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Along the Yellow River and beyond

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Explore every city and autonomous prefecture in this edition. Each has its own places and a complete article library.

Gansu
Lanzhou Jiayuguan Jiuquan Zhangye Jinchang Wuwei Baiyin Tianshui Pingliang Qingyang Dingxi Longnan Linxia Gannan Zhongshan Bridge Mogao Caves Maijishan Grottoes Labrang Monastery Giant Buddha Temple

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Zhangye.

Zhangye's municipal government sits in Ganzhou District. The district page dates Zhangye commandery to 111 BCE and records the old explanation of the name, an arm stretched out to keep the western regions in reach. The Heihe river and its wetlands water the seat. Outside it, the colorful hills occupy ground in Linze County and Sunan County. The Giant Buddha Temple stands on a street in Ganzhou. Those are three different subjects: a river oasis, a banded hill, and a timber hall.

Snow-dusted bands of the Zhangye Danxia hills beneath a clear winter sky; Xinhua credits reporter Zhang Rui.
Snow-dusted bands of the Zhangye Danxia hills beneath a clear winter sky.

Stories

Snow-dusted bands of the Zhangye Danxia hills beneath a clear winter sky; Xinhua credits reporter Zhang Rui.

Color bands in the Zhangye hills

In Linze and Sunan, exposed Cretaceous beds of mudstone and sandstone form vivid bands across dry slopes. The protected landscape belongs to Zhangye National Geopark.

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Panorama of the buildings in the Zhangye Giant Buddha Temple complex.

A reclining Buddha in the old city

Zhangye’s Giant Buddha Temple centers on a large indoor wooden-frame, clay-plastered reclining Buddha. Its Western Xia hall stands within a compound that also preserves later towers and halls.

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An aerial view of branching channels across the Zhangye Heihe wetland landscape.

Wetlands along the Heihe

Zhangye’s Heihe river corridor links urban wetlands in Ganzhou with a national wetland park in Gaotai. Reeds, open water and managed ecological flows shape this green edge of the oasis.

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Places

Snow-dusted bands of the Zhangye Danxia hills beneath a clear winter sky; Xinhua credits reporter Zhang Rui.

Zhangye

Zhangye Colorful Hills

Banded hills in Linze and Sunan, defined by city ordinance as colorful hills inside a national geopark.

 Panorama of the buildings in the Zhangye Giant Buddha Temple complex.

Zhangye

Giant Buddha Temple

A Western Xia hall in Ganzhou, with a wooden-frame clay reclining Buddha and later Ming and Qing buildings.

 An aerial view of branching channels across the Zhangye Heihe wetland landscape.

Zhangye

Heihe Wetland

Heihe water and reeds beside Ganzhou, with two national urban wetland parks in Zhangye prefecture.
Photo credits and rights
  1. Snow-dusted bands of the Zhangye Danxia hills beneath a clear winter sky.张睿 · Rights status not determined Photo source ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
  2. Panorama of the Zhangye Giant Buddha Temple complex柴志杰 · Rights status not determined Photo source ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.
  3. Channels of the Zhangye Heihe wetland.Author not specified on source page · Rights status not determined Photo source ↗ Orientation normalised, proportionally resized and encoded as WebP; no crop or retouch.