Lanzhou to Xiahe Labrang Monastery

Welcome to Lanzhou! Upon your arrival, our guide will meet you at the airport or the railway station. Then you will be transported to Xiahe County by a comfortable private car in around 4 hours. Our guide will help you check in at the hotel.

Today the private Lanzhou Xiahe tours will focus on the Labrang Monastery, the center of Tibetan Buddhism and culture of Gansu, Qinghai and Sichuan. The monastery mainly consists of six grand halls, 84 temples, 31 Tibetan-style buildings and 30 Buddhist palaces. You will also watch Lamas doing morning practice when touring the monastery.

After that we will drive around 1.5 hours to Ganjia Prairie, a natural prairie which looks like a green carpet with numerous colorful flowers dotted on. Encircled by the mountains and cut through by a river in the middle like a Tibetan Hada, you will be astonished by this pastoral painting once arriving. The following Tibetan family visit will help you know more about the shepherd's life style and local customs in depth.

Meals: Chinese breakfast, Lunch

After breakfast, we will set off and drive around 3 hours to Liujiaxia Pier, from where you will take a boat trip to Bingling Thousand Buddha Caves, another highlight of 4 days Lanzhou trip to Xiahe. 'Bingling' means 'tens of thousand Buddhas' in Tibetan language, for there are many stone Buddha sculptures here. Due to good natural conditions and less artificial destruction, the site is well-preserved, including 183 caves, 776 Buddha statues, more than 900 square meters' mural painting and 6 pieces of calligraphy or carving inscriptions. Among these caves, the 169th cave is the most representative. Besides, the 176th, 126th, 128th and 16th caves are also quite famous.  Afterwards, we will transfer you to Lanzhou in around 3 hours and help you check in at the hotel.

Meals: Chinese breakfast, Lunch

The Yellow River flows through Lanzhou city, which endows the river bank with abundant tourist attractions. This morning, you will be taken to see the Sculpture of the mother Yellow River at first. The sculpture shows a baby lying in the arms of the mother, which indicates the Yellow River has nurtured the descendants of the Chinese Nation for thousands of years. Following that is the Waterwheel Garden. Originated from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the waterwheel is the oldest irrigation tool in Yellow River area of Lanzhou. The Waterwheel Garden is a theme garden exhibiting the waterwheel culture. Here, you could appreciate the waterwheel driven by the flowing water all year round to collect water from the river or cofferdam. Before lunch, you will also visit the Zhongshan Bridge and the White Pagoda Park. The White Pagoda, built to memorize a master of Tibetan Buddhism, is on the top of a mountain at the north bank of the Yellow River. It is worth mentioning that the mountain top is a good place to overlook the whole city.

The last stop of 4 days Lanzhou tour is the Gansu Provincial Museum, our guide and driver will drive you to the airport or the railway station and see you off there. Our service ends here and we thank you for choosing TravelChinaGuide!

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Lunch