flowing and extremely melodic. Unfortunately, he changed his style when he became more popular in the US, so the early gems like this are no longer in print. If you can find this used, especially the Japanese pressing(superior to the US pressing), by all means get it. If you like Kitaro at all, you will like this album.

This CD is best played in a darkened room and at low volume. It's flow of tinkling tones soothes the soul as well as stimulates the mind. The best CD to fall asleep to. I normally find New Age music tedious and pretentious but this one is a gem.

Maybe it's because this was the first recording of Kitaro's that I heard. Maybe not. After all this time, it still reigns supreme as one of my favorite CD's. It certainly is my favorite Kitaro work. He's done so many fine recordings, but "Tunhuang" soars into the upper relms of beauty. Continuous, flowing melodies that build throughout the disc, culmitating in the sublime "Sacred Journey II". This disc is hard to find and a bit pricey but you owe it to yourself.