Moon Canyon Travel Guide

The southeast corner of the Chinese province of Gansu is home to the breathtaking canyon known as Moon Canyon. It’s a natural paradise that is tucked away from the rest of the country.

Moon Canyon is made up from gushing rivers and streams and the actual canyon is formed out of huge rock faces that create a long canyon. It is undeveloped at the minute but unfortunately, plans to build in the area are underway so it will be at its peak for the next couple of years. The wilderness is full of wildlife and vegetation that is unusual in this well developed country.

Currently, the only place to stay at the Moon Canyon is the Moon Canyon Retreat and it has a collection of tents and cabins for guests to choose from and these low-budget and attractive lodges attract people from all over the world. The canyon sits in a national park and admission fees are cheap and well worth paying.

A 100-bed hotel with a giant swimming pool is likely to be built at some point over the next few years and this will provide more choices of accommodation but there is a danger that it will dwarf the beauty of the scenery.

Getting There & Away

There is a railway not far from the canyon located in the village of Jialing where there is one route a day from Sichuan and Shaanxi. The nearest airport is in Xining and it takes 2 hours, 30 minutes from Beijing. There are also frequent buses from Tianshui that take about 3 hours to Huixian and from there it is easy to get a local minivan to do the last 45 minutes of the journey. There are also minivans that go to Jialing and it is possible to walk the final six kilometers to the canyon.