Travel Zhangye Itinerary:2 days Must-do list in Zhangye

Day 1 | Morning

Zhangye Buddhist Temple

Opening Hours: Open from 8:30am-6:00pm

Ticket Price: 40 RMB

Recommended Length of Stay: 1-2 Hours

Location: Dafosi Pedestrian Street, Ganzhou District, Zhangye City

Zhangye Buddhist Temple is located in the southwestern corner of Zhangye City in Gansu Province. It is an important historical site on the Silk Road and a symbolic building of the historical and cultural city Zhangye. The Great Buddha Temple is a prestigious Buddhist temple in the northwest inland. The temple contains ancient buildings, towering old trees, and a beautiful environment. There are rare religious halls of the Xixia minority in the country, oversized indoor statue buddhas, rare Ming Dynasty handbooks, and thousands of collections of fine cultural relics.

Reviews from Real Guests:

Trip.com User: we took the Highspeed train from Lanzhou to Zhangye and continued by Car to the Mati Temple and Grottos. It was an amazing experience and good lesson in chinese history. make sure you calculate enough time for your visite if you plan to go all the way up to the top Grotto. whilst you there you must try the local lamb, i am not a fan of lamb but it was absolutly delicious no small of lamb. also try the local beef (Mau Neo)

MaxS: The courtyard is simple and reminds a little park. But inside of temple buildings the gems of Zhangye are hidden! The Lying Big Buddha statue and Buddha bones after cremation makes it worth to visit. The atmosphere is quite and peaceful. I can't say I had the same feeling in many other temples I have visited before. Located in the city center, ticket price is 40 yuan.

Day 1 | Afternoon

Now we come to another great highlight in the city: Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon.

Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon

Opening Hours: Open from 7:30am-9:00pm

Ticket Price: 130 RMB

Recommended Length of Stay: 2-3 Hours

Location: Pingshanhu Township Government, Ganzhou District, Zhangye City

The Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon is not far from the urban area. It is a beautiful landscape in the Zhangye Landform Landscape Grand View Garden in China. The stone forests in the canyon are staggered. The scenic area combines scientific value and aesthetic value with the Grand Canyon, the Stone Forest Wonderland, the Gobi Snow Mountain, the self-driving off-road, and the national customs. It has become a new highlight of popular science, ecology and adventure tourism.

Reviews from Real Guests:

Trip.com User: Hello everyone, I visited this place with my girlfriend. The place it's about 1 hour drive from zhangye city. The place is beautiful!! They offer 2 routes, regular and luxury. We prefer to the the regular 1 and it includes the shuttles to the sites and entrence tickets to the canyon. The trail is very easy and if you just walking straight you might finish him in about 2-2.5 hours. Enjoy!

Hooooo: Such a beautiful place! You should go to Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon if you stay at Zhangye. I took a route 1 which was short but I think you’ll have to walk more than route 2. which was fun! You can get a bus from Zhangye West bus station, only 9:45 am to get there. 3 pm to get back.

Day 1 | Evening

Looking for a bed nearby after finishing your journey at Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon? Mongolia Tribe Inn is one of your top choices.

Mongolia Tribe Inn

The Mongolia Tribe Inn provides a great place for travelers to relax after a busy day. The Mongolia Tribe Inn offers a pleasant stay in Zhangye for those traveling for business or leisure.

The hotel is located approximately 54km from Zhangye Railway Station and 82km from Zhangye Ganzhou Airport.

In their spare time, guests can explore the hotel's surroundings. This Zhangye hotel features parking on site.

According to our guests, this hotel provides a very high level of service.

Day 2 | Morning

Mati Temple

Opening Hours: 8:30-18:00

Ticket Price: 74 RMB

Recommended Length of Stay: 2-3 Hours

Location: Dadu Ma Town, Sunan County, Zhangye City

Mati Temple, otherwise called Puguang Temple, is situated in the Sunan Yugu Autonomous County inside the Qilian Mountains and the immense cave temple complex. On the stone divider, there are various Buddhist statues for present thousand years, and there are skyscraper temples and hollows. It is extremely breathtaking and marvelous. There are temples of Chinese Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhist temples here. The style of a similar place is extraordinary and it is exceptionally one of a kind. There are various amazing landmarks, for example, the paintings and Buddha statues in the cloister, which are fantastic.

Reviews from Real Guests:

Joe0412: Gorgeous monastery and grottoes with fabulous views. There are numerous buildings with beautiful architecture. The highlight is a buddha statue head dating back 1700 years which was damaged in an earthquake.  There are many beautiful grottoes and murals on the walls.  The staircases are very very narrow and lead to the top of the mountain. The views are awesome.   There is a 'hoofprint' that has spiritual and religious significance.  This is worth a look. You can explore the beautiful grounds and relax. Lots of rest stops are available and there a many local restaurants available.  I suggest the yak milk yogurt.  Entrance ticket is 73 Passport is needed to buy

MaxS: The horse hoof temple. The 1.5 hour journey through the countryside beyond the Zhangye city brought us to the 1600 years old temple. Bravo, to build the temple in a Rocky Mountain is really hard. 马蹄寺 is fascinating place with beautiful nature landscapes around and rare artifacts inside. Remember the temperature fluctuation is drastic, it could be snowy at early morning but at noon you will experience hot sunny summer. Make sure with a driver when and where exactly he is leaving, or you are risking to stay there for longer time. Totally, three hours were enough to explore the temple and surrounding area.

Day 2 | Afternoon

When time permits after visiting Mati Temple, don’t forget pay a visit to Muta Temple.

Muta Temple

Opening Hours: Open from 8:00am-5:00pm

Ticket Price: 26 RMB

Recommended Length of Stay: 1-1 Hours

Location: Xianfu South Street, Ganzhou District, Zhangye 734023, China

Muta Temple, formerly known as Wanshou Temple, is an ancient pagoda with a brick and wood structure. The temple and pagoda were originally built in the Northern Zhou Dynasty or earlier, and were rebuilt in the Sui, Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties. According to other historical records, the wooden pagoda was built in the second year of Kaihuang in Sui Dynasty (582), and in the thirteenth year of Tang Zhenguan (639), Tang Taizong ordered Yuchi Jingde to re-supervise it. It was rebuilt several times during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The wooden pagoda is one of the Five Elements Pagodas in Zhangye City. The tower is 32.8 meters high, with nine levels on eight sides. Each level has a wood-carved faucet on the octagonal corner, with jewels in its mouth and wind chimes under it. The main body of the tower is a wooden structure, and the outer eaves are pavilion-style construction. The windows are carved with floral decorations, and the lintels are inlaid with brick-carved banners. There is no nail or rivet in the whole tower, it is all connected by different bucket arches, beams and columns, which are crisscrossed and tied with each other and are integrated. Climbing to the top of the tower, the parapet overlooks, and the city has a panoramic view. The Muta Temple is now the Zhangye Folklore Museum.

Reviews from Real Guests:

Trip.com User: We visited the Pagoda at Muta Temple. Even though the stairs/steps were quite steep, the view from the top of the pagoda was very nice. There's nothing to see inside the pagoda, except on the ground floor. The wooden structure of the pagoda is also beautiful to see.

* All reviews in the blog are machine-translated.