DAY 1: Zhangye Arrival
When you arrive in Zhangye, your private tour guide will be waiting for you at the airport/ train station. A comfortable vehicle will be ready to transfer you to your hotel.
DAY 2: Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park (Rainbow Mountains)
After breakfast, start your photography tour at the most popular site — the Rainbow Mountains. As the name suggests, the Rainbow Mountains have several belts of color. It looks as though colors have been spilled over the mountains, hence its nickname: 'Color Palette Overturned by God'.
You will spend the whole day there so try different angles at different times of the day. In the morning, the weather is cool and the coloring tends to be blue, whereas in the afternoon the coloring tends to be red under the sun.
DAY 3: Zhangye Binggou Danxia Landforms and Train to Dunhuang
People go to the Rainbow Mountains for their colors and visit Binggou Danxia Landforms area for its rock formations. You will spend the whole day in the Binggou Danxia Landforms area, which is also part of Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park. Different from the colorful Rainbow Mountains, the Binggou Danxia Landforms display more normal colors but more peculiar shapes.
After you have seen the landforms, you will be driven back to the city to enjoy a local dinner. Afterward, your guide and driver will take you to the station for your train to Dunhuang. Your Dunhuang guide will pick you up at the train station and send you to the hotel.
DAY 4: Dunhuang's Mogao Caves and Desert Scenery
Your Dunhuang tour guide will be waiting for you at the train station, ready to transfer you to your hotel. After breakfast in your hotel, you will visit the Mogao Caves, which were built at the edge of the desert between the 4th and 14th centuries.
Although you can't take photos in the caves, it's good to have the opportunity to see the original items inside them, and you will have the chance to take photos of murals in another location the following day. After lunch, go to the Singing Sand Mountains and Crescent Moon Spring.
Climb to the top of a sand dune to enjoy the marvelous spectacle of the crescent moon-shaped spring lying in the desert. Ride a camel in the desert and imagine how caravans crossed the desert over 1,000 years ago. You can also take photos of a desert sunset.
DAY 5: Dunhuang Museum and Geological Park
In the morning, you will visit Dunhuang Museum, where you can take photos of exquisite murals copied from those in the Mogao Caves. After lunch, you will be driven to Devil City — Yadan National Geological Park.
Devil City is famous for its nighttime sounds and vivid rocks in various shapes that look like animals or world-famous attractions. If you want to, you can stay there until sunset.
DAY 6: Dunhuang Departure
Your guide and driver will take you to the airport to catch your flight and will make sure that your check-in goes smoothly.
