The Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park, forty kilometres west, is the most popular excursion and the main reason many travellers stop in the city at all. The multicoloured rock formations are best seen in late afternoon light; allow a half to full day.
Jiayuguan, about ninety kilometres further west along the Hexi Corridor, makes a longer day trip or a natural next overnight stop. The fort at the western end of the Great Wall of China is one of the most dramatically positioned military structures in the country, sitting at the point where the Qilian Mountains and the Mazong Mountains converge to form the narrowest part of the Hexi Corridor.
