Lanzhou to Xiahe Labrang Monastery

After breakfast, your guide and driver will pick you up at your hotel lobby, and then accompany you to the majestic Labrang Monastery. Nestled on the mountainside, this 300-year-old site is hailed as the “World’s Seat of Tibetan Studies”, boasting China’s finest Tibetan Buddhist educational system. Even from a distance, you’ll be wowed by the bronze-gilded adornments atop red-and-white halls, where Dharma wheels and treasure vases glisten dazzlingly in the sunlight. Upon entering, make a beeline for the world’s longest prayer wheel corridor stretching for 3.5 kilometers (2.2 miles) with 2,000 brightly painted prayer wheels. Turn the wheels as locals do and embrace the sincere devotion of the faithful. 

Later, relax on a 50-minute car ride to Ganjia Secret Realm, once a strategic military stronghold embraced by rolling mountains, with twin rivers meandering through it like two white ribbons. To make your trip effortless, we’ve included a shuttle bus to whisk you among key attractions. Between July and September, when you set foot here, you’ll feel like stepping into a vivid oil painting. Bright azaleas, regarded by locals as sacred flowers symbolizing love and blessings, sway in the soft breeze, while flocks of Tibetan sheep and yaks roam leisurely over lush grasslands. Gaze afar at the towering White Stone Cliff resembling a white jade screen, beneath which you can almost hear low-pitched chants drifting from the 14th-century White Stone Cliff Temple. Ascend to the viewpoint of Octagonal Ancient City and take in its rare hollow cross-shaped structure, distinct from traditional square and rectangular ancient cities in China. 

★ Special Highlight: Explore Real Local Life at a Tibetan Family

Afterward, we’ll visit a local Tibetan home to discover their ordinary life. There, the warm-hearted host will treat you to traditional highland barley wine and authentic snacks such as tsampa, small balls hand-shaped by mixing roasted barley flour and butter tea. With your guide, you’ll learn that they’ve lived off herding for generations due to harsh natural conditions. That’s why you may notice brown patches on their walls - these are dried cow dung, serving as daily fuel for making fires and cooking.

At the end of the day, your guide and driver will escort you back to your hotel.

Meal: Chinese breakfast
Accommodation: Labrang Civil Aviation Hotel, Xiahe (4 stars)

This morning, after meeting your guide and driver at your hotel, embark on a comfortable 2-hour private car ride to Liujiaxia Reservoir, revered as the “Pearl of the Plateau”, where the Yellow River takes a sharp 90-degree turn before flowing west through mountain gorges.

★ Private Speedboat to Sacred Grottoes of Bingling Temple

To ensure a seamless and time-saving journey, we’ve pre-chartered an exclusive speedboat for your breezy transfer to Bingling Temple, bypassing the long waits for shared public boats. During the 30-minute cruise, you’ll glide smoothly over the placid river, taking in the spectacular rust-red cliffs of the Danxia landforms reflected perfectly on the water. Upon arrival, the breathtaking 1,600-year-old, UNESCO-listed Buddhist grottoes will unfold before you. Standing before the 27-meter-tall (88-foot-tall) Maitreya Buddha carved in the 8th century, you may not expect that its topknot once preserved centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist scriptures and a crystal gemstone. Revered as a living encyclopedia of Chinese grotto art, this site allows you to trace the complete evolution of Buddhist art from India to China: early stone carvings boast delicate features, slender builds, and flowing robes; mid-period statues take on robust, plump shapes; and later works become more lifelike and elaborate. As for layout, the more figures and the more intricate the scene inside a cave, the later the creation period.

Subsequently, let’s travel roughly 3.5 hours to Lanzhou. After arriving, head straight to Nanguan Ethnic Flavor Street, a local food haven lined with archaistic buildings offering a rich selection of local flavors. Wandering along this bustling street, you’ll catch an intense aroma from charcoal-grilled lamb seasoned with chili powder and cumin. Also, listen to the gentle bubbling of a copper pot, as an elderly master is deftly pouring golden egg yolk into steaming-hot fresh milk, which immediately blooms into fluffy clouds, before adding raisins, sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, and sweet rice wine for a rich taste. 

Finally, your guide and driver will escort you to your hotel in Lanzhou. Or, you can stay longer at Nanguan Street to explore authentic local nightlife on your own, and finally take a 10-minute taxi to the hotel yourself. 

Meal: Chinese breakfast
Accommodation: Legend Hotel, Lanzhou (4 stars)

After meeting your guide and driver at your hotel, begin the day with a visit to the Gansu Provincial Museum, a key window into Yellow River civilization, nomadic culture and the Silk Road spirit. Take a moment to appreciate its world-famous sculpture: the Bronze Galloping Horse. Poised on a single hoof atop a tiny swallow, the sculpture has held its balance for centuries, exuding timeless elegance. Want to capture its dynamic grace? Use side perspectives and a 0.5x wide-angle lens from a low upward position. Avoid shooting head-on, unless you want to get a rather cute photo of a tilted-head, goofy-looking “class clown”. Besides, cast your eyes upon the Lotus-shaped Cup and Saucer, once used by ancient noble families. Glowing in Tiffany blue, it looks like a seven-petaled lotus in full bloom. What will surprise you equally is the Brick Painting of a Postal Courier: with just a few brushstrokes, the artwork vividly portrays a courier riding fast on horseback. More intriguingly, the figure has no mouth - a subtle yet powerful symbol of the ancient postal system’s core principle: absolute confidentiality, literally meaning “keeping one’s mouth shut”. 

We’ll then tick off an iconic landmark, the Yellow River Mother Statue, where a reclining mother gently embraces a baby, perfectly symbolizing the Yellow River fostering countless Chinese descendants like a devoted mother, hence its affectionate nickname - the Mother River. Take a close look at the pedestal adorned with ripples and fish patterns, inspired by age-old local painted pottery culture.

As we continue driving forward, glance out the window at White Pagoda Mountain Park, named after the seven-story octagonal White Pagoda perched on its tree-shrouded slopes, and at the magnificent Zhongshan Bridge, spanning the Yellow River like a massive dragon.

Next, let’s dive into Waterwheel Garden, a place that restores Lanzhou’s antique charm as the “Capital of Waterwheels”. Your eyes will first fall on China’s largest reconstructed waterwheel, featuring 36 wooden buckets arranged like a giant clock. With your guide’s introduction and graphic exhibition panels, you’ll gain insight into how the river currents turn the huge wheel, lifting water scooped up by the buckets through troughs to irrigate surrounding crops like wheat and corn. Ascend to the nearby viewpoint for an up-close look at its detailed structure. You’ll also spot over a dozen other traditional waterwheels, including foot-powered ones widely used by ordinary farmers: two people pedaling can draw water, ideal for small-scale farm irrigation. In its workshop, watch skilled craftsmen make ancient waterwheels, from choosing hardwood and polishing spokes to carving buckets and assembling the wheel. 

In the end, your guide and driver will see you off at Lanzhou’s airport or high-speed train station. It’s advisable to book departures after 18:00 to reserve enough time for today’s sightseeing. For more highlights in Lanzhou, feel free to contact us for an itinerary tailored to your interests.

Meal: Western buffet breakfast