Suoyang City Ruins, (Anxi) Guazhou, Jiuquan - This recent UNESCO site is located about 60 from Guanzhou.

On the way to this site one will pass the Po Cheng Zi ruins which are a historical and cultural site of Guanzhou. It is located right off the road in Chang Le Village. FREE to all and if you look carefully, the fence has been cut down in a small place and one can get in to take pictures.

Continue for 30 km and you will reach Suo Yang. The tickets already have the UNESCO logo and entrance will cost you 80 RMB + 20 RMB for a golf cart that will take 10 people into the site. We waited for 30 minutes until there were exactly 10 passengers as the Green golf cart will go no where with less than 10 plus a tour guide.

Our taxi driver who has been there before was sent on a detour from the hardtop road to a gravel road that was 10 km longer. The reason is that this new UNESCO site has closed the main road as it runs directly through the middle of the site.

The tour guide told us that last year the visitors center was a nasty little wooden shack but now they are housed in the brand new visitors center. First things first. The gravel road that is 10 km longer is NOT important but the visitors cebter is.

The 10 passengers are squeezed into the green golf cart and driven around the site where we were fortunate to stop for 10 minutes at 2 locations. Of course we had to walk in the wooden path provided. For those who had the foresight to sit on the sides of the cart, we were able to get some pictures as the golf cart sped around the trail in a hurry. I am sure the bothersome tourists had disturbed the driver from his nap.

The tour took less than 1 hour. I was lucky to get about 50 good pictures in total.

As the reader can tell, I am disgusted witht the UNESCO model of how they do biznezz. The tour guide and taxi driver both told us the tickets were 20 RMB before UNESCO arrived. I am gald I got the T-shirt before the price doubles again. Check another UNESCO off my list.

Xuanquanzhi Posthouse, Dunhuang, Jiuquan - This recent UNESCO site is located just off the highway from Dunhuang to Guazhou at exactly the 134.5 km marker. There is a small dirt road that leads to the recently completed fenceline and visitors center.

As this is the site of ancient ruins there is nothing visible except for the stone markers in place. In time there will probably be some type of museum so that visitors can be charged the usual fees. The ticket office opened when they heard us walking about but we were able to take pictures of the stone markers withour paying any fees.

This site is NOT accessible from the highway road from Guazhou to Dunhuang - only from Dunhuang to Guazhou.

I am glad I visited and I have my keepsake photos before UNESCO locks this place down.

Thanks Haali - we are in agreement.

once again Campo - your info does not match my experience - Once again? - I did not know that my expereince had to match yours. I did not realize that I had to follow your itinerary. Silly me for thinking I can go my own way.

Lets try it again - for those who can NOT read. Who cares about the Y train that STOPS at JYG. Stops at JYG is not the same as going from JYG to Dunhuang. I am happy that you went a completely different train to a completely different place and that the train was nice. However, that has nothing to do with what I am reporting here.

Read carefully now - The K train goes from JYG to Dunhuang and yes it is nasty. I have no idea what you are talking about. I am not reporting any trains from Lanzhou to JYG. I am not reporting about other trains that stop at JYG. I am specifically talking about the K train that goes from JYG to Dunhuang. Now do you understand the difference? Since you like to check trains then check the train that goes from JYG to Dunhuang as that is what I am writing about.

Once again you are rude and receive an equally rude reply. Please get your facts straight before you resort to sarcasm. Once again!

I am reporting my own personal expereince to anyone who may be interested in travelling to Gansu in the future. Specifically the UNESCO sites that were added in 2014.

For the people who do NOT understand the trains in China.

Green train - very slow - has hard seat and sleeper car. Very, Very, Very nasty.

K Train - Orange - Has seats and sleeper. Better than Green but still nasty, especially if it begins a long way off as some passengers have been there for 20-30 hours and are barefoot and sleeping on seats and floor covered with sunflower seeds. Smells like foot and ass and boiling noodles. K train goes from JYG to Dunhuang.

D Train - 100 - 150 Km/hr - Has seats and some sleeper depending on destination. D train goes from Lanzhou to Jia Yu Guan.

G Train - High speed - over 200 km/hr. No sleepers available on G trains as you get there lickety split. Train from Beijing to Dezhou, Shandong.