The multi-angle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR) aerosol optical thickness (AOT) product (τMISR) was compared with sunphotometer AOT (τSP) at Dunhuang (40.09°N, 94.41°E), located near the Takalamakan and Gobi dust source regions in China, during March–November 2000. This study is unique because AOT measurements from the ground are not routinely available at or near dust source regions. The τMISR and τSP are highly correlated, with linear correlation coefficients (R) ranging from 0.85 to 0.95 depending on the different comparison criteria used to assess the MISR retrievals. With one exception where τMISR shows large differences (>0.3) when compared with τSP during the passage of a dust front, all other collocated τSP/τMISR pairs are highly correlated with R > 0.9 and with root-mean-square error of 0.06 when retrieval conditions are favourable. Overall, τMISR systemically over-estimate τSP by 0.05, but they all fall within the predicted uncertainties (0.05 or 20% of τSP, whichever is larger). Due to diurnal change of AOT, the difference between daily averaged τSP values and τMISR reported during MISR overpass time is about 0.09. We discuss the implications of these results for satellite aerosol retrievals and radiative forcing studies.