3 Days Zhangye Essence Tour
Tour Overview
Although Rainbow Mountain has gained a lot fame for the city Zhangye, you still will find other great cultural relics in this amazing place, like the particular-shaped Ice Valley Mountain Scenic Area in another part of Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park, the largest sleeping Buddha statue in Giant Buddhist Temple, and the Matisi Grottoes reputed as one of the Three Artistic Grottoes of Hexi Corridor. Take this tour to explore the long history and Buddhist culture.
Day-by-day Itinerary
- Day 1: Zhangye Arrival (No meal)
Upon your arrival at Zhangye airport / train station, our local driver will pick you up from the exit gate by holding a welcome board with your name and transfer to local hotel for check-in. Free and easy on your own for rest of the day.
Accommodation: Overnight in Zhangye
- Day 2: Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park Tour (B, L)The Rainbow Mountain Scenic Area, The Ice Valley Mountain Scenic Area
Today you will fully enjoy the highlight of Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park. The Danxia landform earns the most spotlight for Zhangye City. Rated as one of “10 Wonders of Nature in the World” in 2011 by National Geographic News, it does deserve the reputation. There are two main scenic area of the Zhangye Danxia with different features.
Firstly, come to visit The Rainbow Mountain Scenic Area which locates in Linze County, features in its bright color and is better to enjoy sunset which chosen by most travelers. Seen from the high platform, the rising layers of mountains in beautiful red with different saturation is bathed in rosy sunlight, depicting a gorgeous picture for the visitors who trudged a lot to here.
In the afternoon, move on to The Ice Valley Mountain Scenic Area, read Binggou Mountain in Chinese, earns its fame mainly with its graceful shapes. Usually, people come here for sunrise scenery. Although the color of hills here are not as bright as Rainbow Mountain, the unique form here easily excites people’s imagination to enjoy the natural masterpiece in another way.
Accommodation: Overnight in Zhangye
Zhangye Rainbow Mountains - Day 3: Zhangye Tour & Zhangye Departure (B, L)Zhangye Giant Buddhist Temple, Matisi Grottoes
After breakfast, you will further explore Zhangye by visiting two of the most important temples. The first one is Zhangye Giant Buddhist Temple. Built in Western Xia Dynasty, the Giant Buddhist Temple had survived from the vicissitudes and stands on Silk Road for 900 years. There is a gigantic sleeping Buddha statue of Sakyamuni with the largest scale in Asia inside the temple, hence the name. The beautiful woodcarving, paintings and statues as well as the underneath culture and history impresses travelers a lot.
After that, continue your visit to Matisi Grottoes. Joined with Mogao Caves and Yulin Grottoes in Dunhuang, is famed as “Three Artistic Grottoes of Hexi Corridor”. You will amaze at the incredible combination of Buddhist temple and mountain grottoes here: the large elegant temple stands against the hill where plenty of grottoes were engraved. Another luminous point of Mati Temple is that it embraces both Han Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism at meantime which you will discover in the visit here.
Finishing the sightseeing, you will head to Zhangye airport / train station for departure.
Accommodation: N/A
Matisi Grottoes
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