5-day tour to famous scenic spots in Gansu

The famous attractions in Gansu are as follows:

1. Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes

The general name of Mogao Grottoes and West Thousand Buddha Caves in Dunhuang City, Gansu Province is One of the four famous grottoes in my country, it is also the largest and best-preserved Buddhist art treasure house in the world.

The Mogao Grottoes are located 25 kilometers southeast of Dunhuang City. They are excavated on the cliff at the eastern foot of Mingsha Mountain. In the second year of Jianyuan of the former Qin Dynasty (AD 366), the Venerable Samana Le came to this place and saw thousands of golden paths on the Mingsha Mountain, which looked like thousands of Buddhas. He then had the idea of ????excavating. After that, construction continued, and it became a holy place for Buddhism. , named Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes, commonly known as Thousand Buddhas Cave.

Chinese grotto art originated from India. The traditional grotto statues in India are mainly stone sculptures. However, the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang are not suitable for carving because of the rock quality, so the statues are mainly clay sculptures and murals. The entire cave generally has a round sculpture in the front, and then gradually fades into tall sculpture, shadow sculpture, and wall sculpture. Finally, with murals as the background, the two arts of sculpture and painting are integrated. There were more than a thousand caves in Mogao Grottoes during the Tang Dynasty, and there are 492 existing caves, including 32 Wei Grottoes, 110 Sui Grottoes, 247 Tang Grottoes, 36 Five Dynasties Grottoes, 45 Song Grottoes, and 8 Yuan Grottoes.

The main statue in caves during the Northern Dynasties was usually Sakyamuni or Maitreya. On either side of the main statue were two attendant Bodhisattvas or one Buddha, two disciples, and two Bodhisattvas. The back of the statue is often connected to the mural. The top and four walls of the cave are covered with murals. The top and upper parts are mostly composed of Tiangong music. The lower part is Yaksha or decorative pattern. In addition to Thousand Buddhas, the murals in the middle part mainly depict stories about Buddha's biography, life stories and karma stories. Among the Jataka stories are cutting meat to seek doves, sacrificing oneself to feed tigers, nine-colored deer sacrificing oneself to save others, etc.

2. Shouyang Mountain

Located in Xiangtang Valley, Lianfeng Township, 34 kilometers southeast of Weiyuan County, with an altitude between 2186-2509 meters, it ranks first among the mountains. , named after the sun shines first.

Due to the end of Shang Dynasty in Shouyang Mountain, Boyi and Shuqi, the second sons of the king of Guzhu Kingdom (now Lulong County, Hebei Province) in the early Zhou Dynasty, gave way to their successors. They stayed with each other to the Zhou Dynasty. Later, they heard that King Wu was attacking Zhou and they kowtowed to him. Negative. Because King Wu refused to listen, he was angry and refused to eat Zhou millet. He traveled west to Shouyang Mountain, picked weeds and ate them. He later starved to death on Shouyang Mountain and became a famous mountain in Longyou. When the Qin and Han Dynasties established the county here, it was named Shouyang County.

Shouyang Mountain in Weiyuan was first seen in what Zhuangzi said: Boyi and Shu Qi went west to Qiyang, and when they saw King Wu of Zhou attacking Yin, he said: I heard that the people of ancient times avoided their responsibilities when the world was in trouble, and did not do anything in troubled times. To survive, it is dark today and the virtue of Zhou Dynasty is declining. It is not inferior to Zhou Yi, so I go north to the mountain of Shouyang and die of hunger. Also, the scholar Cao Jiajia (also known as Ban Zhao) of the Eastern Han Dynasty commented on "Youtong Fu" and said: The Yi Qi were hungry in Shouyang Mountain in Shouyang, Longxi.

Weiyuan established a county in the late Qin and early Han dynasties, named Shouyang County, under the jurisdiction of Longxi County, and the county was named after the mountain. It was not until the 17th year of Emperor Wen of the Western Wei Dynasty (AD 551) that it was renamed Weiyuan County. From this point of view, Shouyang Mountain in Weiyuan was the earliest named and has a long history. It is the most accurate Shouyang Mountain where Yi Qi lived in seclusion and collected ferns until they died of starvation.

3. Maijishan Grottoes

One of China's large grottoes, an important religious and artistic monument on the "Silk Road", a national key cultural relics protection unit, and one of China's famous scenic spots one. Located on the south side of Maiji Township, Tianshui County, Gansu Province, it is an isolated peak in the front mountain area of ??Xiaolong Mountain on the northern branch of the West Qinling Mountains, with a relative height of 142 meters. The top of the peak is cone-shaped, and the red sandy conglomerate layer is slightly horizontal. It is named because the rock mass is shaped like a wheat stack in a rural area. It is a wheat stack-type Danxia landform in Longyuan. The grottoes were built in the Yao and Qin Dynasties of the Sixteenth Kingdom (about 384), and became popular after the first year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty (477). The Yage temple was built again in the Western Wei Dynasty, the Seven Buddha Pavilion was built in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and the relic pagoda was built in the early Sui Dynasty. Your Excellency carved three statues of Buddha on a cliff with a height of 15 meters, which is the largest statue in Maiji Mountain. In the 22nd year of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty (734), a major earthquake occurred in the Tianshui area. The middle part of the cliff surface collapsed, and the cave group was divided into two parts: East Cliff and West Cliff, which were called East Pavilion and West Pavilion in the Five Dynasties. During the Tang, Five Dynasties, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, additions and reconstructions were made.

4. Jiayuguan Pass

Located in Jiayu City, Gansu Province, it is the westernmost pass of the Great Wall. It was historically known as the "Throat of Hexi". A medium-sized industrial city has been built near Guancheng. The streets in the city are open and clean. To the northwest is the famous Jiayuguan Great Wall, to the southwest is the snow-covered Qilian Mountains all year round, and outside the city is surrounded by the vast Gobi Desert. Jiayuguan has magnificent scenery. From Jiayuguan to Jiuquan, there are only more than 20 kilometers in between.

The Jiayuguan Great Wall is a national key cultural relic protection unit. To the south of Jiayuguan is the Qilian Mountains, with snow-capped peaks stretching for thousands of miles; to the north are Longshou Mountain and Mazong Mountain, which confront the Qilian Mountains and are located in the west of the Hexi River.

The majesty of Jiayuguan lies in the word "pass". The entire Guancheng is divided into three floors: the outer city, the urn city and the inner city. The structure is ingenious and can be said to be impregnable.

The construction of the new Great Wall continues outside Guancheng. There are so many man-made landscapes that future generations have no way of distinguishing which ones are real and which are fake, and whether they are a blessing or a curse. The Great Wall Museum next to it is worth a visit. The many cultural relics and introductions inside are refreshing.

5. Kongtong Mountain

It is located 30 kilometers west of Pingliang City, Gansu Province. It is a national key scenic spot. The scenic spot is surrounded by the Jinghe River, and the highest peak is 2,100 meters above sea level. There are lush forests and beautiful scenery on the mountain, and there are scenic spots such as Riyue Gorge, Yuxian Peak, Qixin Peak, Qianzhang Rock, Hydrangea Peak, Penghua Rock, Guiyun Cave, Huanglong Spring, Danti Cliff and other places. According to legend, the Yellow Emperor once asked Guangchengzi here.

From the Qin and Han Dynasties to the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, temples were built here, more than 30 bronze bells and bronze Buddhas were cast, more than 40 steles were carved, and the Taoist Temple at the foot of the mountain was built. Taoism is permanent in the ten directions. There are 8 ancient buildings, 9 palaces, 18 courtyards and 42 temples on the mountain. Taoist temples are extremely prosperous. In the early years of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, the temple was destroyed. There are still extant Hu Temple in the Tang Dynasty, Panlong stone pillars, inscriptions on the Taoist Palace rebuilt in the Yuan Dynasty, pagodas in the Ming Dynasty and Taihe Palace built during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty.