Lanzhou Xinjiang (Urumqi) High Speed Trains

Located on the upstream Yellow River, Lanzhou is the capital and the largest city in Gansu Province as well as a key transportation hub in Northwest China. It used to be an important stop on the Ancient Silk Road as well as the head of the famous Hexi Corridor which connects North China and Central Asia. When transferring in Lanzhou, travelers can have one day tour in Lanzhou to explore the top attractions, including White Pagoda Mountain, Iron Bridge of Yellow River, Yellow River Mother Statues, and Yellow River Ancient Waterwheels Park, and learn brilliant history and culture of Gansu by visiting Gansu Provincial Museum. Moreover, you are also recommended to visit the Labrang Monastery and Binglingsi Grottoes in the nearby Xiahe, two wonderful sites that are highly praised by many tourists.

Useful links:

China Silk Road Tours | Popular Lanzhou Tours | Top 10 Attractions on the Silk Road | Things to Do in Lanzhou

Lanzhou West Railway Station

Address: No. 197, West Xijin Road, Qilihe District, Lanzhou, Gansu (兰州市七里河区西津西路197号 - 兰州西站)

Transportation: Lanzhou West Railway Station is the most important train station running both high speed trains (including Fuxin Trains) and normal trains to/off Lanzhou. The station is the terminus of Xuzhou Lanzhou High Speed Railway, departure of Lanzhou Urumqi (Xinjiang) High Speed Railway and Lanzhou Zhongchuan (International Airport) Intercity Railway. It is located about 10km’s driving distance to the downtown and about 10 minutes’ driving to Gansu Provincial Museum. Travelers can take bus No.31, 35, 58, 108 and other lines to downtown area of Lanzhou. Also, you can take Jincheng Sightseeing Bus to Gansu Provincial Museum, Iron Bridge of Yellow River, White Pagoda Mountain, etc.

>> Check more about Lanzhou transportation guide.

Lanzhou Yellow River Mother Status

Lanzhou Baita Mountain Park

Lanzhou West Railway Station

Xining now serves as the capital city of Qinghai Province and gateway city to Tibetan Plateau. Holding the religious status to Muslim and Buddhism, Xining is also well-known for the vital location on the Silk Road and Tang-Tibet Road in ancient times. If you get off in Xining, you really should spend several days to find the amazing natural scenery and bright cultural and historical legacy of Xining. Ta’er Monastery, one of the “6 greatest monasteries of Gelug” of Tibetan Buddhism is the must see spot for every visitor. Also, you can visit Dongguan Great Mosque, the largest mosque in Qinghai, to feel the harmonious inclusive culture and extraordinary Islamic features. Go to the Qinghai Lake in northwest direction to appreciate the pretty natural views that attracts numerous photographers and travelers, if you got a longer vacation. Afterwards, you may move on and transfer to farther destinations in northwest China or taking a Tibet Train to Lhasa.

Useful links:

Qinghai Lake Tours | Xining Travel Guide

Xining Railway Station

Address: No.128, Middle Huzhu Road, Xining, Qinghai (青海省西宁市互助中路128号 – 西宁站)

Transportation: Xining Railway Station, opened in 1958 and reconstructed 3 times, is the major train station in Xining. It station is the departure point of Qinghai Tibet Railway, a midway stop on Lanzhou Urumqi (Xinjiang) High Speed Railway and the biggest rail hub on Tibetan Plateau. After exit the station, it takes less than 20 minutes’ driving to downtown area and nearly 1 hour to Ta’er Monastery for tourists. Taxi service and parking lots are located in the basement one. If you plan to visit Dongguan Great Mosque, there are lots of local buses available, such as Bus No. 33, No. 1, No.22 and No. 17. Besides, you can take long distance coach from the Bus Terminal at Xining Railway Station to Erlang Jian Scenic Area of Qinghai Lake for about 3 hours, to Chaka Salt Lake for about 4 hours.

>> Check more about Xining Railway Station.

Qinghai Taer Monastery

Picturesque Qinghai Lake

Xining Railway Station

Famous for the spectacular Zhangye Danxia Landform with boundless “Rainbow Mountain”, Zhangye is a famous tourist destination in central Gansu, Northwest China, which lies about 500km from Lanzhou. While tracing ancient Silk Road in Zhangye, you should not miss Giant Buddha Temple, where keeps the largest indoor sleeping Buddha in Asia and thousands of cultural boutiques. Of course, you are suggested to visit Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park to marvel at the spectacular petrographic geomorphology Danxia landscape formed from red-colored sandstones and conglomerates. Also, Mati Temple and Muta Temple are recommended places to savor the thick culture of Buddhism, amazing grottoes arts, fine design of temple constructions and so forth.

Useful links:

Zhangye Danxia Tours | Zhangye Travel Guide | 8 Days Zhangye Danxia and Badain Jaran Desert Tour

Zhangye West Railway Station

Address: Between Minle Road and West 3rd Ring Road, Zhangye, Gansu (甘肃省 张掖市西三环路与民乐路 - 张掖西站)

Transportation: Zhangye West Railway Station is the single high speed train station offering passenger service of Zhangye. It is located about 3km to the city center, about 40 minutes’ driving to Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park. Once getting off, you can take Bus No.6 to the Great Buddha Temple and Muta Temple for 30 minutes, or take a taxi to the two attractions within 15 minutes. To get to Mati Temple, you need to spend about 1 hour and 10 minutes on driving, and about 40 minutes to Zhangye Ganzhou Airport.

Spectacular Zhangye Danxia Landform

Zhangye West Railway Station

Notable for the grandiose Jiayu Pass, the largest and most integrated frontier and west starting point of the Great Wall, and traffic fort on Silk Road during ancient times, Jiayuguan is a main stopover place for travelers in Northwest China. It is seated about 212 kilometers from Zhangye, 650km to Lanzhou and Kumul, Xinjiang. Before you heading to Xinjiang, or Dunhuang via Jiayuguan, you can visit Jiayuguan Pass (or Jiayu Pass) to know more history, culture and legend about this first pass of the Great Wall and observe many cultural heritages in ancient tombs. Remember that there are three parts of Jiayu Pass, including Jiayuguan Fort with a Great Wall Museum, the Overhanging Wall and the First Beacon of Great Wall.

Jiayuguan South Railway Station

Address: Hekou Village, Wenshu Town, Jiayuguan, Gansu (甘肃省嘉峪关市文殊镇河口村 - 嘉峪关南站)

Transportation: Jiayuguan South Railway Station mainly serves high speed trains to/leaving Jiayuguan. It’s about 8km driving distance to downtown, 0.5 hours’ riving (about 16km) to Jiayuguan Pass Scenic Area and 0.5 hour (22km) to Jiayuguan Airport. Tourists can get to Jiayuguan from Lanzhou, Xining, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Menyuan, Yumen, Urumqi, Turpan, Kumul, etc. If you prefer the budget local transportation, you can take Bus No.10 or No.12 and then transfer to Bus No.4 or No.6 for around 1.5 hours. Being a stranger to Jiayuguan, taking a taxi is more recommended, because you can save much time and easily get to any attractions nearby.

Jiayuguan Pass

Jiayuguan South Railway Station

Faced with Jiayuguan in the east and Kumul, Xinjiang in the west, Liuyuan is a small town in northeast Dunhuang, Guazhou County, Gansu where the Lanzhou Xinjiang (Urumqi) high speed trains passes through. In other words, it is the location of the nearest high speed train station to Dunhuang. For travelers wishing to visit Dunhuang via Lanzhou Urumqi high speed trains, it’s quite convenient to transfer in Liuyuan and continue the exploration of Silk Road in northwest China. Only 2 hours’ driving distance, you could get to Dunhuang, enjoy fancy murals and sculptures in the World Cultural Heritage site - Mogao Grottoes, hear amazing echo from moving sands, see the moon-like fountain rarely existed in desert and many ancient sites like Yumen Pass and Dunhuang Ancient City.

Useful links:

Popular Dunhuang Tours | Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes | Things to Do in Dunhuang

Liuyuan South Railway Station

Address: Liuyuan Town, Guazhou County, Jiuquan City, Gansu Province (甘肃省酒泉市瓜州县柳园镇)

Transportation: Liuyuan South Railway Station is a small passenger train station located on Lanzhou Xinjiang (Urumqi) High Speed Railway. It is about 4km of southwest Liuyuan Town, 75km from Guangzhou County, and 130km of Dunhuang, 792km to Urumqi and approximately 984km to Lanzhou. If you want to visit Dunhuang by Lanzhou Urumqi high speed train, you should debark at Liuyuan South Railway Station and take a tourist bus to Dunhuang Bus Terminus or directly hire a taxi to Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Echoing Sand Mountain and other major attractions in Dunhuang. However, if passengers arrive at the station in late evening, there would have no bus for transfer. So, taking taxi is the easiest and most efficient way to tour Dunhuang. And it usually takes about around 2 hours’ driving to Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, Crescent Lake, Echoing Sand Mountain, etc.

Giant Sleeping Buddha Sculpture in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

Crescebr Lake in Southwest Dunhuang

Liuyuan South Railway Station

Turpan, the famous “Fire Land of China”, is located in east Xinjiang, about 150 kilometers from Urumqi. It is once one of the vital centers of politics, economy, and culture in the Western Region and a key site on Silk Road. If you plan to have a short stay in Turpan, there are lots of natural sightseeing and wonderful sites, cultural attractions you can visit to feel mixed culture, ethnic customs, multiple geographic landscapes, such as the Karez System,Karez System, Jiaohe Ancient City, Emin Minaret, Flaming Mountains, Grape Valley, and Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves and more.

Useful links:

Popular Turpan Tours | Things to Do in Turpan

Turpan North Railway Station

Address: 500m of south Turpan International, Gaochang District, Turpan, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (新疆维吾尔自治区吐鲁番市高昌区吐鲁番机场正南500米 – 吐鲁番北站)

Transportation: Turpan North Railway Station is situated at the southern foothill of Mount Bogda, northwest Turpan, about 15km away from the Turpan downtown area. It usually needs 45 minutes’ drive (nearly 40 km) to Flaming Mountain, 20 minutes’ ride (about 10 km) to Karez system, about 1 hour’s driving to Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves, about 20 minutes to the Grape Valley, and about 30 minutes to Turpan Museum.

Turpan Flaming Mountain

Turpan North Railway Station

Urumqi, means beautiful pasture in Mongol, is the capital city as well as the transport hub and economy center of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. It is the inland city with the farthest distance from the sea in the world, developed as a small garrison since Qing Dynasty. It’s really a lifetime experience to tour Xinjiang from Urumqi, view snowcapped mountains, alpine forests, and vast grassland and feel combined minority culture and folks there. You can say it’s the prologue of a fantastic Xinjiang tour. Inside the city area, you can join locals in the Red Hill Park to spend a leisure afternoon, or learn about local history and culture in the Regional Museum. Well, you can't miss the crowding Erdaoqiao International Bazaar to capture the strong regional ethinic culture and life. The beautiful Tianchi Lake won’t disappoint you with the best visual feast. Want to explore something special? Take one day to visit the Southern Pasture where you can experience interesting Kazakhstan culture.

Useful links:

Popular Urumqi Tours | Things to Do in Urumqi

Urumqi South Railway Station

Address: No.135, Nanzhan Road, Shayibake District, Urumqi (新疆乌鲁木齐沙依巴克区南站路135号 - 乌鲁木齐南站)

Transportation: Urumqi South Railway Station is an auxiliary train station in south Xinjiang, located on the conjunction of Lanzhou Xinjiang High Speed Railway and North Xinjiang Railway. The station handles trains departing from Urumqi Railway Station to Kashgar, Kumul, Korla and other cities in North and East Xinjiang and international trains to Almaty and Astana in Kazakhstan. Travelers can take bus No.8, 10, 16, 157, and BRT Line 1 to downtown area of Urumqi. Besides, you could take bus No. 906, 928, or 52 to Xinjiang Regional Museum, No. 927, 52, 902, or 62 to Red Hill Park, etc. If you drive, it would need about 1 hour to Nanshan Pasture, 1.5 hours to Tianchi Lake Scenic Area.

Useful links:

Urumqi Travel Guide | Nanshan Pasture | Tianchi Lake

Urumqi Railway Station

No.1, Gaotie Beiliu Road, Economic & Technological Development Zone, Urumqi, Xinjiang (新疆乌鲁木齐经济技术开发区高铁北六路1号 - 乌鲁木齐站)

Transportation: Put into use in 2016, the Urumqi Railway Station is a new train station which is planned to be built as the biggest station and railway hub in Urumqi and Xinjiang. Now, it is the west terminus of Lanzhou Xinjiang High Speed Railway. There are regular city buses, taxi service, long distance coach and private driving offered at the station. And Bus No. 909, K002 and K003 run between Urumqi Railway Station and Urumqi South Railway Station for around half an hour. In the future, it will also be connected by BRT and subway lines.

Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi

Urumqi South Railway Station

A Xinjiang to Lanzhou Bullet Train Stopping at Urumqi South Railway Station