5 Day Private Tour to Zhangye,Jiayuguan and Dunhuang from Lanzhou

Day 1 :Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park.

Your tour guide will pick you up at 8:00am, then heading directly to Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park.

Undulating fiery-red ridges together with amazing multicolored mountain folds transform the park into an immense sea of fire with rolling waves, earning it the reputation of China’s Rainbow Mountains and also one of the ‘Top 10 Geographical Wonders of the World’ selected by the National Geographic.

Zhangye Danxia Geopark’s geological structure is formed by rocks piling on top of one another. It means that after billions of years of weathering and water erosion, together with the influences brought by the special geological structure, climate change, and wind power, the red sandstones, psephites and pelites have shaped into isolated mountains and steep rocks. The sandstones’ bright colors make the Geopark an attractive tourist destination to experience the masterpieces of nature.

Experience the charm of the nature with your tour guide.

Enjoy a lunch in the local restaurant, then you will be transferred back to your hotel in Zhangye

Day 2: Zhangye City Exploration

Your tour guide will pick you up in your hotel’s lobby then heading direclty to the Giant Buddha Temple and the Zhangye Museum. The Giant Buddha Temple is renowned for the largest indoor reclining Buddha. It is said that this giant Buddha statue is made in the image of Sakyamuni. Learn the stories and histories with your tour guide while walking. Admire numerous scriptures.

Continue to Zhangye Museum to see the displayed cultural relics which reflect the history of ancient Zhangye.

Enjoy lunch in the local restaurant, then drive one hour to the Mati Temple Grottoes. It is a unique temple housing buildings of both Han Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism. Follow the guide to admire the Buddha statues carved in the caves and appreciate the painted scriptures of heroes in Tibetan myths.

After that, the guide will escort you back to the hotel.

Day 3 Zhangye – Jiayuguan

Your tour guide will pick you up from your hotels lobby, then heading directly to Jiayuguan by private car, which takes about 2.5 hours.Jianyuguan Pass is considered as  “the First and Greatest Pass under Heaven”, also the westernmost starting point of Great Wall of Ming Dynasty – Jiayuguan Pass. First  visit to the Great Wall Museum to learn the histories and stories about the Great Wall, including history, old photos, relics, etc. Then enter the gate to explore the grandiose Jiayuguan Fort. It is a complex of towers, city walls and other military buildings covering more than 25,000 square meters.

After lunch , you will be transferred to your hotel in Jiayuguan.

Day 4 Jiayuguan – Dunhuang
Today you will drive to Dunhuang from Jiayuguan in the early morning.  Visit the Yulin Grottoes on the way. The forty-two caves house some 250 polychrome statues and 4,200 square meters of wall paintings, dating from the Tang Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty (seventh to fourteenth centuries).

After lunch you will heading to Dunhuang, stay in Dunhuang

Day 5 Dunhuang
Your tour guide will pick you up in your hotels lobby at 9:00am, then heading directly to Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center. Watch the documentary movies that introduce the history, arts, and other facts about Mogao Grottoes. Then, take the interzonal bus to Mogao Grottoes.

Mogao Grottoes is famed as the “Louvre of East”, which is outstanding for its exquisite mural paintings and statues. There are now 492 grottoes in which about 45000 square meters mural paintings and 2100 colorfully painted statues from which you can trace the development of There are about 40 common caves opened to the public.

Enjoy lunch in the local restaurant, then visit the Echoing Sand Mountains. It is said, in the sunny days, the sand mountains echo like Orchestra music even if there is no wind. If you slide from the sand mountains, you can hear the echoing sound clearly.

Finally you will visit the Crescent Lake. Surrounded by the Echoing Sand Mountains, Crescent Lake is a beautiful oasis with some well decorated traditional Chinese architecture, some trees and flowers and a lake that has never dried up and shapes like a crescent moon.

After the tour you will be transferred to your hotel in Dunhuang