Lanzhou Railway Station

Station name and what to look for

Match the Chinese characters on your ticket to the characters above. English translations of Chinese station names vary between booking sites, but the Chinese name is the same everywhere.

About the station

Lanzhou station, locally called 兰州站, is the old central station on the east side of the city. It handles the conventional network — overnight trains to Dunhuang, Zhangye, Wuwei, Jiayuguan, Xining, Lhasa and Ürümqi — plus a share of high-speed services.

The critical thing to understand is that Lanzhou has two major stations and they are not interchangeable. Lanzhou West (兰州西站) is the big high-speed hub for the Xi’an–Lanzhou high-speed line and onward services to Xining and beyond. Lanzhou station, this one, is the conventional side. If your ticket says 兰州西, you need the west station, roughly 10 km away.

Lanzhou is also the main gateway to the Qinghai–Tibet railway. Most travellers heading to Lhasa on a conventional sleeper pass through here, and it is the last major city before the altitude climb begins in earnest.

Getting to and from Lanzhou

The metro connects Lanzhou station directly to the city centre and to Lanzhou West station, which makes the cross-city transfer straightforward and cheap. Taxis are plentiful but the roads around the station are congested at peak times.

Lanzhou Zhongchuan International Airport is a long way out — allow an hour by the airport rail link or rather more by road. If you are connecting a flight to a train, build in the buffer.

What catches travellers out here

• Confirm which of the two stations your ticket is for before you leave for the station. This is the single most common mistake travellers make in Lanzhou, and the two buildings are too far apart to fix at short notice.
• Conventional overnight trains from Lanzhou to Dunhuang and Zhangye are the practical route to the Hexi Corridor, but they sell out on weekends and around holidays. Book early if your itinerary depends on a specific date.

Other stations in Lanzhou

Lanzhou has more than one railway station, and they serve different routes. Check the full Chinese name on your ticket — not just the city name.

Other station guides in Gansu

Before you travel

Tickets are issued against your passport and there is no paper ticket to collect for most domestic services. Read the booking guide if this is your first Chinese train, or the seat class guide if you are choosing between a hard sleeper and a soft sleeper. For the station itself, the general station guide explains how gates and boarding work at any Chinese station.

All direct train destinations from Lanzhou — every city reachable without changing trains, with daily frequency and fastest journey time.