Traveling Across China: Hexi Corridor (Lanzhou, Jiayuguan, Jiuquan, Dunhuang) Plus Maijishan Grottoes, Gannan, and Jiuzhaigou

📍 Orlando · 👁 629 reads

On September 20, 2020, I formed a group of six with my daughter, her best friend, and my two granddaughters to travel to Lanzhou, Jiayuguan, Jiuquan, Dunhuang along the Hexi Corridor, plus Maijishan Grottoes. After parting ways in Lanzhou, Grandpa (my husband) and I took our eldest granddaughter Qingqing to continue visiting Gannan and Jiuzhaigou.

- Grandpa: responsible for route planning, guiding, and driving.

- Grandma (me): responsible for booking rooms and logistics.

- Awen: responsible for finances and shopping.

- Huizai: responsible for finding local cuisine.

- Daughter and her two daughters: responsible for having fun.

D1 (Sep 20): Flew from Guangzhou to Lanzhou. Opposite Terminal 1 of Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport is the intercity railway station. Took the intercity train to Lanzhou Station, 45 minutes. Checked into Ji Hotel (Lanzhou Railway Station). After checking in, crossed the road and took bus No. 6 to Zhongshan Bridge stop. Visited the century-old Zhongshan Bridge. Nearby, we found a Lanzhou Lamian restaurant. A large bowl of beef noodles cost only 8 yuan, with big and tasty beef chunks.

D2 (Sep 21): Departed at 7:20 AM, walked 15 minutes to Lanzhou Railway Station, took D55 to Jiayuguan South, had breakfast and lunch on the train. Picked up the car at Jiayuguan South parking lot (already rented a 7-seater in Guangzhou). Stowed five pieces of luggage and started our self-driving trip. Outside temperature was 16°C and it was raining. We drove 2 hours on the highway, arriving at Jinta Poplar Forest at 4 PM. The scenic area was huge with several zones. The poplar leaves were turning yellow, some fully golden, and their reflections in the water were stunning. In Jiayuguan, we had to eat grilled meat. Found a barbecue shop, lamb skewers 20 yuan per bunch, absolutely delicious. Checked into Jiayuguan Novum Hotel.

D3 (Sep 22): Morning visit to Jiayuguan Fort. It includes an inner city, Guandi Temple, a stage, and the city wall. A thorough visit took about 2.5 hours. Then drove 3 hours to Yulin Grottoes, with a reservation for 3:00-4:00 PM (closes at 5:00 PM). Yulin Grottoes are sister caves to Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. A guide led us through four caves, explaining their history and murals. Arrived in Dunhuang after 8 PM, had dinner before going to the hotel. Checked into Dunhuang Fuhua International Hotel for 3 nights.

D4 (Sep 23): Left at 8:50 AM for the Mogao Grottoes Visitor Center. We had booked Category A tickets (248 yuan each) for 9:30 AM. At the visitor center, we watched two movies, then took a bus into the grottoes. Category A tickets are available for reservation 30 days in advance and allow access to 8 caves, organized by the guide. It was quite crowded. The final stop was the Nine-Story Pagoda. Total time about 4 hours. Category B tickets allow 4 caves. Afterward, we bought some trendy ice cream bars shaped like the Nine-Story Pagoda, Crescent Moon Spring, etc., satisfying the girls' youthful whims. Had lunch at the Mogao Grottoes restaurant inside the scenic area. At 3:00 PM, we went to Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Moon Spring (ticket 110 yuan/person, valid for multiple entries within 3 days if registered at the gate). First, we rode camels: 100 yuan/person, children 20 yuan/person. There were many camels now, causing traffic jams on the route. Daughter and her friend climbed the sand dunes. My husband and I stayed with the two sisters to play in the sand at Crescent Moon Spring. The older sister wanted to climb the dunes to find Mom. Grandpa said okay, and she dashed up like an arrow, climbing quickly on the side while Grandpa chased. In a blink, she had reached two-thirds of the way—amazing! The younger sister also wanted to go, but forget it. On the way down, the older sister invented a method of sliding down on her bottom. The round trip took about 40 minutes. Mom and friend were still halfway down. As night fell, lights came on, and Crescent Moon Spring looked dreamlike under the illumination. In the evening, we had lamb, a specialty of northwest China, especially delicious.

D5 (Sep 24): Departed at 8:30 AM, visited Dunhuang Museum. At 12:30 PM arrived at the Devil City scenic area. First, had a bowl of Lanzhou lamian. Ticket 120 yuan each, bought at the museum, then took the scenic shuttle bus (departs on the half hour and hour). Devil City has Danxia landforms; when the wind blows sand, the sound resembles a devil's cry, hence the name. There are four stops: Welcome Lion, Peacock Spreading Tail, Sphinx, and Fleet at Sea—breathtaking and overwhelming. Stunning! Dinner: Dunhuang cuisine.

D6 (Sep 25): Because of travel time, we set off at 7:30 AM and drove about 5 hours back to Jiayuguan South. Near a nearby apple orchard, we had a delicious barbecue lunch. At 1:30 PM, we returned the car (self-service). Took a high-speed train and arrived in Lanzhou at 8:20 PM. Checked into Hampton by Hilton Lanzhou.

D7 (Sep 26): Left at 8:30 AM and rushed to Maijishan Grottoes. Due to road construction on the Lanzhou-Haikou Expressway, we exited at Gangu and took the national road over hills. Along the way, many fruit vendors sold apples (1.5 yuan per jin, fresh and juicy). Re-entered the expressway at Guanzi station, arriving at 2:30 PM after 6 hours of driving. Bought tickets and took the shuttle bus. After the shuttle, we still had to walk 1 km to the ticket checkpoint. With the two sisters, we climbed the suspended plank road step by step, examining each grotto carefully. Since it was afternoon, there were few visitors, no crowding—a wonderful experience. Maijishan truly deserves the name "Eastern Sculpture Museum." At 5:30 PM, we left satisfied and headed back, arriving at the hotel safely at 11:00 PM. Maijishan was the toughest day of our trip, with 11 hours of driving, all by Grandpa alone.

D8 (Sep 27): Our daughter and the other three visited Gansu Provincial Museum in the morning, then took the intercity train from Lanzhou West Station to the airport, flying back to Guangzhou on CZ3206. My husband and I continued with Qingqing toward Jiuzhaigou. A little episode: Qingqing held her mom's hand, crying and saying she didn't want to leave her. It was heartbreaking. We drove 7 hours to Longnan City and stayed overnight. Checked into Longnan Jindu Hotel.

D9 (Sep 28): Left at 10 AM for Jiuzhaigou. From Longnan Wudu, we took the national road, crossing mountains and rivers. 230 km took 6 hours. Some parts of the national road had collapsed due to flooding, allowing only one-way traffic. Average speed 38 km/h. The Wudu-Jiuzhaigou expressway was under construction, so the road was like a big construction site. We decided not to return the same way but to go via Gannan, through Huahu Lake to Diebu, then back to Lanzhou. Arrived at Jiuzhaigou at 4:30 PM. Checked into Jinjiang Inn.

D10 (Sep 29): Left at 10 AM and took a taxi to the scenic area entrance. This was a new entrance built after the August 8, 2017 earthquake. Since driving would require finding parking far from the entrance, staying nearby and taking taxis was more convenient. About 7,000 people entered the valley that day; basically no waiting for buses. The scenic area is Y-shaped with two routes. Usually, take the bus to the end and then stop by stop on the way down. At Nuorilang Waterfall transfer station, take the bus to the other route. We went from Five Flower Lake to Pearl Shoal Waterfall to Nuorilang Waterfall, then took the other route to Long Lake, Five-Color Pond, Shuzheng Waterfall, and Panshui Shoal. With little Qingqing, we took buses stop by stop, walked shallow paths, totaling about 3 km—quite tiring. Qingqing played, climbed trees, splashed in water, drank yak butter tea, and watched waterfalls. By 4:30 PM, we had seen all the favorite sights of Jiuzhaigou. The post-earthquake rebuilt Jiuzhaigou had fewer visitors, mostly independent travelers. Ticket 259 yuan/person. Water flow was strong. Everyone wore masks on the bus; epidemic prevention was taken seriously.

D10 (Sep 30): Departed at 9 AM, passing the beautiful Yellow River Grassland and the 3,800-meter-high Ruoergai Grassland. Went to Huahu (Flower Lake) Wetland Park. Now the park entrance is across the parking lot road, but at an altitude of 3,400 meters, we had to climb about 40 steps to an overpass, then down again. Exhausting! Huahu was stunningly beautiful: blue sky and white clouds reflected in the water, water and sky merged. Autumn grasses and flowers had turned yellow and red. Water hens frolicked freely in the lake, fish swam underwater, butterflies and birds flew over the water—like a paradise. At 5 PM, we drove 60 km to Diebu, described as "Heaven left on earth." The scenery along the way was picturesque: lush green Galsang flowers on both sides of the newly built road, very pleasant. Diebu is at 2,300 meters altitude. We had been here four years ago; of all places in Gannan, only Diebu has low enough altitude to make us comfortable. Checked into Saiyin Hotel. After dinner, we went to the supermarket to buy some snacks. Qingqing found a dinosaur toy case and went back to the hotel happily.

D11 (Oct 1): Drove from Diebu and arrived at Labrang Monastery at 2 PM. Beautiful scenery all along. Left Labrang at 4:30 PM, drove 1.5 hours to Linxia City. Checked into Linxia Xuehe Manbo Hotel. Ordered dinner at the hotel: hand-grabbed lamb, tasty. Of course, we didn't forget to order two cups of "Mixue Bingcheng" milk tea to enjoy.

D12 (Oct 2): Drove 2 hours back to Lanzhou in the morning. Checked into Hampton by Hilton Qilihe. Dropped luggage, then drove to Gansu Provincial Museum.

D14 (Oct 3): Flew back to Guangzhou.