Hills painted in impossible stripes of rust, gold and turquoise — the Zhangye Danxia, where layered sandstone has buckled into a rainbow. A Silk Road waypoint in the Hexi Corridor, best caught in low, raking light.
Tip The colours pop hardest at sunrise and sunset and after rain — flat noon light washes them out, so time your visit for the golden hours. The park has four viewing decks linked by shuttle; ride to the far one first and work back as the crowds arrive.
Park guideWhich of the four decks for sunset, the shuttle loop strategy, and why noon is the one time not to go.
Silk Road guideWhere it sits between Lanzhou, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang, and how to chain them by high-speed rail.
Town guideBeyond the colours: China's largest reclining clay Buddha, and cave grottoes carved into a cliff nearby.
Midday light flattens the stripes to grey-brown. The colours only sing at a low sun angle. Plan around it.
Zhangye West is on the fast line between Lanzhou and Dunhuang — easy to slot in without backtracking.
The shuttle hits four viewpoints; start at the farthest and walk back as tour buses fill the near ones.
Got lucky with a passing storm, then sun. The stripes went neon. Deck 4 at sunset, almost empty by then.
Doing the corridor by HSR. Is the Danxia a quick half-day, or worth a full stop with the temples too?