English, Reception: Indicates that you will receive consultation and contact services from an English-speaking customer service specialist before your trip, but English interpretation will not be provided for tour guide services during the itinerary.
If the group cannot be formed, we will contact you to reschedule or issue a full refund. Thank you for your understanding!
One-Day Tour of Zhangye Danxia Rainbow Mountains & Mati Temple (Explore Geological Wonders, Discover Millennia-Old Buddhist Grottoes)
Pick-up time: 08:00, subject to actual conditions on the day.
Pick-up and drop-off area: Free door-to-door service is available within Zhangye city area and Zhangye West (High-speed Railway Station).
Itinerary: Zhangye city center/Zhangye West High-Speed Rail Station (pick-up service) — Mati Temple — Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park — Return trip with drop-off at downtown hotels or Zhangye West High-Speed Rail Station.
Attraction details:
Mati Temple
The Matisi Grottoes are located at the foot of the Qilian Mountains in Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, Zhangye City, Gansu Province. This artistic treasure trove of cave temples is carved into a 100-meter-high cliff of red sandstone. Dating back to the Northern Liang period during the Sixteen Kingdoms era over 1,600 years ago, it predates even the renowned Mogao Caves of Dunhuang. The scenic area comprises seven main sections including North Matisi Temple, South Matisi Temple, Thousand Buddha Caves, Golden Pagoda Temple, and Upper/Middle/Lower Guanyin Caves, scattered across a 20-kilometer area with over 70 surviving cave niches. The name "Matisi" (Horse Hoof Temple) originates from a beautiful legend - it's said an immortal horse left a clear hoofprint on the rocks here when descending to earth. The most breathtaking feature is the "Thirty-Three Heavens Cave" in North Temple - a seven-level, twenty-one-cave structure arranged like a pagoda within vertical cliffs, with connecting passages entirely carved inside the mountain. Some sections are so narrow and steep that visitors must climb using both hands and feet, making this architectural style exceptionally rare among Chinese grottoes. Deep within the complex, Golden Pagoda Temple preserves invaluable high-relief colored flying apsaras sculptures that predate Dunhuang's flying deities, earning it the title "the crown jewel among special caves."
Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park
The Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park is located in Linze County and Sunan County of Zhangye City, Gansu Province, covering an area of approximately 50 square kilometers of fantastical landforms. Known as "China's Rainbow Mountains," it is the world's only composite area featuring both Danxia landforms and colorful hills, renowned for its vibrant hues, vast expanse, and uniquely shaped formations that surpass all others in the country. The park is currently a National 5A-level Tourist Attraction and a UNESCO Global Geopark, with its colorful hills section included in the tentative list of World Natural Heritage sites.
This dazzling landscape is a masterpiece sculpted by hundreds of millions of years of Earth's history. Its rock formations date back to the Cretaceous period between 135 and 65 million years ago, when this area was a vast lake. The alternating cycles of wet and dry, warm and cool climates caused continuous oxidation-reduction reactions of iron ions in the sediments. Like nature's palette, these processes painted the rock layers in distinct bands of red, yellow, orange, white, and gray-green, creating a strikingly rhythmic pattern. Subsequent tectonic uplift and erosion by wind and rain carved out the spectacular scenery we see today - as if the heavens had overturned their paint palette across the northern foothills of the Qilian Mountains.
Tour end time (arrival time at downtown hotel): 19:00-20:00, subject to actual conditions on the day. If you have connecting transportation arrangements that day, please inform our customer service staff in advance so we can discuss whether it might affect your subsequent itinerary.
Return service area: Free door-to-door return service is available within Zhangye city area and Zhangye West (High-speed Railway Station).
