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Maijishan is so-named because its shape resembles that of a shaft of wheat. Jutting straight-up out of the surrounding landscape, Maiji Shan was accessible by a series of stairs once joined to its side by logs thrust like pegs in holes carved out of the rock face. In modern times this series of wooden stairs has been replaced by metal ones and a new adhering material has been applied to the face of the mountain. These grottoes are found on the precipices of Maiji Mountain thirty kilometers south of Tianshui County, Gansu Province. The grottoes were cut during a period of 1,500 years from the Later Qin Dynasty (384-417) up to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). During an earthquake in the seventh century, the cliff broke in two and the grottoes were thus divided into east and west sections.
The Bingling Grottoes, also known as the Bingling Temple, are a series of Buddhist caves that are situated on a not easily accessible cliff face, some 80km from Lanzhou. At some point the caves were named the Thousand Buddha Caves, despite the fact that there have never been more than 200 grottoes. The first cave was built here in 420 AD, by daring Buddhists who descended from the cliff on ropes to carve their masterpieces. Although the cave complex was enlarged gradually over many centuries, it is the work of both the Song (960-1279 AD) and the Ming (1368-1644 AD) Dynasties that remains most impressive.
The Sangke Grasslands (Sangke caoyuan), lying at an average altitude of over 3,000m above sea level, is situated a short 14km from Xiahe. This vast expanse of grassy plains, covering an area of around 70 square kilometers, is a lonely, beautiful place that is a nice change for those from bustling Chengdu or Lanzhou. There are only 4,000 Tibetan nomads on the grasslands, all wrapped up in their many, dirty layers, who graze yak herds and offer tourists the chance of a ride upon their horses. Entertainment here varies according to your preference. Botanists and hikers will be happy to just set off into the rolling hills, but for those after a little more exciting the horse rides, costing around RMB25, are good fun.
The Gansu Provincial Museum is the most impressive museum in the province. The Provincial Museum was built after the founding of the People's Republic. The museum covers more than 6.6 Hectares of land and has a total floor space of 18,000 square meters. Built in Russian architectural style, the museum is shaped like the letter "E". This is one of the best sights in the city. The museum complex is made up of three separate buildings linked by corridors, and further divided into two sections, the natural resources section downstairs and historical exhibits upstairs. It has more than 100,000 historical and cultural relics as well as plant, animal, and mineral specimens in its collection.
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