2023 Spring Festival Family Trip: Dunhuang, Jiayuguan, Lanzhou Free Travel

A quick note:

Dunhuang is a place where you can easily capture stunning photos. More pictures to come later.

I've always wanted to visit Dunhuang, especially because I feel the Mogao Caves are gradually weathering every year, and it's uncertain if we'll be able to enter the caves in the future. However, the scenic spots are quite remote, and our child was too young before.

In 2023, during the Spring Festival, when COVID-19 restrictions were fully lifted, I immediately decided to go to Dunhuang. Unfortunately, the flight times were unsuitable—either departing too early at 6 AM or arriving in Lanzhou on Monday when the Gansu Museum is closed. On New Year's Eve, I found that flights to Dunhuang on the second day of the lunar new year had good timing and were super cheap: departing at 10 AM, a one-way ticket for a family of three from Qingdao to Dunhuang totaled 3030 RMB. I grabbed it without hesitation, deciding to set out first and plan the itinerary along the way. For details, read on.

The only regret this time was not going to Zhangye because it happened to snow, and all we could see was snow.

In Dunhuang during winter, the sun rises at 9 AM. All activities started at 8:30 AM, but due to distances, we had lunch at 3 PM and dinner at 8 PM. Because of the pandemic and the New Year holiday, many restaurants were closed.

D1: 10:00–12:50 Qingdao to Lanzhou by plane, 14:45–16:30 Lanzhou to Dunhuang by plane, hotel pickup.

Accommodation: Dunhuang Tianhe Hotel (hotel provides airport pickup).

D2: Dunhuang: Mogao Caves (chartered car).

Accommodation: Dunhuang Tianhe Hotel.

D3: Dunhuang: Yardang Devil City, Yangguan Pass, Yumen Pass (chartered car).

Accommodation: Dunhuang Tianhe Hotel.

D4: Dunhuang: Dunhuang Museum, Leiyin Temple, Mingsha Mountain (taxi).

Accommodation: Dunhuang Tianhe Hotel.

D5: Dunhuang—Guazhou—Jiayuguan (chartered car + train).

Yulin Caves, Earth Child sculpture, Guazhou Market.

Accommodation: Ibis Jiayuguan Railway Station Hotel.

D6: Jiayuguan—Lanzhou (train).

Overhanging Great Wall, Jiayuguan Pass.

D7: Lanzhou—Qingdao (plane).

Gansu Museum, Lanzhou Center.

D1: The second day of the lunar new year.

10:00–12:50 Qingdao to Lanzhou by plane, 14:45–16:30 Lanzhou to Dunhuang by plane, hotel pickup.

Lunch: Lanzhou Airport beef noodles. After security, the price is fair, highly recommended.

Dinner: Damao Old Horse Roasted Lamb Chops (recommended by taxi driver). Red willow kebabs, fried bread, and lamb kidneys were great, a bit greasy. Sanpaotai tea was served to each person—if you don't want it, say it in advance. (I personally liked the red willow kebabs, more tender than small lamb.)

Be sure to arrive at the airport one and a half hours early. Online check-in is not available, so one hour is very tight.

Spring Airlines does not allow 20-inch suitcases on board; you need to pay the difference, 120 RMB per suitcase. I found this a bit hard to understand.

D2: The third day of the lunar new year.

9:00 AM Departed from hotel by chartered car—Mogao Caves to exchange tickets—Enter and queue at the Digital Center to watch two movies—Take a bus up the mountain—Queue to enter the scenic area—Follow assigned guide to tour caves—Take photos at the Nine-Story Pagoda (found a photographer at the entrance; 10 RMB per print)—Visit the Dunhuang Academy—Take bus down the mountain—Yicheng Yimian beef noodles—Watch a movie—Take taxi back to hotel.

The entire tour took about 5 hours (from parking lot to parking lot). Considering the next day's packed schedule, we canceled the evening visit to Mingsha Mountain and watched a movie instead, buying lunch (burgers from Wallace) for the next day.

Although it was the pandemic and off-season, it's still recommended to book tickets online one day in advance. Tickets bought on-site might be for the next time slot. How far in advance to book depends on the situation.

At the entrance, you queue for two movies. The exit of the first movie is at the last row, and the exit of the second movie is at the bottom row.

Viewing caves is like opening a blind box—you see whichever caves are open; it's not fixed. We missed the Nine-Colored Deer cave because they were filming there.

Lunch: We finally had beef noodles at Yicheng Yimian at 3 PM. The three of us finished four bowls of noodles, half a jin of beef, and one donkey meat shaobing. The donkey meat shaobing is recommended, 22 RMB each, worth trying.

Dinner: Egg-filled pancake from a small stall at the entrance of Fusen Times Square. Tasted great.

D3: The fourth day of the lunar new year.

8:30 AM Departed from hotel by chartered car—Yardang Devil City—(ate burgers in the car) Yumen Pass—Yangguan Pass—Longqiao Old Hotpot—Walk back to hotel.

Considering the winter with few people, no signal along the desolate roads, and it was cloudy so we couldn't see stars, we decided to go to the farthest Yardang first, then visit Yumen Pass and Yangguan Pass on the way back to Dunhuang, so we could return earlier and have a proper dinner. The usual tour agency itinerary goes to the film city, Yumen Pass (with dining), and Yangguan first, then Yardang in the afternoon, and on the way back you can see stars, but returning to Dunhuang would be around 11 PM, which seems suitable for summer.

Yardang Devil City: Worth seeing. It was once the seabed, and the wind-eroded rocks are continuously collapsing and decreasing. The sand is the same as beach sand. The scenic bus circles around, stopping at four scenic spots for photos. If you want to go to another line in the uninhabited area, you need to take an off-road vehicle. You can buy tickets for the off-road vehicle at the scenic area for about 800 RMB, or you can take the bus to the third spot and switch to an off-road vehicle for 500 RMB. Personally, I think it's not worth it—the views are the same, just an extra stretch of road.

Yumen Pass: It contains three scenic spots, including an ancient granary. The bus stops for photos at each spot. I think it's a check-in spot, purely for the phrase "The spring breeze never crosses Yumen Pass." We didn't get off at the last spot; we watched from the bus.

Yangguan Pass: Mostly newly built, but with many photo spots. There is a Yangguan Road, a reconstructed military camp with various war tools, and archery. The kids liked it.

Dinner: Longqiao Old Hotpot. We originally wanted to eat local beef and mutton hotpot, recommended by the driver as Huoyangshan BBQ. Unfortunately, we asked and they said they didn't have hotpot—later we learned they have "nuan guo" (hot pot). So we went to the neighboring Longqiao, which was also good.

D4: The fifth day of the lunar new year.

Woke up naturally—took a taxi to eat beef noodles (Malutouya and Yicheng Yimian)—walked to Dunhuang Museum—walked back to hotel—took a taxi at 3 PM to Leiyin Temple—took a taxi to Mingsha Mountain—took a taxi at 7 PM to Huoyangshan BBQ—took a taxi back to hotel.

I bought tickets for 5 PM, hoping to see stars, but the stars didn't appear after the visit.

You can rent plastic foot covers on the mountain for 15 RMB, or buy non-woven ones from private vendors at the entrance for 8 RMB. You get what you pay for; the quality varies greatly.

If you ride camels in winter, you must have gloves; the camel handles are iron and very cold.

Photo with the camel: 20 RMB per person, using your phone.

Dinner: Huoyangshan BBQ (beef fried rice, lamb chops in two ways, mixed alfalfa were great; stir-fried elm seeds with special garlic puree from the boss are a perfect match; donkey meat with yellow noodles felt average).

D5: The sixth day of the lunar new year.

8:30 AM Departed from hotel by chartered car—Yulin Caves—Earth Child sculpture group—Lunch in Guazhou—Guazhou Market—8 PM train to Jiayuguan—11:30 PM Ibis Railway Station Hotel.

Yulin Caves: Better preserved than Mogao Caves, with detailed explanations, but only five caves are open.

Earth Child sculpture group: Roadside sculptures, stop and leave.

Guazhou Market: Worth visiting thoroughly if time permits, quite lively. Unfortunately, we had luggage and rushed through; we should have stored it at a hotel to explore leisurely.

Lunch: A small restaurant in Guazhou Market.

Dinner: Standard instant noodles on the train.

D6: The seventh day of the lunar new year.

9:00 AM Departed from hotel—walked to beef noodle shop—chartered car to Overhanging Great Wall—chartered car to Jiayuguan Pass—taxi to KFC—taxi to train station—Lanzhou West Station (close to Gansu Museum).

Jiayuguan Pass, Overhanging Great Wall, and the First Beacon Tower have a combined ticket. Considering we had to catch the 4 PM train, and the First Beacon Tower is far and not distinctive, we gave it up. We visited the farthest first. Be sure to go to the Overhanging Great Wall first, otherwise you won't have the energy to climb.

Overhanging Great Wall: Very steep, narrow paths allowing only two people to pass sideways. It's a one-way loop with no turning back. It takes at most one and a half hours.

Jiayuguan Pass: A large scenic area with food, drinks, and vendors.

Lunch: Kuafu Fried Skewers.

Dinner: KFC.

D7: The eighth day of the lunar new year.

Woke up naturally—walked to beef noodle shop—taxi to Gansu Museum—lunch and shopping at Lanzhou Center across the street—taxi back to hotel for luggage—taxi to high-speed rail station—high-speed rail to airport—home.

Lanzhou Center was extremely crowded. After staying in desolate areas, it was overwhelming. The basement floor had fast food, the same chains nationwide.

Intersection near the hotel.

Although winter in Gansu is minus 20°C, there is no wind and plenty of sunshine. The only issue is that all scenic spots are outdoors. We wore thin long-sleeve shirts + fleece hoodies + thick knee-length down jackets, and thermal underwear + fleece pants. The warm packs we brought were not used. Also, be sure to bring sunscreen and a hat with a brim; gloves are needed for camel riding.

We used taxis throughout the city, which was convenient and cheap. For attractions outside the city, we chartered cars because the roads were icy from snow and many spots are far, covering over 300 km round trip with long periods of no signal. All local taxis can be chartered, and the drivers are very honest—they won't rip you off. (We met our charter driver on the first day in Dunhuang when taking a taxi from the hotel to dinner. We used him for the entire Dunhuang trip, and in Jiayuguan, we arranged a charter on the spot with a taxi driver.)

Yulin Caves are close to Guazhou. Since we were heading to Jiayuguan that day, we asked the driver to drop us off in Guazhou.

Beef noodles are everywhere, each tasting similar and similarly priced. We always ordered the basic beef noodles and extra beef (about 100 RMB per jin). It's very affordable. Our family eats a lot; for breakfast, we usually had half a jin of beef. Don't miss grilled meat and hotpot (local hotpot) for proper meals. Also, the Dunhuang Shazhou Night Market is closed during the Spring Festival—closed, closed, closed.

Xingpi water and yogurt are worth trying.

Jincheng Yiding's chrysanthemum Sanpaotai tea and black wolfberries were bought at Guazhou Market.

Beef: We bought it from a noodle shop near the Lanzhou hotel and had it vacuum-packed to take home. It tasted average locally, but at home it was very fragrant. Maybe I'm ignorant—I've never tasted this flavor in Qingdao.

Tianpeizi: A small shed run by Hui people next to the noodle shop. Mixed with yogurt, it has a great texture—chewy and refreshing.

Li Guang apricot preserves: Available at any roadside shop, uniformly priced at 35 RMB per jin.

Earth Child sculpture group.

Gansu Museum cultural and creative products.