Day 3: Lanzhou-Zhangye
Today you will explore the best highlights of Lanzhou city. At first, you are trsnferred to see the Sculpture of the mother Yellow River . The sculpture shows a baby lying in the arms of the mother, which indicates the Yellow River has nurtured the descendants of the Chinese Nation for thousands of years. Following that is the Waterwheel Garden. Originated from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the waterwheel is the oldest irrigation tool in Yellow River area of Lanzhou. The Waterwheel Garden is a theme garden exhibiting the waterwheel culture. Here, you could appreciate the waterwheel driven by the flowing water all year round to collect water from the river or cofferdam. Before lunch, you will also visit the Zhongshan Bridge and the White Pagoda Park. The White Pagoda, built to memorize a master of Tibetan Buddhism, is on the top of a mountain at the north bank of the Yellow River. It is worth mentioning that the mountain top is a good place to overlook the whole city.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch                                    Accommodation: In Lanzhou

Day 5: Zhangye
After breakfast, you will go to visit the Giant Buddha Temple which is famous for having the largest indoor sleeping Buddha in Asia. This temple was built in Western Xia Dynasty(1098), and keeps many precious Buddhist scriptures and wall paintings. The Buddha statue was carved by woods with a length of 34.5 meters. His ears are as big as the space which 4 adults can sit side by side. The statue tells the story of Buddha’s Nirvana. The whole Dafo Temple is a large complex with regal arrangements. The Sleeping Buddha is the centrally seated, symmetric buildings situate along the sides.

In the afternoon, drive about an hour to visit the Zhangye Danxia Landform. Danxia landform is a spectacular petrographic geomorphology landscape which is formed from red-coloured sandstones and conglomerates. The one in Zhangye was formed in the pre-Jurassic Age. Thousands of mountains and stiffs stretch like the colorful sunset glow. The barren mountains are covered by a red grit rock stratum. At the same time, some surfaces of mountains appear other colors, such as white, yellow, etc, and form many irregular lines and blocks looking like some abstract oil paintings. There are four viewing decks for you to watch and shoot. You will visit one by one, and will be transferred by shuttle buses from one deck to another.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch                                    Accommodation: In Zhangye

Day 6: Zhangye-Jiayuguan
After breakfast, drive about 220km(2.5hrs) to Jiayuguan City.
In the afternoon, drive about 10 minutes to visit the Jiayuguan Fort. Before entering the fortress, take a short visit to the Great Wall Museum to learn some interesting facts about both the Jiayuguan Fort and Great Wall, including history, old photos, relics, etc. Then enter the gate to explore the grandiose fortress. The fort is farthest fortress of Great Wall of Ming Dynasty. It is a complex of towers, city walls and other military buildings covering more than 25,000 square meters. The city wall is nearly 11 meters high, and comprises an outer and inner wall. There are two large gates standing at the east and the west of the inner wall. Walkways lead to the top of the wall, allowing horses to climb up the wall.
If time allows and you are interested, you can take an optional visit to the Xuanbi Great Wall (Overhanging Wall) which is about 18km away from the Fort. The walls were built on lofty cliffs with incredibly large gradient looking like an overhanging cantilever. Climbing up to higher gives you excellent views of the surrounding land and mountains.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch                                    Accommodation: In Jiayuguan

Day 7: Jiayuguan-Dunhuang
Today you will drive about 5 hours to Dunhuang from Jiayuguan in the early morning.
In the afternoon, visit the magic Echoing Sand Mountains and Crescent Lake which are located in a scenic area. In the sunny days, the sand mountains echo like Orchestra music even if there is no wind. If you slide from the sand mountains, you can hear the echoing sound clearly. There are many exciting activities for you to try, such as sand skiing, viewing from glider or helicopter, motorcycling, etc. Surrounded by the Echoing Sand Mountains, Crescent Lake is a beautiful oasis with some well decorated traditional Chinese architecture, some trees and flowers and a lake that has never dried up and shapes like a crescent moon.
In the evening, you can go out to go for a walk in the Shazhou Night Market where you can try some local food, relax in a drinking bar, or buy some interesting handcrafts, etc.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch                                    Accommodation: In Jiayuguan

Day 8: Dunhuang-Departure
After breakfast, drive about 10kkm from the Dunhuang city to visit the newly opened Mogao Grottoes Digital Exhibition Center before go to Mogao Grottoes. You will watch two well-produced educational documentary movies that introduce the history, arts, and other facts about Mogao Grottoes, which will be very helpful when you visit the grottoes. After the movies, take the interzonal bus to Mogao Grottoes.
Mogao Grottoes is famed as the “Louvre of East”, which is outstanding for its exquisite mural paintings and statues. There are now 492 grottoes in which about 45000 square meters mural paintings and 2100 colorfully painted statues from which you can trace the development of Chinese art over 1600 years from one dynasty to the next because each dynasty built own caves to record its own features. There are about 40 common caves opened to the public. In the tourist area, you will be divided into groups by different tour guides who will accompany you to visit 7-8 caves among them with great introduction. After that, if you want to visit more other caves, you can do it by yourselves or follow other tour guides. Besides, there are 10 special caves (with extra fees) available for your extensional visiting.
After lunch, visit Dunhuang Museum where some precious arts and relics are preserved here. It is also a great place to learn about Dunhuang culture and history as well as the history of Ancient Silk Road.
Tour ends, and your tour guide will see you off at the airport/train station.
Meals: Breakfast/Lunch                                    Accommodation