5-Day Incredible Lanzhou & Xiahe Tour

5-Day Incredible Lanzhou & Xiahe Tour Highlights

Price Per Person: available upon request

Day 1 Arrive in Lanzhou

Meals: N/A

Accommodation: Legend Hotel Lanzhou  or similar

Upon arrival in Lanzhou, the capital city of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, transfer to hotel.

Day 2 Lanzhou-Binglingsi Grottoes-Xiahe by private car

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Tianzhu International Hotel  or similar

After breakfast, head for Liujiaxia for 1.5 hours. There you will take a cruise to Binglingsi Grottoes. This is one of the important historic relics left on the Silk Road.

Created in 3 A.D. on the north cliff of the bank of Yellow River, the grottoes are now a part of the World Heritage Site of Silk Road, applied by China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 2014. The grottoes have four levels and 183 caves, 694 stone statues and 82 mud statues and 900 square meter murals. All spread on the 200 meters long and 60-meter high cliff. Among them, the No. 169 cave is a natural cave and also the most important one.

After visiting the grottoes, you will continue to travel to Xiahe, a small town whose residents are mostly Tibetans.

Day 3 Xiahe 

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Tianzhu International Hotel  or similar

After breakfast, you will explore the Labrang Monastery. This is one of the main temples of Tibetan Buddhism. It belongs to the Gelug Sect. It’s also a famous school of Tibetan Buddhism with the most complete Tibetan Buddhist teaching system. The monastery is located at the bank of the Xiahe River. The outer wall is as long as 3.5km and consists of more than 2000 prayer wheels. It is the longest prayer wheel corridor. The Gongtang Pagoda next to it has the Wuliangguang Buddha invited from Nepal. Here we can have the whole panoramic view of the Labrang Monastery. Outside of the pagoda, walk by the wooden bridge on Xiahe River and we will get to the Buddha basking podium on the slope. This is also a good spot to view the monastery.

There are grand chanting ceremonies at 6:30 and 11:00 every day in Labrang Monastery. Every lunar month Jan 3rd to 17th, Jun 29th, Jul 15th, we can participate in or watch the fascinating events.

After that, you will go to the Sangke Prairie to visit a local Tibetan family, where you will have Tibetan yogurt and other local food. You can also enjoy horseback riding.

Day 4 Xiahe-Lanzhou by private car

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Legend Hotel Lanzhou  or similar

Return to Lanzhou. In the afternoon, you will visit Gansu Provincial Museum and you will walk along the Yellow River and visit the oldest bridge in Lanzhou.

Day 5 Depart from Lanzhou

Meals: Breakfast

Accommodation: NA

Free until being driven to the airport for your onward flight. Thus, the end of your fantastic tour!