10 Years Local Guide's Handwritten Tips: How to Enjoy the Hexi Corridor in the Off-Season?

🙋🏻‍♀️ I am the Silk Road Yixing editor, a post-90s guide with ten years of experience on the Silk Road Gansu-Qinghai loop, a native of Dunhuang. Today, I’m sharing how to explore the Hexi Corridor during the off-season. ✅【Must-Visit Local Spots】: 📯 Wuwei Confucian Temple: The largest and best-preserved Confucian temple in Northwest China 📯 Leitai Han Culture Museum: Famous for the national treasure "Galloping Horse Treading on a Flying Swallow" 📯 Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon: Deep canyon with unique peak forests, comparable to the Colorado Grand Canyon 📯 Rainbow Danxia: Colors like vermilion, bright as rosy clouds, a palette spilled by the gods 📯 Jiayuguan Pass · Fort: From the city wall, you can see the Ming Great Wall under the Qilian Snow Mountains blending with modern railways 📯 Yulin Caves: Known as the "sister caves of Mogao Caves," with uniquely styled mural art 📯 Son of the Earth · Boundless · Han Wu's Majesty: A large outdoor sculpture on the Guazhou Gobi Desert 📯 Yangguan Pass: One of China’s earliest customs, also the Yangguan place in the famous poem "No Old Friends Beyond Yangguan" 📯 Yumenguan Pass: Established during Emperor Wu of Han’s opening of the Western Regions and setting up the four Hexi commanderies, an important pass and military garrison 📯 Yadan Devil City: Huge and varied-sized loess mounds on the black Gobi, named for the ghostly howling sounds made by wind and sand 📯 Mogao Caves: A Buddhist art palace integrating sculpture, murals, and cave architecture 📯 Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring: A desert wonder where sand dunes and spring water coexist ✅【Itinerary Sharing】: 8 days 7 nights touring the four commanderies (‼️No group tours supported, only custom tours) • D1: Lanzhou airport pickup - check-in • D2: Lanzhou - Wushaoling - Tiantishan Grottoes - Leitai Han Tomb - Wuwei • D3: Wuwei - Kumarajiva Temple - Matisi Grottoes - Zhangye • D4: Zhangye - Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon - Rainbow Danxia - Jiayuguan • D5: Jiayuguan - Fort - Son of the Earth - Dunhuang • D6: Dunhuang - Yangguan Pass - Yumenguan Pass - Yadan Devil City - Dunhuang • D7: Dunhuang - Mogao Caves - Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring - Dunhuang • D8: Dunhuang city - airport/train station drop-off 🏨【Accommodation Tips】: Lanzhou: Near Zhongshan Bridge / Lanzhou West Station / Lanzhou Old Street / Zhangye Road area Wuwei: Close to Liangzhou District commercial pedestrian street Zhangye: Many new hotels near Zhangye West Station, good environment Jiayuguan: Near Datang Food Street / Fuqiang Market, convenient for dining and shopping Dunhuang: Best to stay in the city in winter, options near Shazhou Night Market or Danghe area 🧡【Tips】: 🟡🟡🟡 Food • Wuwei: Cai Ji San Tao Che, Mianpizi (noodle skin), You Sanzi (fried dough strips), Ren cold noodles, Shami noodles, Youbing rolled cakes • Zhangye: Sun Ji fried pao, Liangmao / Heshunyuan’s sao noodles, Lao Zhoujia fried bola, Pengxin lamb, Miao’s rolled chicken, Station spicy hot pot • Jiayuguan: Qingquan Lamb Restaurant · Roasted lamb leg / specialty dishes, Bingquan lamb hot pot (both are intangible cultural heritage foods) • Dunhuang: ① Xia Family Mixed Soup (mainly lamb soup with flatbread, closes after 2 pm) ② Maluya Beef Noodles ③ Jingyuan Ga Liu lamb, Chengbianbian BBQ, Poplar tree baked cakes, Donkey meat yellow noodles