ZHANGYE
Global Mark : 9.54
Ratings by criteria :
| Charm | Scener. | Parks | Culture | Minor. | Market | Relax | Fiesta |
Cost |
AVER. |
| 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
3 |
9.33 |
Ratings by backpackers :
| Surveyed | Liked | Comeback | Recommend | Notes | AVER. |
| 4 | 75% (3) | 25% (1) | 50% (2) | 8 to 12 | 9.75 |
Description : A charming and fairly relaxed town with the biggest
indoor lying Buddha in China (34 m)
Comments : Treat this place as a nice stopover on your way to or
from Dunhuang
What to do : Watch the local exercising around the park in the morning / Discuss with the friendly locals / Check the measurements of the Big Buddha
What you may not like : The bad lightning at the Buddha
How long ? a few hours are enough to see the sights but one day would let you take the pulse of the place
Where to stay ?
Two cheap places, conveniently located near the West Bus Station :
-
Gonglu Zhaodaisuo (821 5318), on the left when you exit the station / Dorm 9 (4), 10 (3) or 15 (2) in nice rooms without bath or 25 to 30 in rooms with bath / Dble 60 / Trpl 75 / Correct toilet / Common shower / HW 21 to 23 // Go there for the excellent quality price ratio of the dorm, the nice bath tube, the friendly staff, the relative quietness
-
Minzu (821 3996), on the right / Dorm 10 (4) to 16 (3) / Sgl & Dbl with bath 40 or 50 / Correct toilet / Common shower / HW 7 to 11 & 20 to 23 // Go there for the best deal in town for Sgl or Dbl
| Gonglu
zhaodaisuo |
gonglu
zhaodaisuo |
 |
| Minzu |
minzu |
Bus
Schedules : From West Bus Station / Prices
without or with insurances
| To | Price | Type | Duration | Time | Nb | Freq. |
| Jiayuguan | 35/19 | mini | 5 | 7 to 16 | ++ | 45mn |
| Dunhuang | 184/93 | sleep | 12 | 7:30/16:20/18 | 3 | na |
| Xining | 62/30 | ordi | 10 | 7:00 | 1 | na |
| Lanzhou | 57/37 | ordi | 12 | 7/9/11:10 | 3 | na |
| Lanzhou | 160/80 | sleep | 12 | 17/18:30/19/19:40 | 4 | na |
Trains << Click there
The trip to Jiayuguan : Minibus
/ SS / L & R / Y19 / 5 hrs
The insurance scam is resurfacing in Zhangye in the form of double price for Laowai. Fortunately, the bus station staff were friendly and comprehensive and I managed to get the Chinese price without even showing my own travel insurance... This was however not a good day for the bus driver as his minibus remained deceptively empty all the way. A relaxed trip indeed that would have been better with less monotonous desert scenery...
See also trip from Xining to Zhangye...
