Qinghai and Gansu: a Silk Road in colour

Most people arrive in Lanzhou knowing one picture: the striped hills of Zhangye. They leave with ten. The route through Gansu and Qinghai follows the old Hexi Corridor, the narrow passage the Silk Road took between the mountains and the desert, then climbs onto the Qinghai plateau and its great lakes.

The highlights, in the order you meet them

• Zhangye Danxia. Bands of red, orange and cream sandstone, at their richest in the late afternoon light.
• Jiayuguan. The fortress at the western end of the Great Wall, where the desert begins.
• The Mogao Caves. Hundreds of Buddhist cave temples near Dunhuang, painted over a thousand years and listed by UNESCO.
• Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring. Tall dunes around a small spring-fed lake that has survived the desert for centuries.
• Chaka Salt Lake. On a still day the shallow water turns into a mirror of the sky.
• Qinghai Lake. China’s largest lake, high on the plateau, ringed by grassland and, in summer, yellow rapeseed fields.

Ten days, five landscapes, one of the great journeys in Asia.

Altitude, briefly

The Gansu half of the trip is low and dry. The Qinghai half is high: Chaka and Qinghai Lake both sit at around 3,000 metres or more. Most healthy travellers manage well if they walk slowly, drink plenty of water and keep the first evening on the plateau quiet.

A few things worth knowing

• Entry to the Mogao Caves is limited and booked ahead, and photography is not allowed inside the caves.
• Distances are long. Expect several half-days on the coach, broken up by stops along the way.
• The desert is hot by day and cool at night, even in summer. Pack a light jacket.
• Sun protection matters on the dunes and on the salt lake, where the light reflects back up.

When to go

The season runs from late spring to early autumn. July and August bring the rapeseed flowers at Qinghai Lake; September brings clear skies and fewer crowds. Winter is very cold on the plateau, and some sights close or shorten their hours.