Visiting Zhangye during summer is the best period to enjoy travel around the city, especially to the main destination Zhangye Danxia Geo Park.
A short intro about Zhangye
Zhangye (simplified Chinese: 张掖;) is a prefecture-level city in northwest-central Gansu province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north and Qinghai to the south.
Recommended transportation :
Hire a taxi for 1 day (08:00 - 21:00) to travel around including the main destination Danxia Geo Park (driver will wait), I paid RMB360 (good bargain in a private car) and he took me to best local noodle shop for breakfast and lunch, normally in between RMB400-RMB500/day (if include Mati Temple)
PS : I can recommend this nice driver and share his contact, please send me private email.
IS ZHANGYE WORTH TO VISIT?
YES !!, Zhangye was an important commercial port on the ancient Silk Road, and the main destination is a must visit place, Zhangye Danxia Geo Park, which you can see the magical landform in rainbow colours.
WHAT TO EAT ?
Noodle...noodle and noodle, becareful it's spicy!, even breakfast they will served with chilli!!
WHERE TO GO ? (recommended itinerary)
Please remember in Zhangye, during summer time, sunset is at around 20:30 - 20:45pm, and Danxia Landform colour is best to see during sunset.
First destination :
MATI SI 马蹄寺 (Mati Temple Grottoes)
Mati Si is also known as the Horse’s Hoof Temple is a Buddhist temple complex located inside the cliff. it's 1 hour drive from Zhangye city, (it is not the same direction to Danxia Geo Park) so better start early in the morning, and you will spend at least 2 hours there.
According to the legend, a horse from the heaven once left a mark of horse hooves here, and thus the temple got its name. The legendary print of the horse hooves now exists in the Mati Hall, serving as an indispensable treasure of the temple.
How to Get to Mati Si Temple?
The most convenient way is to rent a taxi for 1 day, so this is include to Mati Si
Second destination :
Binggou (Ice Valley) Danxia Park,
From Mati Si to Bingguo Danxia Park is about 1,5 hour, you need to go back to the city of Zhangye and passed the entrance of Danxia Geo Park for another half hour.
Bingou has steep rocks, with fewer less-appealing colors.
There are 2 area inside the park, the 1st area, after you get off from the sightseeing bus, you have to walk around at the 1st area, and you need to hike up some steep stairs to go to the viewing platform.
And the 2nd area, you need to go back to the bus parking area, then you can take a small car to go there but you will feel all the view looks similar as the 1st area, and you have to hike some long path.
The elevation of the scenery area is between 1,500 m and 2,550 m.
Entrance ticket: 40RMB; Sightseeing bus: 20RMB.
Last Destination :
Arrived at 17:00 at the ticket entrance.
Zhangye Danxia Landform National Geological Park
China Rainbow Mountains are magnificent with gorgeous colors, which developed at about 200 million years ago.
The best time to visit Zhangye is from June to September when the weather is comfortable, and the combination of strong sun and a little rain brings out the colors more.
The Danxia landform in Linze has 5 viewing platforms. If you have plenty of time, you can go to every viewing platform. Go from the entrance the viewing bus will have the first stop at Viewing Platform No.1, then (No. 2 & 3 if you have more time) or No. 5 and finished at No.4 as the last stop before sunset, because No. 4 is the best area you can see the amazing colour during sunset (and the most crowded during sunset, so keep your best spot for taking photo before sunset and don't go anywhere).
Photo taken at Viewing Platform No. 1 :
Photo taken at Viewing Platform No. 5 :
Photo taken at Viewing Platform No. 4 :
