Beautiful and historic “Golden Zhangye”

Zhangye, located in the center of the Hexi Corridor, is a national historical and cultural city and an important tourist destination in the tourist area of the Silk Road. It is endowed with diverse natural topographies, ranging from deserts to forests, grasslands, and mountains. National Geographic magazine called the Zhangye Danxia National Geographic Park one of the world's top ten geographic wonders with its extraordinary Danxia landform. Zhangye is a fertile area with a wealth of specialties. It is one of the national modern agriculture demonstration areas of China, long known as "Golden Zhangye".

I arrived at Zhangye Railway Station around 5 pm with nine other expats from countries like Pakistan, America, Canada, Russia, Belarus, Spain, Turkmenistan, and Ghana. At the station a few local officials welcomed us and then we got on the bus and went to the next stop in Zhangye (Sunan Yugur autonomous county), nearly 110 km from downtown.

We reached there around 7 pm. Outside, it was already dusk, tiny snowflakes I felt on my hands. The food there is wonderful. We tried some local delicacies, and I tasted the best Chinese mutton there and right now my mouth is overflowing with water. What an aroma, spices and traditional Chinese tea, the best meal on the trip was no doubt, I just love it. We checked into the local hotel after dinner.

Baersi Snow Mountain

The next morning, we were able to climb "Baersi Snow Mountain". The snow-capped mountain looks picturesque under the morning light of early winter. The mountain is a holy mountain for the Yugur minority community in Sunan Yugur autonomous county. It was amazing to have climbed 4,000 meters in height. At the peak of the mountain, a vivid landscape stretches out. That is the lovely Sunan in early winter. We continued our journey towards the downtown area after we ascended the mountain.

Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park — Rainbow Mountains

We set out in the afternoon to visit the Danxia landform. Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park is located in the eastern foothills of the Qilian Mountains. The geological park has a stunning landform area of Danxia (/dan-sshyaa/'red cloud ') that stretches about 50 square kilometers (19 square miles). The vivid ridges of the mountains look like heaven's overturned palette. We visited the best viewing platforms with the help of our guides and the best route to see the most beautiful parts of this area.

Haisheng Group

We had the opportunity to visit a local county museum the next morning and then Haisheng Group. Haisheng Group was founded in 1996 and ranked in 2002 as the main leading national agricultural industrialization enterprise. In 2005, the main board of the Hong Kong Red Chip stock exchange was listed. It has 13 manufacturing plants in eight Chinese provinces, and a terminal filling plant has been developed. With a total planting area of more than 210,000 mu, Haisheng has 93 traditional modern agricultural planting bases. For more than 10 years, it has popularized low rootstock close planting technology, benefiting 2 million fruit growers, and reaching more than 300,000 customers every day. We visited the world's highest level of advanced agricultural greenhouse facilities, 100 percent of environmental control, logistics, and artificial intelligence management technology. Sweet peppers, cherry tomatoes, baby cucumbers, and strawberry items are currently grown there.

In addition to the delicious food at lunchtime, we had the opportunity to sample local red wine and the nationally famous baijiu liquor. What an amazing experience!

Muhammad Mudassar Riaz is a Ph.D. candidate in literary and cultural communication at the School of Journalism and Communication of Shaanxi Normal University.