Optical dust particle counters were used to measure dust concentration at three sites with different surface conditions in a small area at Dunhuang, China, from March 25 to April 15, 2004. Distances between the three sites was about 10km, respectively. The surface conditions of the three sites were Gobi desert (sand with stones), bare cropland and shrub with saline and alkaline land, respectively. Wind and other meteorological elements were also measured at the three sites. A convergence/divergence method was used for evaluating regional dust emission from the area by calculating horizontal dust transportation (horizontal dust flux) from the three sites. The results show that although the horizontal dust flux at the Gobi desert was the highest among the three sites due to strong wind there, dust concentration at the cropland was the most among the three sites and regional dust emission occurred only when the wind blew from the cropland to the Gobi desert. This suggests that agriculture activities play a very important role for regional dust emission at Dunhuang, China.