5 Days on the Silk Road

Fly in and settle at about 1,520 m. The museum's 34.5-centimetre Bronze Galloping Horse of 1969 sets up everything you'll see westward; the 234-metre iron bridge of 1909 and a night-market noodle bowl close the day.

1. lanzhou gansu provincial museum
2. lanzhou zhongshan bridge
3. lanzhou zhengning road night market

About two hours by rail to Wuwei, where the Bronze Galloping Horse was actually unearthed in 1969 at the Leitai tomb. The Confucian temple of 1437 shelters the 1094 Xixia stele; Wuwei has no dedicated page on this site, so these tips are your notes.

1. silk road leitai tomb
2. silk road wuwei confucian temple

Another hour west, with a reclining Buddha about 34 metres long, sculpted in 1098, inside the Dafo temple, then the rainbow Danxia hills near Lintze — roughly 50 square kilometres of Cretaceous red beds carved by wind and water — for the low evening light.

1. zhangye giant buddha temple
2. zhangye danxia

Founded in 1372 at the corridor's narrowest point, the pass keeps walls near 10 metres tall; the cliff-hung overhanging wall climbs its ridge at close to 45 degrees. The first beacon tower on the Taolai river cliff is an add-on if the afternoon allows.

1. jiayuguan pass
2. jiayuguan overhanging wall

Around three hours by rail to Dunhuang. Mogao needs advance booking — 735 caves, some 45,000 square metres of murals, UNESCO-listed since 1987, about eight caves on a standard ticket. Sunset on the Mingsha dunes, Crescent Spring below, then the night market before your flight or train.

1. dunhuang mogao grottoes
2. dunhuang mingsha crescent spring
3. dunhuang shazhou night market