7-Day Private Silk Road Tour of Zhangye, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang

Meal: Not Included
Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

Welcome to Zhangye! Your tour guide will welcome you in the airport/train station, and then escort you to your hotel. The rest of today is for you to explore this exotic city by yourself. 

Attractions: Danxia Geopark, Binggou Danxia Landform
Meal: Not Included
Hotel: Overnight in Zhangye

In the morning, drive to explore the famous Danxia Geopark(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. The barren mountains are covered by a red grit rock stratum. At the same time, some surfaces of mountains appear other colors, such as white, yellow, etc, and form many irregular lines and blocks looking like some abstract oil paintings.

Continue to visit the Binggou Danxia Landform. Even though just being visited by fewer travelers, Binggou Danxia Landform Scenery Area has its own featured charms. If the Linze Danxia Scenery is a visual feast of colors, then the Binggou Danxia is a great joy to find how the Mother Nature became a sculptor who sculptured the mountains to amazing different shapes, like grand palaces, long corridors, giant pillars, etc.

Overnight in Zhangye.

Attractions: Giant Buddha Temple, Matisi Temple
Meal: Not Included
Hotel: Overnight in Zhangye

After breakfast, you will go to visit the famous Giant Buddha Temple which is famous for having the largest indoor sleeping Buddha in Asia. This temple is a large complex with regal arrangements built in Xixia Dynasty(1098), and keeps many precious Buddhist scriptures and wall paintings. Its famous treasure is the Sleeping Buddha which is the centrally seated, symmetric buildings situate along the sides. The Buddha statue was carved by woods with a length of 34.5 meters, telling the story of Buddha’s Nirvana. His ears are as big as the space in which 4 adults can sit side by side. 

After the Giant Buddha Temple visit, drive about 65 km to visit the Matisi Temple (Matisi Grottoes). The facades of several temples jut out on the surface of the cliff, making them look like they are hanging in the air. There are somewhere you need to climb up steep stairs to get up to the top storeys of the temple. The view outside the grotto is very beautiful with rolling hills covered with trees. In the distance is the Qilian Mountain which is usually snow covered (November to June).

Then drive to Jiayuguan City, overnight in Jiayuguan.

Attractions: Jiayuguan Fortress, Overhanging Great Wall
Meal: Not Included
Hotel: Overnight in Guazhou

Full day sightseeing in Jiayuguan, we will climb the Jiayuguan pass in the morning. This Ming Dynasty fort guards the strategic Jiayuguan pass, at the western end of the Great Wall – this was the last section built by the Ming Dynasty. (There are many steps from one tower to the other, please consider if are able to walk and climb about 2hrs)

Visit the The Great Wall Museum, which was opened to visitor in October 1989 and it is the first one to exhibit the Great Wall culture in a comprehensive and systematic way.

We will pay a visit to the Overhanging Great Wall, The wall here was built on the ridge with a gradient of 45 degrees. It is high in the air and it looks as if it fell down from the top of the hill. So people refer to this section of the Great Wall as the “Suspended Wall”.

We will go to Jiayuguan Railway station at around 5pm, then catch an express train to Dunhuang, a famous frontier town and a well-known art center along the Silk Road. Your local guide and driver will wait you at the train staion and assit you with hotel check in.

Attractions: Mogao Grottoes, Echoing Sand Mountain & Crescent Lake, Shazhou Night Market
Meal: Not Included
Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

After breakfast, drive to Mogao Grottoes. Mogao Grottoes is famed as the “Louvre of the 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 Chinese art over 1600 years from one dynasty to the next because each dynasty built own caves to record its own features. There are about 40 common caves opened to the public.

Continue the tour to Echoing Sand Mountain & Crescent Lake. When there is wild wind, the sands will be blown up and make a loud sound, while the sound sounds like being produced by some ancient musical instrument when blown by the breeze. There is also a Crescent Lake that has been in existence for hundreds of years without ever being buried by the sand. Riding the camel (approximately 40mins) as the Silk Road Caravan in the vast desert is highly recommended. Experience the feeling of the camel team marching in the desert. The sound of camel bells is a must-play item for every tourist.

In the evening, strolling this interesting Shazhou Night Market with different types of things to see and food to eat, it’s easy to lose our sense of time wonder the market while enjoying your leisure time and taste some local cuisine.

Attractions: Yangguan Pass, Yardang National Geologic Park
Meal: Not Included
Hotel: Overnight in Dunhuang

After breakfast, you will be taken to visit Yangguan Pass(Yangguan Historic Sites). Here you can appreciate the beauty of vicissitudes of the Great Wall, enjoy the natural view combined by oasis, desert and snow peaks, and taste the juicy fruits.

Keep driving more 80 km, you will get to Yardang National Geologic Park. It is also called Devil City in that you will hear the sound just like the devil screaming when the strong wind goes through the desert. The park is featured Yardang landforms in distinct shapes like Mongolian Yurt, Stone Bird, Peacock and others. Make full use of your imagination, you may find some rocks with some miniatures similar to famed architectures, like the Potala Palace in Tibet, Heaven Temple in Beijing or something else.

Attractions: No
Meal: Not Included
Hotel: Not Included

Today is free for you until your tour guide and driver escort you to the airport in time for the scheduled flight/railway station to other destination. Tour ends.