Best Places to Visit in Lanzhou

Tour with Yun Sky Travel, you will not miss any top attractions as well as special spots in Lanzhou. Lanzhou is also called Jincheng in the ancient time. As am important tourism collecting and distributing center in Northwest China, Lanzhou boasts many tourist attractions such as Five-spring Mountain, White Pagoda Mountain Park, Bingling Thousand-Buddha Caves etc…We can be sure that you can spend a leisure time by losing yourself in this charming city. The following best places to visit in Lanzhou are introduced for your reference.

 

Bingling Thousand-Buddha Caves

Opening Hours: 8:30-18:00

Location: Tourist Service Center of Liujiaxia Dam Wharf, Yongjing County, Linxia Hui Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province
 

Bingling Thousand-Buddha Caves, also called Bingling Grottoes, are a famous religious attraction in Lanzhou, ranks the second after the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang. At some point the caves were named the Thousand Buddha Caves because Bingling means “ten thousand-Buddha” in the Tibetan language, despite the fact that there have never been more than 200 grottoes.

 

The stone sculptures in Bingling Thousand-Buddha Caves represent the social situations and customs during ancient times. In the vicinity of the caves are green hills, crystal-clear water, grotesque stones and precipitous cliffs, which add more beauty to this artistic site. After the founding of People's Republic of China, the State Council designated the site as a key cultural relic, and placed it under state protection.

 

How to Get to Bingling Temple Grottoes: To get to the Bingling Temple Grottoes, you can take the taxi, which takes about 3 hours' drive from Lanzhou.

 

White Pagoda Mountain Park

Opening Hours:

April 20 to October 31: 6:30-20:00

November 1 to April 19: 7:00-19:00

Location: No.1 Baita Mountain, Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu Province

White Pagoda Mountain Park (Baitashan) stands at the northern bank of the Yellow River, in Lanzhou City of Gansu Province. This park got its name from the white pagoda in Baitasi (White Pagoda Temple) on its summit.

Opened in 1958, White Pagoda Mountain Park gains its reputation form the three stately and magnificent ancient architectural complexes. And the White Pagoda Temple was built to commemorate a Tibetan lama of the Sa-skya-pa Sect of Tibetan Buddhism who died in Lanzhou on his way to Mongolia for an audience with Genghis Khan. Towering 17 meters, the pagoda is a solid brick structure.

Gansu Provincial Museum

Opening Hours: 9:00-17:00(Last entry is 16:30, Closed on Mondays)

Location: No. 3 Jinxi Road, Qilihe District, Lanzhou, Gansu Province

 

Gansu Provincial Museum was built after the founding of the People of Republic China. Although it is young among the various museums in China, the collections in this place still can give visitors very deep impressions.

 

Gansu Provincial Museum covers more than 6.6 Hectares of land and has a total floor space of 18,000 square meters. Built in Russian architectural style, the museum is shaped like the letter “E”. This is one of the best sights in the city. The museum has an excellent selection of exhibits relating to Gansu and the Silk Road. The collections include an extensive range of Neolithic pottery, dating back between 7,000-500BC.

 

How to get to Gansu Provincial Museum:

Metro: Take Metro Line 1 to Xizhan Shizi Station, Exit A, 500 meters eastward

Bus: Bus No. 31, 32, 53, 58, K102 to Gansu Provincial Museum Bus Stop, 100 meters south

 

Zhongshan Bridge

Opening Hours: All day

Location: Middle of Binhe Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu Province(甘肃省兰州市城关区滨河路中段北侧白塔山下)
 

Zhongshan Bridge, also known as Lanzhou Yellow River Iron Bridge, is 233.5 meters long and 8.36 meters wide. Standing on the Zhongshan Bridge, you can see the Yellow River and the surrounding landscapes on the both sides of the Yellow River. Zhongshan Bridge witnessed the development of Lanzhou. And its design combines the the traditional Chinese architectural elements and Western technology.
 

And the Zhongshan Bridge is located near the Baita Mountain Park, you can visit the Zhongshan Bridge and Baita Mountain Park together.
 

How to Get to Zhongshan Bridge: You can take the Lanzhou subway Line 1 and get off at the Xiguan Station(西关站).
 

Five-Spring Mountain

Opening Hours: 8:00-20:00

Location: No. 103 Wuquan South Road, Chengguan District, Lanzhou, Gansu Province

 

 Located at the northern foot of Gaolan Mountain in Lanzhou, Five-Spring Mountain is 5,250 feet above sea level. It was so named because there are five springs in the mountain. Chongqing Temple is symbolic of the traditional architecture in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

 

Five Spring Park acquired the name from the five springs here. The Middle Peak of the Five Spring Mountain, the highest point in the park, reaches 1,600 meters (5,294 feet). It serves as the park axis. Ganlu Spring, Juyue Spring, and Mozi Spring are distributed over the Middle Peak area. Meng Spring and Hui Spring are located on either side of Middle Peak.

 

The natural beauty of the five springs is enhanced by verdant groves while the temples make it a famous religious destination. Five Spring Park not only offers visitors a place to relax, but also provides a place to learn about Buddhism.

 

Labrang Lamasery

Labrang Lamasery is one of the six Tibetan Buddhism temples belonging to Gelu Sect (the other five are  Gandan Lamasery,  Drepung Lamasery, Sera Lamasery in  Lhasa, Tashilhungpo Lamasery in Shigatse Tibet Autonomous Region and Ta'er Lamasery in Huangzhong Qinghai Province). It is located in Xiahe County, Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. At present, Labrang Lamasery still keeps the most complete teaching system of the Tibetan Buddhism in China. And in 1982, Labrang Lamasery was listed in the national cultural heritages list.