Zhangye Danxia
There were two very large Danxia Scenic Areas(丹霞 景区) near Zhangye City. One was Bingou Danxia Scenic Area (冰沟 丹霞 景区) and the other was Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area (七彩丹霞景区. Danxia (丹霞 ) basically meant “red glow” so we supposed these were “reddish” geographical landforms.
We visited Bingou Danxia Scenic Area (冰沟 丹霞 景区) in the morning and in the afternoon through the evening (sunset) we were at Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area (七彩丹霞景区).
Bingou Danxia Scenic Area (冰沟 丹霞 景区) was an hour drive from our hotel in Zhangye and Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area (七彩丹霞景区) about 19 km from from Bingou Danxia.
Route from our ZhangYe Hotel to the Danxia Scenic Areas
binggou Danxia Landform Scenery Area
Binggou Danxia Landform Scenery Area (冰沟 丹霞 景区) was a National 4A-level tourist attraction. It covered 300 square kilometers. The scenic area was divided into two parts the Daxitian (Great Western Heaven) and the Xiaoxitian (Little Western Heaven).
Our ticket was ¥188 per person covering both parts of the scenic area. It included tourist shuttles into the scenic area.
We boarded a orange tourist shuttle bus to visit Daxitian. As the shuttle carried us into the valley we saw impressive high mountains/cliffs on both sides of the route. The cliff landform were sandy in color and looked very harsh and dominating.
At the end of the shuttle bus ride we transferred to another vehicle, one that looked like a boat on wheels. Customers could opt to go for camel rides which we were not particular keen so we went up the “boat” vehicle to move further into the valley.
The landform changed as we went inland. The rock color turned “redder” too. The “boat” vehicle ride ended and we came down to explore the place. We trekked up a dried mud path near to a huge mountain/cliff. Wow! the walls of the cliff was so vertically steep.
Far away we could see “multi colors” folded mountain ranges. This place was huge but the route of Daxitian for visitors ended here.
After 1.5 hour we were done with Daxitian and took the shuttles back to the entrance. From the entrance we went on to the route into Xiaoxitian. The geographical landform of Xiaoxitian was more interesting.
In Xiaoxitian there were boardwalks and stairs which allowed us to explore the rock formation at a closer view. Luckily the weather was not very hot and trekking up and down the steps were manageable.
There were many unique and perculiar rock/hill formations and everyone had a name! Though it got very tiring we went through all the highlights of the place. Our guide, Lau Li, was not letting us off easy, he kept pushing us to go forward until we completed all the boardwalk and steps.
Danxia Landform Geographical Park (Linze Danxia)
At about 2pm our guide brought us to another Danxia, Danxia Landform Geographical Park which was also known as Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area or Colourful Danxia Tourist Scenic Area. This Danxia was about 19km from the earlier Danxia.
At Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area there were three entrance (east, west and north) and 9 viewing platforms and the plan was for us to be at viewing platform 4 when the sun set. Not all platforms were equal and a couple were minor platform for “balloon ride” and “camel ride”.
Our guide took our passports and went to the ticketing counter to get our entry tickets, apparently in China to purchase entrance tickets official identifications were needed. We entered the scenic park via the north entrance and from there our exploration began.
First was a “model” room where a model of the scenic area was displayed. It kind of gave us a scale of this huge place.
Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area was a 5A Scenic Tourist Site. 5A classification was the highest class and was reserved for China most “stunning” places. As our tourist shuttle bus drove us inland we began to see the multi colored mountains and they were stunning. At each “bus stop” we came down to explore.
The Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area was developed at about 200 million years ago. Covering an area of over 400 square kilometers, it was composed of lots of smooth and sharp cliffs, most of which were several hundred meters high.
There were sections on mountains where the color were darker and duller but the landform formations were still captivating and stunning.
This place was massive and the multicolor layers stretched on and on. From mountains to the next mountains. Some layers even had this fascinating turquoise green color.
We had more than 3 to 4 hours to sundown so there was plentiful of time to walk and enjoy the grandoise/beauty of the place.
Two and a half hours later we reached platform 4. The many layers of colors of the undulating hills and valleys were even more brilliant and stunning then all the other hills/valleys that we had seen so far. Wow the sights were beautiful.
This place was so amazingly stunning and vast beyond description. Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area being a 5A classification tourist site was definitely more impressive that 4A – Binggou Danxia Scenic Area.
Visiting platform 4 at the very last was certainly the best plan, as the most beautiful should be seen last!
We noted that we could visit Danxia quite easily from Zhangye Town if we were to travel on our own. Tickets were easily available on Trip.com. There were tickets for entrance to Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area online or at site if one came in a taxis from the town. For those that prefered two-way transfer from Zhangye town there was also “1-day visit to Rainbow Danxia Scenic Area” on Trip.com