From Wushan , 45km west from Gangu, you can visit the Shuilian Dong (Water Curtain Grottoes), which contain a number of important relics, including the Lashao Temple as well as a Thousand Buddha Cave site. This is an extraordinary area, all the more so for being so inaccessible. Digging at the grottoes began during the Sixteen States period (304-439 AD) and continued through the dynasties. The Lashao Temple was built during the Northern Wei (386-534). There is a thirty-metre-high statue of Sakyamuni on the mountain cliff, his feet surrounded by wild animals, including lions and elephants. The grottoes, about 30km north of Wushan, can only be reached along a dried-up river bed - there is as yet no proper road.

 

All buses - and all trains except for express ( tekuai) trains - running between Tianshui and Lanzhou stop at both Gangu and Wushan. It's also possible to visit Gangu as a day trip from Tianshui; minibuses run from the Qincheng bus station in the morning. If you want to visit both Gangu and the grottoes in one day from Tianshui you need to rent a vehicle, which, to handle the rough road from Wushan, needs to be something bigger than a taxi - more like a small minibus. It's a long, tiring day and will cost in the region of ¥500. It might be simpler to stay a night at either Wushan or Gangu, perhaps as a stopover on the way between Tianshui and Lanzhou. Note that access to the Water Curtain Grottoes is dependent on the weather - you won't be able to use the river bed if it has been wet recently.