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