Zhangye张掖

Zhangye, once called Ganzhou, sits in the middle of the Hexi Corridor, backed by the Qilian Mountains and bordering Inner Mongolia to the north. After general Huo Qubing defeated the Xiongnu in 121 BCE, the city took the name Zhangye — roughly 'extending the arm of China to reach the Western Regions' — and has been a Silk Road trading hub ever since. Marco Polo lived here for over a year in the 1270s, visiting the Giant Buddha Temple (built in 1098) several times. Today, Zhangye's best-known calling card is the Danxia National Geopark, about 40km outside town, where 240 million years of sedimentary rock have weathered into stacked bands of red, orange, yellow and green — the core reason this city made our TOP15 list. Zhangye also has a quieter, greener side: the Heihe Wetland Park sits right next to downtown, one of the closest wetland parks to any city center in China.

Nature

Rainbow rock formations and one of China's closest urban wetlands

• Zhangye Danxia National Geopark is ~40km from downtown — 240 million years of sedimentary rock weathered into stacked color bands
• Five main viewing platforms are served by a looping shuttle (Platforms 1→2→4→5), a ~1.5hr full loop
• The 1-2 hours after sunrise and before sunset are the recognized best light
• Heihe National Wetland Park sits right next to downtown, covering ~4,130 hectares — one of the closest wetland parks to any city center in China

Culture & History

A Silk Road hub with a royal temple and Yugur ethnic culture nearby

• A nationally recognized historic-culture city, once called Ganzhou, one of the Han dynasty's four Hexi commanderies
• Constructed in 1098 during the Western Xia’s Yong’an reign, the Great Buddha Temple houses a 34.5‑meter‑long indoor reclining Buddha — Asia’s largest statue of clay over a wooden frame.
• Marco Polo lived in Zhangye for over a year in the 1270s and visited the temple several times
• Bordered to the south by Sunan Yugur Autonomous County, home to the Yugur, an ethnic group unique to Gansu

Everyday Life

Silk Road night-market life in a small oasis city

• A 2-bed apartment runs ~¥667-833/month — friendlier than many northwest cities
• Ganzhou night market is where locals eat daily — cuoyu noodles, chaopao and beef xiaofan are flavors people grew up on
• Resident population is roughly 1.1 million, with urban disposable income around ¥36,300/year
• Dry air, little rain and big day-night temperature swings are the trade-off to adjust to