10 Days Panoramic Qinghai and Gansu Tour

Today your travel begins with a welcome meeting at airport. After checking in the hotel, rest of your time is free to explore Lanzhou with a long history and colorful culture. There are many historical sites worth visiting.

Let's start our Lanzhou in-depth tours today. As one of the important cities along the ancient Silk Road, Lanzhou has preserved many cultural heritages. With an early start today, we will visit the Binglings Temple. Taking the 40mins fast boat to the inside of the park, enjoy the variety of artworks in different styles and observe the social situations and customs in ancient times when seeing the stone sculptures and appreciate the miracle of Buddha caves.

Later, You will drive to Xining for overnight stay.

Situated on the edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and heavily populated by minority groups, Xining has earned a reputation as one of the more mysterious and diverse cities in China.

The Qinghai Lake trip generally includes a stop at Xining's other gem, after enjoy your nice buffet breakfast at the hotel,then we will take you to visit Ta'er monastery (Kumbum Monastery), which is the centre of Tibetan Buddhism in Northwest China, and enjoys a high reputation in China and Southeast Asia. Next, travel to the beautiful Qinghai Lake, This is the largest inland salt water lake in China. It is no exaggeration to say that Qinghai Lake is a miracle that is endowed by a deity. Outside, He encircled the lake with four continuous mountains and extends broad grassland at the foot of them. Inside, like a master baker, He decorated the water with many little islands. All these natural attractions come together perfectly to form a Xanadu on earth to win many tourists' favour. 

Then we will transfer to Chaka and have a good rest.

Spend the morning to exploring Chaka Salt Lake, it is the largest saline in Qinghai Province, Chaka Salt Lake means "the sea of salt"  in Mongolian. It lies in the centre of Qaidam Basin, which was nominated by the national tourist geography magazine as one of the 55 places to go.

Thereafter, we will drive all the way to Dachaidan for overnight stay.

Today you will have a chance to visit Water Yardan. People often hear of Yadan landform in Xinjiang or Yadan in the west of Dunhuang. All these Yadan landforms are on dry land without exception. Only this "Yadan on water" 240 kilometers away from Dachaidan, as the name suggests, is the "long" Yadan landform in the water.

The only water Yadan found in Haixi of Qinghai Province in the world is close to the north of the North hilly natural area. It is surrounded by a vast expanse of desolate deserts. In this desolate place, it shows unparalleled amazing beauty. Yadan on the water, the ducks are singing and the wild geese are singing, the water is sparkling, the morning sun is rising, and the reflection of Yadan on the water is photographed, which is beautiful.

After visiting, driving to Dunhuang for overnight stay

Today we are going to appreciate the Holy Center of Buddhism Culture and Art-UNESCO of Mogao Grottoes, enjoying the 40mins 4D movie to learn the development of the grottoes and then we will be escorted by the professional guides from Mogao to enjoy the the 8 caves mainly.

Then continue driving to visit Echoing Sand Mountain, where you can ride the camels for 40mins to experience the beautiful desert scenery in the sunset. It is also fun to climb up to the top of the sand dune by the ladders to have the bird-view of the park and slide down to the bottom.

In the evening, you can walk around and taste Gansu delicacies at the Shazhou Night Market, the most bustling place of Dunhuang at night. It's easy to lose our sense of time wonder the market while enjoying your leisure time and taste some local cuisine.

Today we begin our journey to the Jiayuguan Fortress. Standing among vast desert and surrounded by rolling mountains,it looks like a dignified general guarding the grand land. It was constructed with the most integrated defensive system: an inner city, an outer city, and a moat. Besides functioning as a frontier military fortress, it was also an important traffic hub along the Silk Road, the oldest worldwide trading route.

After that, you will explore the Great Wall Museum, which was opened to the public in October 1989 and it is the first one to exhibit the Great Wall culture in a comprehensive and systematic way.

Continue the sightseeing to renowned underground gallery Weijin Tombs. There we can enjoy lifelike and succinct wall paintings covering a wide range of subjects including politics, economics, culture, military affairs, folk customs, and science and technology during the Wei and Jin periods (4AD)

Breakfast at the hotel, we will drive to Zhangye. Upon arrival We will head to visit the Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park，which is 510 square kilometers in total, it located in the north of Qilian mountains, SuNa County territory. It includes the colour hills in Linze country ,ice hills, Danxia and GanZhou District and PingShan lake. The scenic Danxia, is a distance of 40 km from east Zhang Ye city, north from Linze county town by 20 kilometers, this is the most typical arid area of northern China.

Then your guide will accompany you to the Grand Buddha Temple, which is the important place of the Silk Road. Midway in the Hexi Corridor along the Silk Road lies the historic city of Zhangye, the centerpiece of which is the mysterious Giant Buddha Temple. Located in the southwest corner of Zhangye in Gansu Province, the Giant Buddha Temple is the largest architectural relic in Gansu Province of the Western Xia (1038-1227) period. you will see the largest and well-preserved reclining Buddha in this temple.

Set on the edge of the Gobi Desert, Wuwei may seem like an unlikely place to find an oasis of Buddhism and historical relics. the tour will begin from the Leitai Han Tomb, it is a large brick-and-stone structure built during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. A total of two hundred and twenty-one pieces of relics were unearthed from the tomb. 

Let's continue to visit, later we are going to the Tiantishan Grottoes, also known as Temple of Giant Buddha. The grottoes are situated on the Huangyang River, about 60 km south of Wuwei (originally Liangzhou) and it was excavated during the Northern Liang dynasty (397–439 CE) when you entering the scenic area you will see some Buddha Statues and exquisite murals, that will definitely feast your eyes.

With a early start today, We will then head back to Lanzhou, Continue tour at the Yellow River's Mother Statue consisting of “a mother” and “a baby boy” which symbolizes the mother of the Yellow River nurturing the Chinese nation.

Afterwards, It's the time to say farewell to Lanzhou, we will transfer you to the airport for the flight back to your hometown or next destination.