2020 Zhangye Travel Notes: Colorful Zhangye

Zhangye in Gansu Province is one of the most popular tourist cities in China. Colorful Danxia, ​​Binggou Danxia and Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon constitute the magical Zhangye. The colorful Danxia is "colorful waves", the Binggou Danxia is "red cliffs, majestic and magical", and the Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon is "colorful and deep".

In July 2020, at the 209th session of the UNESCO Executive Board, Zhangye Geopark was approved as the "UNESCO Global Geopark". Unintentionally, I became one of the first witnesses after receiving the honor.

The three natural beauties of Zhangye, Although they all belong to Danxia landforms, their geological structures and scenery are completely different.

Zhangye Colorful Danxia is one of the areas with the largest and best development of Danxia landforms and the richest landform shapes in China. It is a typical representative of China's colorful Danxia.

Thousands of cliffs and mountains all show bright red and reddish-brown colors, each showing its own charm against each other, showing the wonderful style of Danxia landform that is "as colorful as Wodan and as bright as bright clouds".

The main attractions of Zhangye Colorful Danxia are: Colorful Cloud Sea Terrace, Colorful Splendid Terrace, Colorful Cloud Cloud Terrace and Colorful Green Immortal Terrace. Colorful Cloud Platform is the largest and most concentrated scenic spot in the scenic area. It is a typical monoclinic mountain geological formation, composed of thin-layered mudstone, sandy rock and shale. Due to the differences in rock differentiation, geological changes and external forces As a result of the action, the red, yellow, purple, green, white, gray and other colors on the surface are distinct and magnificent; the colorful Jinxiutai is a steep hill with majestic dew, steep walls and stretches for several meters; the Colorful Xiatai has thin-layered mudstone, Interbedded sandy mudstone and shale, purple red, gray green, yellow green, gray black and other variegated colors are combined in an orderly manner, with a very high sense of rhythm and layering. This is the most representative scenery of Colorful Danxia ; Colorful Green Sendai is based on green and mixed with various colors. The round and hilly landform is divided into a terrain with changing colors.

Zhangye Long-distance Bus Station (Xiguan Station) has a shuttle bus to the Colorful Danxia Scenic Area every day. The earliest bus is at 9:00 in the morning, and the latest bus in the afternoon for the return trip from the west gate of Danxia is 17:00.

The route is arranged according to the entrance location. There are west gate, north gate and east gate. The shuttle bus entrance of Zhangye Long-distance Bus Station is the west gate.

Binggou Danxia Scenic Area is dominated by sandstone landform relics. It is the best-developed and largest geological landform relic in the country with window-lattice-like palace style. It is the naming place of "sandstone-like window-lattice-like structure" and is rated as "window-lattice-like palace style". Danxia landform ranks first in China."

Binggou Danxia Scenic Area is based on red and is characterized by rich types, unique shapes, diverse shapes and good combinations, which are rare in the world. When you are in the ice ditch, you will find surprises in every direction. Follow the scenery with your eyes and your heart with your eyes.

Binggou Danxia is located on the north bank of the Liyuan River in Kangle Township, Sunan Yugu Autonomous Region, Zhangye City, Gansu Province. The colorful Danxia goes straight 12 kilometers west. There is no direct tourist line. In addition to driving to the scenic spot by yourself, you can go with a tour group.

The scenic spots are distributed on both sides of the canyon (2040 meters above sea level), and are called Xiaoxitian Scenic Area and Daxitian Scenic Area respectively. Each scenic spot has a viewing platform at the best viewing position. Xiaoxitian No. 1 Observation Deck is 2101 meters above sea level. meters, No. 2 Observation Deck is 2080 meters above sea level. Tourists enter the canyon by scenic car, first go to the No. 1 and 2 viewing platforms of Xiaoxitian, and then cross the canyon into the Daxitian Scenic Area, passing the No. 3, 4, and 5 viewing platforms. The highest position is the No. 4 viewing platform, with an altitude of 2156 meters. The whole journey has a drop of about 150 meters, which still requires some physical strength.

The geological structure of Zhangye Binggou Scenic Area is very similar to the stone walls and stone forests of the Arches Grand Canyon in the western United States.

There is no lake or even a bay of water in Zhangye Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon. The tour guide said this is a transliteration of Mongolian.

There is no water in the Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon, only a piece of red and green sandstone. Danxia Geology is a canyon with a radius of dozens of kilometers and a depth of 1-200 meters.

The Grand Canyon in the United States is more like the Abbadocia Desert in Turkey.

There are a total of 9 sightseeing platforms in the Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon. The plank roads like the Great Wall are winding between the ridges and mountainsides. The main scenic spots are between viewing platforms 1-4. If you want to seek excitement up and down the canyon, you can explore the bottom on foot or Spend 198 yuan to take an off-road vehicle, camel carriage and camel ride, plus a hiking tour through the sandy canyons.

The most important test of physical strength, courage and perseverance in the Zhangye Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon tour circuit is climbing the ladder. After nearly four hours of trekking on the plank road, canyon hiking, off-road vehicle driving, and camel bumping, I was exhausted. At this time, facing the 80-meter-high vertical steel spiral staircase with more than 380 steps was a bit scary, but there was no other alternative path. I can grit my teeth and climb step by step. After climbing one step, I thought I was about to reach the top of the mountain, but what I faced was a higher ladder. I am really glad that I finally reached the finish line today.

I completed the complete loop route, which lasted nearly 5 hours. I was very tired. I bought a bottle of Coke and lost it after getting on the off-road vehicle. I was thirsty, hungry and tired, and I had no companions.

The ten-kilometer mountain hike, with a cumulative climb of more than 300 meters, was my first test after the global pandemic in 2020 and a gift to myself for my 78th birthday.