City: Gansu
Top Things to do in Gansu
Top Hotels in Gansu
- 1. 7 Days Premium Lanzhou Xiguan Shizi Zhongshan Bridge
- 2. Home Inn (Lanzhou Pedestrain Street)
- 3. 7 Days Inn (Lanzhou Jingning Road)
- 4. Dunhuang Guest House
- 5. Xihu Yinfeng Hotel
- 6. New Victory Hotel
- 7. Sunshine Plaza Hotel
- 8. Zugong Building Hotel
- 9. Ningwozhuang Hotel
- 10. Home Inn (Lanzhou Yongchang Road)
Countries
Top 10 Things to do in Gansu, China
Gansu (Chinese: 甘肃, Tibetan: ཀན་སུའུ་ Kan su'u) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the northwest of the country.
Restaurants in Gansu
1. Zhangye Danxia Geopark
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 210 reviews
Reviewed By KodoDrummer - Yekaterinburg, Russia
Zhangye Danxia Geopark is noted for its kaleidoscope of seven colours. This Danxia scenic spot encompasses 322 square kilometres, of which the core area covers about 50 square kilometres. It is a large bright pearl on the Silk Road, located in the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains, Linze County, Sunan County, about 40 km east of Zhangye City.
Touring the park is generally restricted and limited to specific areas. For most, the best places to view are from the four viewing platforms which are spread over an eight kilometre distance. The first platform is about a ten minute walk from the main gate. The second a further ten minute walk. The third about another eight minute walk. The fourth is further, and most would take the three to four minute bus ride. Bus service is availbe for travel between the platforms. By bus, the platform are between 30 seconds to four minutes apart.
Some “off the normal path” viewing can be had by renting the services of drivers of the licensed sightseeing cars.
2. Mogao Caves
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 687 reviews
Located in the Gobi desert, the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas feature beautiful wall fresco paintings and more than 3,000 sculptures dating from the forth to the fourteenth century.
Reviewed By Robert C - Redlands, California
An amazing spot that must be visited when anywhere near Dunhuang. You only visit a few of the many caves. Each is unique and provide eye-popping rock painting, sculptures and insights into Buddhism. There is also a great museum nearby.
3. Labrang Monastery (Labuleng Si)
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 184 reviews
Considered one of the six great monasteries of the Gelukpa (Yellow Hat) Sect, this complex contains more than 2,000 monks in residence plus eighteen halls, six institutes of learning, a golden stupa and nearly 60,000 sutras.
Reviewed By Paolo P - Florence, Italy
Reading about this monastery we started living that experience, mixed of a special kind of chinese people, spiritual environment, mountain altitude.
The monastery looks like a town, with many holy buildings -some of them visitable -and several private houses. It is suggested to join the guided tour for foreign people, leaving around 10.00 and alsting approx 1 hour. You are driven through the most important buildings, including the master building where monks group together to pray and eat.... 1000 people capacity in a single room is really impressive!
4. Maiji Shan Caves
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 105 reviews
Reviewed By JosePablin - Picton, New Zealand
My God what a hidden treasure off the beaten track of China. We arrived into Tianshui by slow sleeper train from Xian. Quite a large city considering its remote and in the middle of nowhere. There was hardly any pollution here compared to Henan Province. We were by far the only two westerners in town the entire time and quite an attraction to the rest of the locals. We took a taxi from out hotel in Tianshui and we hired the driver for the entire day. From the very main entrance where you purchase the tickets do not walk whatever you do just take the electric bus as its a very far walk to the base of the mountain and uphill in the heat of the 40C summer we were visiting. Once you get to the base of the mountain there are lots of lovely chinese locals selling some great food and drinks to try. After all when in China be brave and eat some of the stuff the locals prepare in the streets. Lots of great souvenirs along the trail to the top of the mountain specially the one and only lady that hands paint the bamboo fans herself. Then finally the magic and beauty of the Maaji mountain temple, lots of stairs to climb up and down and breath taking views surrounding you. An incredible and magical place specially on a nice sunny blue skies day as the day we visited in August.
5. Gansu Provincial Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 99 reviews
Reviewed By MooncakeVixen
An excellent museum worth a minimum of three hours of your time. The museum is free but you must get a ticket to enter. The Silk Road exhibit is well thought out and has nice signage in English. The Fossils are nice. The Buddhist art gallery is mesmerizing, especially the Tang Buddha. I especially liked the tri-colored pottery. My favorite was the camel dragging a Hu gentleman. You would swear from a certain angle the camel is laughing. The jade is lovely, especially the Neolithic jade. The museum book is 95% in Chinese, with a brief English introduction and English titles for the pictures. They do not have an English edition. Buy it anyway if you like to collect museum books.
6. Great Wall at Jiayuguan Pass
Overall Ratings
4 based on 174 reviews
The strategic outpost at the western end of the Great Wall is the best-preserved pass.
Reviewed By PanelSystem - London, United Kingdom
There are four sites covered by the Y120 entrance ticket, three of which we visited. The main fort and wall sites are clumsy reconstructions (renovations), disappointingly ersatz amid a curiously industrial landscape: pylons and cooling towers as far as the eye can see. Coach parks, wax work figures, costume reenactments and plastic camels. The history and significance of the sites is there underneath, but the imagination has to work hard to get beyond the packaging. The hot, bleak and sandswept 'first beacon tower' (the first/last tower of the Great Wall), on the other hand, is unreconstructed, less visited, and puts the other sites in context. It's 7km southwest of the fort (Y20 by taxi) and made the rest worthwhile.
7. Dafo Temple of Zhangye
Overall Ratings
4 based on 104 reviews
Reviewed By TravelMario64 - Seoul, South Korea
This Buddhist temple houses one of the largest reclining Buddha that is 35 meters long. Made of clay on wooden frames, the Buddha is nicely restored to its former glory. The Hall of Scriptures houses some of old Buddhist scriptures that are quite interesting if you know some history of Buddhism in China.
8. Bingling Temple Grottoes
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 55 reviews
Reviewed By FYL003 - Chicago, Illinois
This is not an easily accessible site especially for independent travelers. It is located on the bank of a Reservoir and reachable only by a jetty. The challenge is finding transportation and locating the dock to broad the jetty, then arranging the return. The best bet is to hire a local taxi to get to the dock. Given the challenges of reaching the site, it is far less crowded. A beautiful walkway was built along the edge of the foothill to take visitors to the grottoes known for stone craved Buddha statues dated from 5 AD. These are small statues craved into the mountain side, one can get close and personal. Photos are allowed without using flash. A huge Buddha is recently installed into the mountain. It is a worthwhile visit if one can find the way to get there.
9. Mati Temple Scenic Resort
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 30 reviews
Reviewed By hkwoody - Tokyo, Japan
We were a little disappointed by Mati Si.
It's true that the landscape is beautiful but our main reason for going was the grottoes, which while interesting are not nearly as spectacular as MaijiShan. The central area of the attraction is a bit run down and dilapidated, the museum looks to be closed down as do many of the shops. Maps and information are thin on the ground. For the first time in China we found it difficult to find somewhere to eat.
We used public transport to get there and back. There are direct buses in the morning from the Zhangye South Bus Station (CNY23 return), we took the 07h35 which arrived at the gate around 10am - there are supposed to be later departures at 08h25 and 09h15. At the gate you get off the bus to buy tickets (CNY74 per person) then get back on the bus which drives up to the central area. The same bus was scheduled to leave back to Zhangye at 16h30 but actually left at 17h00. The journey back was much quicker only taking 1h15. If going again we would take a later bus as >6 hours was too much time to spend there.
10. Zhagana Stone Mountains
Overall Ratings
5 based on 15 reviews
Reviewed By Kathleenlim - Singapore, Singapore
Four primitive Tibetan villages and a monastery amidst glacial landforms, pines, cypress trees and grassland. We met loads of visitors and all sorts of transportations on a Wednesday morning. The drive to the villages was wonderful and awesome at times for the Mountains occasionally hug parts of the road and clusters of small houses dot the expanse of green and yellow lush slopes. No snow-capped Mountains as it was late July. A mini paradise with fresh air and lots of ongoing activities within! Be prepared to spent 4-5 hours!
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