Zhangye Railway Station
Zhangye Railway Station serves Zhangye, Gansu. Mixed high-speed and conventional, opened 1955.
Station name and what to look for
| Chinese name | 张掖站 |
| Pinyin | Zhangye Huochezhan |
| English name | Zhangye Railway Station |
| City / province | Zhangye, Gansu |
| Train types | Mixed high-speed and conventional |
| Main lines | Lanzhou–Xinjiang corridor, with high-speed services at Zhangye West |
| Opened | 1955 |
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
Zhangye is a Hexi Corridor stop best known to travellers as the base for the Danxia landform — the striped rainbow rock formations about 40 km from the city. The old Zhangye station handles conventional trains; the high-speed line has its own Zhangye West station, and the two are different buildings.
The city itself was an important Silk Road oasis, and the surviving Giant Buddha Temple in the old town is worth an afternoon if your schedule allows.
The station is compact and the arrival experience is quick compared with a hub like Lanzhou. English signage exists but is thinner than at a major high-speed station.
Getting to and from Zhangye
Buses and taxis run from the station into the city centre, a short ride. For Danxia, most travellers arrange a car and driver through their hotel, because the formations are outside town and the public bus is infrequent.
If you are continuing along the corridor toward Jiayuguan or Dunhuang, check whether your next train departs from the old station or from Zhangye West — they are several kilometres apart.
What catches travellers out here
- The Danxia visit is best at sunrise and sunset, which means arriving the day before and staying overnight rather than treating Zhangye as a same-day stop.
- Zhangye West serves high-speed trains and Zhangye station serves conventional ones. A ticket will say which, but the English on booking sites is not always consistent, so check the Chinese character for 西.
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.
Station details are compiled from published railway information and are checked periodically. Facilities, station layouts and access arrangements can change — confirm anything critical locally before you travel.