Shapotou
沙坡头
A national 5A-rated scenic area where the desert meets the Yellow River. Sand sliding, sheepskin raft rides, a zipline across the river and desert surfing can all be enjoyed in one stop. It is the origin of the verse 'a lone smoke rises straight in the desert.'
Shapotou lies about 20 km west of Zhongwei city, where the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert meets the Yellow River. A dune about 100 meters high drops straight down to the riverbank. In the Tang dynasty, the poet Wang Wei wrote here, 'A lone smoke rises straight in the great desert; over the long river the sun sets round.' The straw checkerboard sand-control project built here during the 1950s, along the Baotou–Lanzhou Railway as it crossed the desert, is also a national 5A-rated scenic area and a world-class model of desert control. The scenic area has two zones. The Yellow River zone lies to the south. From the top of the dune you can ride a sand-sliding board down about 100 meters, the most classic activity. You can also take a sheepskin raft down the Yellow River, about 20 minutes, ride a zipline across the river, and visit the Wang Wei Viewing Platform and the Singing Sand Dune, where the sand makes a sound. The desert zone lies to the north. Here you can ride a camel into the sand sea, take a desert buggy off-road, ride a desert motorbike or slide down dunes. Electric shuttle buses and escalators connect the two zones. Peak-season tickets cost about 100 yuan, and each activity is charged separately: sand sliding about 50 yuan, the sheepskin raft about 80 yuan, the zipline about 150 yuan and camel riding about 100 yuan. A combo ticket for about 300–400 yuan offers better value. Doing everything takes 5–6 hours, so arriving as the gates open in the morning is recommended. Highlight: in the afternoon, watch the sunset over the Yellow River from the Yellow River zone. At the Singing Sand Dune, the sliding sand produces a humming 'buzz.' Getting there: about 40 minutes by city bus or the scenic-area shuttle from Zhongwei city. Notes: daytime temperatures in the desert zone are high, so bring plenty of water. Queues for activities are long, so go first to the popular ones such as sand sliding and the zipline. Sand gets into everything, so protect cameras and phones. Food within the scenic area is expensive.
Opening hours
Peak season 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.; off-season 8:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Nearby sights
- Tengger Desert & Desert Star Hotel
- Yellow River Suji (Boutique Homestay Cluster)
- Tengger Jinshahai Desert Resort
- Golden Sand Island (Tengger Desert Wetland)
- Beichangtan Ancient Village
- Gao Temple (Gaomiao)
- Zhongwei Drum Tower
- Nanchangtan Ancient Village