For
centuries, Zhangye has retained its footing as
an important military fortress along the Silk
Road. In ancient times, merchants making a journey
to the west from Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu
Province,used Zhangye as their first major stop
en route. Nowadays camels are few here, but to
extend its influence into Xinjiang, Communist
China has made railway lines and paved a State-level
Expressway, No.312, which both pass through this
city.
By
train: By far the easiest way to get to Zhangye
is still by train, for it is a major stop along
the Lanzhou-Urumqi Railway Line. Each day there
are more than ten daily trains going to and beyond
Zhangye. A blessing for travelers is that now
there is a nightly express train that leaves Lanzhou
at about 10pm and arrives in Zhangye 12 hours
later. If you plan to travel further west to Jiayuguan,
it is around 4 hours away. Trains also leave to
Jiayuan and take around nine hours. Getting tickets
at the station, however, can be a bit of a problem.
The railway station is 10km from the city center,
which should cost RMB3 by mini bus or RMB10 by
taxi.
