Must-visit Attractions and Tips for the Qinghai-Gansu Grand Loop

6-day Gansu-Qinghai Grand Loop

Reference itinerary for 6 days as follows

Day1: Xining → Laji Mountain Tourist Highway (3820m) → Qinghai Lake 151 → Heima River Heima River → Xiangpi Mountain (3817m) → Chaka Salt Lake

Day2: Chaka Salt Lake → Delingha → Emerald Lake → Dachaidan

Day3: Dachaidan → Liuge Highway → Qinghai Yadan + → Dangjin Mountain → Aksai → Dunhuang Desert Camping

Day4: Dunhuang → Mogao Caves → Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring → Dunhuang

Special note (During peak season, Mogao Caves tickets must be booked one month in advance; be sure to arrange your time), you can follow the WeChat official account

Day5: Dunhuang → Guazhou → Jiayuguan (worth a quick visit) → Zhangye Danxia

Day6: Zhangye → Biandukou → Ebo Ancient City Ruins → Qilian Grassland → Gangshika Snow Peak (view from afar) → Menyuan Rape Flowers → Daban Mountain (3820m) → Heiquan Reservoir → Xining

Qinghai specialty foods include: 1 Yogurt, 2 Sweet Fermented Grains, 3 Cold Noodles, 4 Offal, 5 Dog Pee Cake

1. Silk Road Style Street (near Xinqian International)

2. Xinghai Road Food Street

3. Limeng Pedestrian Street

4. Near Tangdao, Chengxi Wanda Plaza

1. Ma Yidao BBQ Food City (Xinghai Road)

2. Yixin Hand-Grabbed Lamb Restaurant (Huayuan North Street)

3. Shalihai (Chengzhong District)

4. Ga Musa Food City

Offal (eaten in the morning)

1. Beimenquan Offal (100m east of Xining Hotel)

2. Quanertou Offal (Dongguan Street, Wusi West Road)

3. Ma's Lamb Offal (Xinghai Road)

1. Snowland Tibetan Food

2. Ling, Gesar Theme Cultural Tibetan Style Palace

3. Yang Genuobu Tibetan Food

Clothing tips: Most of the loop is in highland areas with large temperature differences. Be sure to add or remove clothing reasonably and regularly to avoid catching a cold. Colds in highland areas are hard to recover from and can affect your travel quality.

Accommodation tips for the Qinghai-Dunhuang Grand Loop: Xining

, Dunhuang, Zhangye, Qilian

are cities with many accommodation options. Heima River and Dachaidan

Town are at township level with less developed infrastructure; hotel buildings are mostly two or three stories. So do not have high expectations for accommodation in Heima River, and be mentally prepared. Even so, rooms are still hard to find during peak season, so book in advance.

Altitude sickness tips:

The average altitude is about 3000m, which most people can adapt to. Altitude sickness is an adjustment process; some adapt quickly, others slowly. As long as you are not too old, not particularly weak, do not have chronic diseases (chronic cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are not suitable for high altitudes), and are well prepared, the Qinghai

, Gansu loop generally poses no problems. Many mild altitude sickness cases are actually false ones caused by personal anxiety or lack of rest. If you are still concerned, you can take anti-altitude sickness supplements like Rhodiola one to two months before arriving. For those who react, it is recommended to take Danshen Dripping Pills, Inosine Oral Liquid, or oral American ginseng lozenges. You will adapt and gradually recover within one to two days after arriving at high altitude.

Other tips:

The highland climate is dry with large temperature differences. It is recommended to prepare some cold medicine, headache medicine, anti-inflammatory medicine, heat-clearing medicine, and gastrointestinal medicine. Regarding payment, almost all hotels, restaurants, and shops along the loop accept WeChat Pay or Alipay. Only a few small expenses require cash (such as buying fruit or payments at some attractions). So there is no need to bring a lot of cash.

Self-driving tips:

Regarding driving, it is recommended that at least two drivers travel together. The roads on the Northwest loop are in good condition with light traffic, but it is easy to get fatigued while driving. It is advised that you drive steadily and slowly.