Travel Guide Zhangye 张掖

Situated halfway between Lanzhou and Dunhuang in the Corridor corridor, the historic stopover of the silk road (nicknamed the «golden city») and rather pleasant city, Zhangye is known mainly for its elongated Buddha, the longest in the world, located in the city centre. An excellent step in the heart of Gansu, easy to access and a taste of western China.A very ancient city, the Silk Road, Zhangye is described in numerous books by the historian Sima Qian (Second century B.C.) at Marco Polo, who stayed there one year on his Chinese journey. The city was then called Ganzhou (甘州). Finally, the Mongolian emperor Kubilay (which Marco Polo served) would be born in the temple of Dafo, where is the quasi-millennium and sole elongated Buddha, one of the wonders of China, whose state of conservation is exceptional.