Silk Road Photo Gallery - Zhangye's Danxia

One of the key attractions in the Zhangye area is Danxia. Sandstone and mineral deposits contribute to the area's colourful landscape, with the colours of a rainbow superimposed onto the mountain landscape. With UNESCO World Heritage status awarded in 2010, the tourist infrastructure is very well developed with hop-on-and-off buses taking you to the various observation points. That also means everyone is crowded onto the same itinerary and venturing off-road to explore the rest of the park is not allowed to protect the landscape.

Crowded buses regularly pull into designated spots. There is a lot of space but there are also a lot of tourists even in this remote corner of the country.

The 2nd stop requires a short walk uphill and you get a nice perspective of the landforms. As the viewing area winds around the hill, there are spots where a good zoom can take out the rest of China surrounding you.

Unfortunately, the weather was not on my side this afternoon. The colours shine best at sunrise or sunset, but the rays were a bit elusive today.

At sunset, it was time to leave. Buses were on hand to take us back to the big visitors' centre.