Qinghai Lake Zhangye Danxia Landform Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes Tour – 10 Days
Taer Monastery
Qinghai Lake
Rongwu Monastery
Labrang Monastery
Binglin Temple
White Pagoda Mountain
Zhangye Danxia Landform
Jiayuguan Fort
Mogao Grottoes
Crescent Lake
Day 1 Xining Arrival
Welcome to Xining, Qinghai. Once morning arrival at Xining Caojiabao Airport/Train Station, your tour guide will meet you, and then escort you to your hotel by a private vehicle.
In the afternoon,, drive about 26km to visit the famous Taer Monastery which is the birthplace of the Tibetan Buddhism master ¨C Tsongkhapa who was the founder of Gelug(a sect of Buddhism). It is also famous as one of ¡°6 monastery of Gelug¡±. You must not miss the ¡°three bests¡± of Taer Monastery ¨C murals, barbola and butter sculptures.
Day 2 Xining ¨C Qinghai Lake (B, L, D )
After breakfast, drive around 2.5 hours to the Qinghai Lake which is the best highlights of your Qinghai tour.
Qinghai Lake is surrounded by high mountains from outside. And on the foot of mountains it is endless beautiful grasslands. So you can enjoy the great views by walking, riding or biking. Qinghai Lake is the paradise for birds, which can amount to more than 10 thousand in the summer.
Cruise on the lake and visit the Bird Island in the lake. On route, you will also visit the Riyue Mountains (Sun and Moon Mountains) and the Ri Pagoda and Yue Pagoda which hich were built in Tang Dynasty to commemorate the intermarriage of marrying Princess Wencheng of Tang to Tubo. In nearby, you will also be amazed by the Daotang River which flows oppositely.
Go back Xining and stay overnight.
Day 3 Xining ¨C Tongren ¨C Xiahe (B, L, D )
Today, you will drive to Tongren County, Qinghai, where is the originated place of the famous ¡°Regong Art¡±. Visit the holy temple – Rongwu Monastery is the third largest Tibetan monastery in south northwestern China, right after Labrang Monastery, Taer Monastery. It is now a Gelug monastery. Rongwu Monastery played a very important role during the history of Tibetan Buddhism in northwestern China. Many famous Buddhist master, scholars lived and studied Buddhism here.
After then, drive across the beautiful Ganjia Prairie to the center of Buddhism center of Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan ¨C Xiahe.
Stay overnight in Xiahe.
Day 4 Xiahe (B)
After breakfast, you will drive to visit the Labrang Monastery. Labrang Monastery is one of the six great monasteries of the Geluk (Yellow Hat) school of Tibetan Buddhism. It is Tibetan Buddhism’s most important monastery town outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region. You have chance to see the monks studying and debating about Buddhism. After then, drive to visit the Songke Prairie which is famous for its excellent pasture and frequent magnificent Buddhist ceremonies.
Drive back to Xiahe and stay overnight here.
Day 5 Xiahe – Lanzhou (B)
Today you will drive back to Lanzhou. On route, take a side trip to visit the Binglin Temple. Firstly, you will arrive at Liujiaxia Dam which is a major hydroelectric dam on the upper Yellow River. Then you will take a yacht on the dam to tour the Binglin Temple. Bingling Temple is a series of grottoes filled with Buddhist sculpture carved into natural caves and caverns in a canyon along the Yellow River.The sculptures, carvings, and frescoes that remain are outstanding examples of Buddhist artwork and draw visitors from around the world.
Leaving Binglin Temple, and drive to Lanzhou.
Day 6 Lanzhou (B)
Today you will explore the best highlights of Lanzhou city. First stop is the White Pagoda Mountain. You can hike up the staircases to the top of the mountain, which is a awesome experience. If you don’t want to bear the walk, you can take the cable car (Y35 to go up, Y20 to come down). On the top of the hill is the White Pagoda built in Yuan Dynasty with Lamasery style.
Then you will explore the most popular itinerary along the Yellow River. Firstly, you will visit the First Bridge on Yellow River which has more than one hundred year history. The following attraction is the grand Yellow River Mother Statues which stand the beauty of oriental women. Lastly, enjoy an interesting time in the Yellow River Ancient Waterwheels Park.
Check out from your hotel and take train(T9203-15:32, or T295-16:42) to Zhangye which takes about five and a half hours.
Day 7 Zhangye (B)
After breakfast, you will go to visit the Giant Buddha Temple which is famous for having the largest indoor sleeping Buddha in Asia. This temple was built in Xixia Dynasty(1098), and keeps many precious Buddhist scriptures and wall paitings.The Buddha statue was carved by woods with a length of 34.5 meters. His ears are as big as the space which 4 adults can sit side by side.
In the afternoon, drive about an hour to visit the Zhangye Danxia Landform. Danxia landform is a spectacular petrographic geomorphology landscape which is formed from red-coloured sandstones and conglomerates. The one in Zhangye was formed in the pre-Jurassic Age. Thousands of mountains and stiffs stretch like the colorful sunset glow.
Drive back to Zhangye.
Day 8 Zhangye – Jiayuguan (B)
Today you will dirive about 3 hours to Jiayuguan.
In the afternoon, visit the Jiayuguan Fort. Wander on the ancient city wall, and feel the heartbeats of the ¡°first pass under heaven¡±. Then stroll to visit the Great Wall Museum where you will learn about history of Jiayuguan and the Great Wall.
Day 9 Jiayuguan – Dunhuang (B)
Today you will drive about 5 hours to Dunhuang from Jiayuguan in the early morning.
In the afternoon, visit the magic Echoing Sand Mountains and Crescent Lake. 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. 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. In the evening, you can go out to go for a walk in the Shazhou Night Market.
Stay overnight in Dunhuang City.
Day 10 Dunhuang Departure (B)
After breakfast, drive from the Dunhuang city to visit the Mogao Grottoes. It 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 have been preserved very well.
After lunch, visit Dunhuang Museum where some precious arts and relics are preserved here. It is also a great place to learn about Dunhuang culture and history as well as the history of Ancient Silk Road.
Tour ends, and your tour guide will see you off at the airport/train station.
