Badain Jaran Desert Adventure From Zhangye

/5 935 Latest reviews

Tour Code: ODY-CN-2436

Destination:Zhangye, Badain Jaran

Duration

6 Days

Tour Type

Private & Bespoke

Tour Style

Classic

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About This Trip

Take an extension tour from Zhangye to Badain Jaran Desert in Inner Mongolia and crown your historical exploration along the ancient Silk Road with stunning natural landscapes. Marvel at the maze-like Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon, indulge in the isolation and vastness of China's second-largest desert and capture the colorful rainbow mountain of Zhangye Geo National Geopark.

Itinerary Summary

DAY PLACE HIGHLIGHTS
1 - 2 Zhangye Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon
3 - 4 Badain Jaran Desert

Badain Jaran Desert, Badain Lake, Bilutu Peak

5 - 6 Zhangye

Giant Buddha Temple, Mati Temple Grottoes, Zhangye National Geopark, Departure

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Itinerary

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Day 1: Arrival, Zhangye

On arrival at the Zhangye airport or railway station, be welcomed by your local guide and driver. After checking into your hotel, have a good rest and recharge for the tour tomorrow.

Zhangye

Day 2: Zhangye - Badain Jaran

Zhangye is quite a place to witness the uncanny works of nature. Begin the feast to your eyes from the Pingshan Lake Grand Canyon, a majestic landscape not far from the urban area. Being hailed as comparable to the Colorado Grand Canyon, this rugged and maze-like canyon showcases magnificent terrain, marvelous stone forests, crisscrossed gullies, and forested peaks.

Afterwards, about three-hour road journey takes you to the entrance of the Badain Jaran Desert. Get on an off-road vehicle to deep into the desert and settle down at your lodge.

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Badain Jaran

Day 3: Badain Jaran Desert

Get up freshly in the morning and have a full-day tour of the Badain Jaran Desert, which boasts five wonders, namely, sandy peaks, singing dunes, colorful lakes, unique springs, and ancient temples. Just immerse in diverse sceneries and various activities in the vast desert. Here, you will also encounter the world's highest stationary dune Bilutu Peak, rising 450 meters over the surrounding area.

Though with only an average annual rainfall of 30-120 mm, in sharp contrast to its potential evaporation of 3000 mm, Badain Jaran Desert miraculously features over 100 inland lakes, freshwater or saline ones, waiting for deep exploration. Today, you will visit Badain Lake, a representative of the few freshwater lakes there.

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Badain Jaran

Day 4: Badain Jaran - Zhangye

Enjoy sunrise and leisurely breakfast before taking the off-road vehicle and car back to Zhangye. Arrive at noon, have lunch and then take refreshments at your hotel.

In the afternoon, follow your guide to visit the Giant Buddha Temple, which houses the thirty-five-meter-long reclining Buddha statue sculptured nearly one thousand years ago. Indulge in treasured murals, calligraphy, and historical relics with great significance for studying the cultural exchanges between China and the Western Regions of that era.

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Zhangye

Day 5: Zhangye, Danxia Landform

Have a morning exploration of the Mati Temple Scenic Area. Quite different from a temple in the traditional sense, Mati Temple is the one that houses thousands of caves carved on a cliff.

After admiring the Buddha statues and murals in Mati Temple grottoes, head to Zhangye National Geopark, marveling at the spectacular Danxia landform and enjoying the rainbow-like landscapes. Witness another masterpiece of nature and spot the dazzling colors of this earth's paint palette.

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Zhangye

Day 6: Zhangye, Departure

Depart from Zhangye, you may want to continue your journey to other cities like Dunhuang or Xi'an, which are quite easily accessible.

At the appointed time, the guide and driver will pick you up and escort you to the airport or railway station.

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What Our Clients Say

"Great Customized Service", "Trip of A Lifetime", "Exceed All Expectations"

Richee Family Adventures

05 Aug 2025

Second Honeymoon My wife and I celebrated our 20th anniversary by spending a few weeks touring around Asia. We loved how Odynovo worked with us to craft a tour of what we wanted to see and how we wanted to see it. This was our first time traveling with a private tour guide, and it was truly amazing. they took care of all transportation, tickets, and everywhere we went we had someone who not only spoke our language, but was also very well-versed in the places we were visiting. We saw Beijing and then took a bullet train to Xi'an. In both cities we had tour guides who had done this "a thousand times," and as a result knew all the tricks on where to take the best pictures, what lines to stand in, where to eat, and what not to waste your time seeing. At one point our guide pulled out ponchos from her backpack when it started to rain, while another helped us haggle for a good price on a new suitcase. We were surprised by how much we loved China, and it is safe to say that is because of the quality of service we got from Odynovo. Oh, and the hotels were great, too! In our first hotel my wife fell in love with her breakfast soup that she had to have every morning, while in Xi'an we were right around the corner from the Muslim Night Market and were able to get to it in less than 5 minutes of walking.We are already looking to see what tours we will be doing next through Odynovo, as the service was amazing, the quality was remarkable, and the cost was very worth it for what we received.
Shannon V

05 Aug 2025

Fabulous! We had a fabulous experience with our guide and Odynovo walking the Great Wall of China, and all other sites in Beijing. We loved our Peking duck dinner. It was fabulous. Thank you, Sammie/Jing for a great experience.
domotic d

05 Aug 2025

Beijing Beauty It started off with a friendly face at the airport, with Roy, our tour guide.The week has been such a pleasure and a treat. From adventures to The Great Wall, Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City, to local markets, delicious Beijing food and roof top tea houses.Roy and our driver, Mr. Zhou, were prompt in picking us up and driving us around safely.The knowledge and fact about history and Beijing that Roy knows and explains is amazing and the fact he could answer my weird and inquisitive history questionsnwoth ease was a treat.He made it so easy to enjoy ourselves and absorb all that was around us, he even takes great photos too! 😊Polite, kind and thoughtful and ever patient in letting us take our time with things that interested us.I would highly recommend this tour and Roy again and again.
Zarah B

05 Aug 2025

Amazing travel experience My name is Zarah M. Babangida a Nigerian and i visited Beijing with my colleagues from the office. During our 5 day stay in Beijing, Ms. Eva Ma, was our Tour guide and from the minute we came through the Arrival Gate of the Airport, we were embraced by her alluring smile and warm welcome. She remained consistent with her warmth, a kind and intelligent professional who exuded unique passion not just for her job as a tour guide but, even more so as a proud Chinese woman. Her outstanding insight and knowledge of the sweet Chinese history and heritage left us in awe. I couldn't be more proud and thankful that she was assigned to our group and she made our stay exciting, fun-filled effortless and knowledge packed. I absolutely commend her dedication to work which she depicted throughout our stay. I recommend her to every visiting tourist because to know Eva, is to love her. If it were up to me, i will increase her bonuses or upgrade her salary as i am sure most tourists would want or revisit for her sake first and then perhaps other reasons.Thank you Eva and keep the passion up🙌.

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