Private Day Tour: Horse Hoof Temple Grottoes and Zhangye Danxia Landform
Description
Visit the Horse Hoof Temple Grottoes the legend said that the Heavenly Horse left a footprint in the cave, it has become a treasure of the temple, you will see the beautiful snow mountain and grassland here. Enjoy lunch in the local ethnic Yugur people’s tent. In the afternoon visit the Zhangye Danxia Landform, it is the best evolved examples in China of window lattice and palace forms. it can be seen only in the arid areas of Gansu province. The Danxia formations are surrounded by colorful hills, which seem to rise and fall like waves; with rock strata of different colors mixed in graceful disarray
Tour Options
Itinerary
This morning at 8:30, meet your private tour guide at the lobby of your Zhangye hotel, by car / bus to the Horse-Hoof Temple Grottoes, you will see the countryside view and grassland on the way. The Horse-Hoof Temple Grottoes located in the Qilian Snow Mountain, initially the first cave was opened by Guoyu who came from Dunhuang in the third century. It is a very important Buddhism Grottoes in Gansu.
Visit the Zhangye Danxia Landform,it is the best evolved examples in China of window lattice and palace forms. it can be seen only in the arid areas of Gansu province. The Danxia formations are surrounded by colorful hills, which seem to rise and fall like waves; with rock strata of different colors mixed in graceful disarray
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Wheelchair accessible
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Children must be accompanied by an adult
- Passport name, number, expiry and country is required at time of booking for all participants
- A current valid passport is required on the day of travel
Reviews(3)
A wonderful all-day tour that combined Buddhist history with an experience of the two mountain ranges that flank Zhangye and create the Silk Road Hexi-corridor, interspersed by lunch at a local agricultural village restaurant. We were driven from site to site in a comfortable six seat car by a very knowledgable local chap while Steven, our guide, enlightened us with his treasure-trove of information about the Zhangye area and history. First we visited the 1500 year old Tibetan Buddhist Horse Hoof Temple Grottoes carved into the towering Qilian (sky) mountains and then the Zhangye Danxia landform or Rainbow Mountains. We had great fun scrambling up stairs and ducking through ancient passageways en route to various caves - all of which played host to ornate Buddha statues and shrines. Steven provided this private tour of the Temple’s grottoes with expert commentary on the finer details of the caves together with a wider explanation of the culture that created them. At the local restaurant we had tasty Cuo Yuzi noodles, a local Zhangye speciality, with well cooked quality fresh dishes of a diverse range, from meat to vegetarian-friendly and with spicy and milder dishes being available. The Rainbow Mountains were the other side of Zhangye and on arrival required a transfer to a national park hop on hop off coach that stopped at four points to allow us to walk up to the platforms where we had spectacular views of the uniquely coloured rock formations. A really worthwhile day, we whole-heartedly recommend Stephen and Silk Road Angel Tours.
We enjoyed the tours of Horse Hoof Grottoes and Danxia Landform tremendously with Steven as the guide. Steven speaks excellent English for he has spent several months in the USA to enrich his English speaking skill. He has been a tour guide for many years and owes a tour company himself. He came with an excellent car and a driver who also contributed some historical knowledge of these two places. Steven took us to a very nice regional cuisine restaurant for lunch at Horse Hoof Grottoes area. Thanks a lot Steven for such a enjoyable trip.
