Gansu Silk Road Corridor — Lanzhou to Dunhuang

A long, narrow city strung along the Yellow River, and the birthplace of Lanzhou lamian. Hui and Dongxiang Muslims are everywhere in the food culture here, and the riverfront park is where the city walks in the evening.

A Hexi Corridor farming city on the old caravan road, flat and green against desert on both sides. Small enough to see in a day, and a natural first night out of Lanzhou on the way west.

Oasis city under the snow-capped Qilian mountains, where the Silk Road ran between desert to the north and high pasture to the south. The rainbow mountains nearby have made it famous, but the city itself is quiet and very walkable.

The western end of the Ming Great Wall, where the fortified corridor between desert and mountain finally closes. A compact, modern city built around one of the most complete fortress complexes in China.

Where the Silk Road split around the Taklamakan desert. A small city beside the Mogao cave system and the singing sand dunes, with a night market that has been feeding travellers for a thousand years.

The river that made northern China runs right through the middle of town. Take the cable car up to White Pagoda Hill for the whole valley, then cross back on the old iron bridge at dusk.

Silk Road galleries, Buddhist sculpture from the Mogao cave system and the famous bronze galloping horse. Free entry, and a quiet indoor hour that fits neatly between Dhuhr and Asr.

One of the largest Confucian temple complexes in northwest China, holding a bilingual Tangut-Chinese stele that helped scholars read the lost Western Xia script.

Cliff-cut Buddhist caves above an oasis reservoir, an hour out of town, with a boardwalk along the rock face.

Banded red, yellow and grey sandstone ridges about an hour east of the city. Best light is late afternoon; there are four viewing platforms connected by shuttle buses.

A resting Buddha 35 metres long, made of clay over a wooden frame, in a hall built in 1098. Marco Polo wrote about this city and probably this temple.

Lanzhou beef lamian for breakfast, hand-grabbed mutton, Dongxiang-style lamb, and sweet fermented barley drinks. The city has one of the densest concentrations of halal kitchens in China. Lanzhou Xiguan Mosque is nearby, so you can pray and eat on the same street.

Hui-run halal restaurants cluster near the old city gate: lamb skewers, hand-pulled noodles and a local cold noodle dish eaten through summer. Wuwei Dongguan Mosque is nearby, so you can pray and eat on the same street.

Zhangye halal restaurants serve lamb offal soup for breakfast, hand-grabbed mutton, and a cold wheat-starch noodle with vinegar and chilli oil. Your guide pre-books the ones we have audited. Zhangye Dongguan Mosque is nearby, so you can pray and eat on the same street.

Hui halal restaurants near the fortress serve lamb skewers, hand-pulled noodles and a local grilled lamb chop. Fewer choices than Lanzhou, so we pre-book. Jiayuguan mosque is nearby, so you can pray and eat on the same street.

Dunhuang halal restaurants serve donkey-meat-free Hui dishes, hand-grabbed mutton, lamb skewers and a famous almond-flavoured milk dessert. The night market has a clearly signed halal row. Dunhuang mosque is nearby, so you can pray and eat on the same street.

Central, active and easy to combine with the riverfront walk. Wudhu facilities on site.

Central mosques with full facilities, and prayer rooms at the main railway station. Your guide keeps a prayer mat and a compass in the vehicle for the corridor drives.

Central and active. Your guide confirms prayer times the day before you arrive.

A short, easy stop with a mosque in the centre of town. Corridor drives out of Wuwei are timed so you leave after Dhuhr and arrive before Maghrib.

Near the old centre, with a prayer hall and wudhu. Jumuah is straightforward here.

One central mosque plus a prayer room at the Danxia visitor centre. We schedule the rainbow mountains for the afternoon so Dhuhr and Asr fall in town.

A small active mosque in the city; we plan the fort visit around your prayer times.

One mosque in town and a quiet room at the fortress complex your guide can arrange. The fort visit is outdoors, so hats and water matter in summer.

A modest active mosque in town. Prayer rooms are also available at the dune park entrance.

We plan the dunes for the late afternoon so Maghrib falls at a sensible place, and the Mogao visit for the morning when the caves are coolest.

Lanzhou Zhongchuan (LHW), 70km north with a rail link. High-speed trains from Xian in three hours and from Xining in one.

High-speed rail from Lanzhou in about two and a half hours. No airport in regular use for tourists.

High-speed rail from Lanzhou in about five hours, from Dunhuang in about six. Zhangye Ganzhou airport has limited flights.

High-speed rail from Dunhuang in about two hours, from Zhangye in about two and a half. Jiayuguan airport has flights from Xian and Lanzhou.

Dunhuang Mogao (DNH) airport with flights from Xian, Lanzhou and Beijing. High-speed rail from Jiayuguan in two hours.

April to October. Winters are dry and cold but the city works fine year-round.

May to October; July and August are hot but the evenings are pleasant.

June to September. The Danxia colours are strongest after rain, and the poplars turn gold in October.

May to October. Summer is hot and dry; bring a hat for the ramparts.

May to October. July and August are very hot; September has the best light on the dunes.