Things to do in Zhangye

Online ticketing is convenient; you can enter the scenic area by scanning your ID card or QR code for quick access. The beauty of the Danxia landform depends on the weather. On a sunny day, the colorful rocks are vibrant and perfect for photos. However, if it's cloudy and overcast, the photos won't turn out as well. We recommend checking the weather forecast before your trip to ensure you get the best experience!

My absolute favorite part of the Qinghai-Gansu loop was Ping Shan Lake Grand Canyon – the experience was fantastic! The staff were also incredibly helpful, providing directions throughout the journey. We opted for a reverse-direction in-depth tour, which wasn't too physically demanding, the scenery was beautiful, and we avoided the crowds, allowing us to take photos freely. Thumbs up!

A pair of discerning eyes, seeing through a thousand years. Neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing. Marco Polo visited me, King Shah Rukh also came, Emperors of all dynasties rebuilt me, burning incense, bowing, and making vows to me, Let the world be noisy, neither sad nor happy, neither born nor dying. I have attained Nirvana.

Mati Temple, located at the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, is a national key cultural relics protection unit. It is a group of grottoes integrating Han and Tibetan Buddhism with Yugur and Tibetan folk customs, initially carved during the Northern Liang Dynasty and flourishing during the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It's only an hour's drive from Zhangye city, and the road is relatively easy to drive. Unfortunately, apart from the Jinta Temple, which is mostly closed to the public, the grottoes and niches in the Thirty-Three Heavens North Temple Grottoes and Thousand Buddha Caves are mostly empty. Most of the Buddha statues and murals are gone. Besides multiple layers of historical damage, the main destruction occurred during the Cultural Revolution, when the vast majority of ancient Buddha statues were smashed and murals were removed. Jinta Temple, due to its remote location and sparse population, miraculously preserved its Northern Dynasties painted apsara sculptures, becoming a treasure of the Mati Temple grottoes. Most of the Buddha statues seen now are reconstructions from the 1980s and 1990s. Many niches have not yet been re-sculpted, so they appear empty. It is not recommended to visit if you only want to see Buddha statues and murals.

A very satisfying trip! The half-day tour of Binggou Danxia was just over 40 yuan per person for transportation, including door-to-door pick-up and drop-off – excellent value for money. Especially our driver, Mr. Zhao, was incredibly warm, attentive, and considerate – very professional, punctual, and responsible. Highly recommended!

I recommend driving there; it's a thousand-year-old pastoral idyll nestled at the foot of the Qilian Mountains. The Royal Horse Ranch, founded by Huo Qubing, is said to be the world's largest and oldest military horse ranch. Even after an hour's drive, we still couldn't reach the edge. Now, snow-capped mountains, rapeseed flowers, and herds of horses are all framed together. The most moving sight is the horses scattered across the grasslands, some grazing with their heads down, others galloping with their manes flying, completely relaxed and at ease.

On the third day of the National Day trip, the journey from Zhangye to Jiuquan was long, so we arranged to go to the snow mountain first. It is indeed not famous, but the scenery is nice, and you may see marmots, but we didn’t see any. It was cold and windy, so you needed to wear a thin down jacket and gloves. There were plank roads all the way, but the altitude was 3900-4000m. This was the day with the fewest steps on the trip. We walked more than 8,000 meters and had not yet reached the end. I flew a drone, and it may not have been halfway, but I still felt very tired. It took 2 hours, plus the round trip bus ride was about 3 hours. There were not many people in the scenic area, so there was no need to queue.

What's confusing about this scenic area is that the navigation leads to the visitor center on the map, but after asking a staff member, I learned that I had to go up to the second floor to exchange for tickets, get a navigation address and a pass, and then drive more than ten kilometers to actually reach the scenic area. Make sure you don't lose your pass; you'll need to check it before entering. Also, it might be inconvenient if you're not driving. During the summer, which is probably peak season, I didn't see any buses for individual tourists; it was all private cars. The scenery inside the scenic area is definitely worth seeing, and the fact that drones can fly is a great feature 👍