Zhangye's Danxia Landscape — Rainbow Mountains

The Danxia landscape in Zhangye is vividly named “Rainbow Mountains” by many due to its dazzlingly colors. Danxia (丹霞 /dan-sshya/) means 'red, red clouds'. In China's remote northwest, Zhangye is ignored by ordinary travelers, but deeply loved by photographers.

The landscape is composed of curvy, layered, multihued formations, most of which are several hundred meters high. When the sun shines on them, their colors appear in full vibrancy. It looks like an oil painting when the vast red rock formations are simply set against a pure blue sky.

The best time to visit Zhangye is from June to September when the weather is most comfortable. The best time to take photo of these mountains is in the morning and during sunset, especially sunset, when the colors change continuously, showing yellow and red layers covered by a light gray layer.