14 Days in Jiuquan

Land softly: the 346-dated tower base over the four streets and the city museum's corridor overview.

1. jiuquan bell drum tower
2. jiuquan museum

The park around the spring of Huo Qubing's 121 BC wine toast, willows first planted in the 1870s, and an unhurried look at the county streets.

1. jiuquan west han scenic spot

About 210 km off in the controlled zone: founded in 1958, site of the 1970 first satellite and the first crewed flight of 2003. Advance reservation through official channels, ID checks, and open areas follow the day's schedule.

1. jiuquan launch center

Wenshushan's shrines of some 1,500 years and the Dingjiazha murals of the 4th-5th centuries, both an easy run from town.

1. jiuquan wenshushan grottoes
2. jiuquan dingjiazha tomb

About 60 km north in Jinta County: poplars planted from the 1980s turn gold around mid-October, with boardwalks and mirrored channels.

1. jiuquan jinta poplar forest

The 43 caves of the Yulin valley, Jiuquan's second great mural trove, with Tang-and-later walls in a green river gorge.

1. jiuquan yulin caves

The 2014-listed rammed-earth city on the old oasis margin, and the 15-metre sleeping figure of 2016 lying out in the Gobi; on to Dunhuang by evening.

1. jiuquan suoyang city
2. jiuquan earth child sculpture

Reserve ahead: 735 caves begun in 366, about 45,000 square metres of murals, 2,400-plus painted statues; the library-cave hall explains the 1900 find.

1. jiuquan mogao caves

Sunrise lines on the Mingsha dunes, the crescent spring below, a slow afternoon in the orchards and teahouses of the oasis.

1. jiuquan mingsha crescent lake

The Han pass set up about 2,100 years ago at the desert's edge, with its museum of beacon-tower relics — the west gate of Tang farewell poems.

1. jiuquan yangguan

The small square fort and the wall stubs over the gravel; go early, carry water, and watch the light move across the watchtower.

1. jiuquan yumen pass
2. jiuquan han great wall

Museum stelae and tomb figures, the night-market grill smoke and a slow perimeter of the old town; the county city of Dunhuang was fixed about 2,100 years ago too.

1. jiuquan dunhuang museum

About 22 km west in the neighbouring city: the 1372 fort, the 1540s Overhanging Wall and the First Beacon of the 1530s; overnight back in Jiuquan or Dunhuang-side.

1. jiuquan jiayuguan pass
2. jiuquan overhanging wall
3. jiuquan first beacon tower

A last circuit of the tower crossroads and the market streets, then departure by rail or air from Jiuquan.

1. jiuquan bell drum tower