Atlas of China
Xining to Zhangye 西宁 – 张掖
Door to door, the high-speed train comes out ahead: about 2 hours, counting about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time for a flight. A standard-class seat is ¥92. The stations are in or near the city centres, which is what tips it.
| Way | Time | Door to door | Fare | A day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High-speed trainXining 西宁 → Zhangye West 张掖西 | 1 h 41 minD2743, fastest | 2 hours | ¥92standard class | 2506:51–18:24 |
| By road380 km, estimated | 7 h 10 min | 7 hours |
By train
25 direct high-speed trains a day run from Xining to Zhangye West, between 06:51 and 18:24. The fastest, D2743, takes 1 h 41 min, and a standard-class seat is ¥92. Coming back, 24 trains a day, the fastest 1 h 43 min (D2750, 07:41 to 19:54).
Xining: Starting point of the Qinghai–Tibet Railway to Lhasa (conventional trains).
By air
No nonstop flights.
By road
Roughly 380 km by road and about 7 hours of driving, estimated from the distance.
At the other end
Featured places around Zhangye.
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Zhangye Danxia (Rainbow Mountains) 张掖七彩丹霞
Mountains striped red, orange and yellow like the layers of a painted cake
Around Xining: Kumbum Monastery.
On the map
Open either city on the illustrated map, or put both in a trip and let the planner lay out the days and the legs between them, with the same tables these numbers come from.
Book
About Xining · About Zhangye · All routes
Trains are every direct train on 2026-10-28 or 2026-11-11 in the 12306 timetable, with standard-class fares; one weekday, so weekend and holiday services differ, and the fastest train may not run every day. Flights are the airlines' schedules for 2026-10-28, plus routes Wikipedia lists for small airports. Drives are routed on OpenStreetMap roads (extract of 2026-10-21) where the pair was routed, else estimated from the distance. Door-to-door times add about 20 minutes to board a train and 2½ hours of airport time to a flight. How to book is in the guide to trains and 12306; the rail times are open data on the data page.