Gansu is located in the north of China and at the heart of the Silk Road. It’s elongated shape is accounted by the Hexu Corridor, a thousand kilometer mountain pass. The province is widely barren and only small oasis towns provided the Silk Road with it’s much-needed lifeline through the desert.
Gansu is home to a multinational population which includes ethnic minority groups of Kazak, Mongolian, Tibetan, Hui, Dongxiang, Tu and Manchu. They influence each other and hold close ties with the Han people, so that they have developed a unique cultural community.
Additional to a breathtaking natural scenery, it’s cultural relics like the world-famous Mogao Grottoes, a large and well-preserved Buddhist art palace, have to be seen. The Labrang Monastery is one of the largest Tibetan Buddhist resorts in China and every year many pilgrims arrive here to pray.
Dunhuang
Langmu
Jiayuguan
All Excursions in Gansu
Southern Gansu - Langmu Monastery, etc. Tour Type: Less Known, Popular destinations
Explore the monastery which is divided into two parts – one belongs to Sichuan, one to Gansu, and in both parts live Tibetans.
Jiayuguan Pass & Dunhuang's Mogao Grottos Tour Type: Classic China Highlights
See the famous fort at the western end of the Great Wall in Jiayuguan and visit the Dunhang “Thousand Buddha Grottoes” with paintings from a period ranging over ten dynasties.
The Silk Road (from Dunhuang to Turpan, Kashgar & Kazakh) Tour Type: Ethnic Minority Cultural Explorations
The Silk Road Route starts from Dunhuang's Mogao Grottos in Gansu, fly to Xinjiang to explore Turpan Basin for its grape and melon harvest; then fly to Kashgar, the heart of Chinese Islam and drive to Karakuri Lake and Snow Mountains.
Yumenguan Pass of Gansu Tour Type: Less Known, Popular destinations
Visit the ancient “Jade-Gate Pass” which was in ancient times the door between central China and the West.
