Shandan Military Horse-breeding Farm

Chinese name: 山丹军马场（Shan Dan Jun Ma Chang）
Location: Damaying town, Shandan County, Zhangye, Gansu Province.
Ticket: Entrance ticket CNY60.00, horse riding CNY60.00/H.
Estimated tour time: 3-6hours
Recommended time to visit: Jun to Oct
Nearby attractions: Zhangye Giant Buddha Temple, Zhangye Wetland Park, Pingshanhu Grand Canyon, Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park, etc.

Shandan Military Horse-breeding Farm is located at Damaying Grassland on the northern slope of Lenglong Peak of Qilian Mountains in the center of Hexi Corridor. where is about 130km away from Zhangye City and 50km away from Shandan County. Spanning over Gansu and Qinghai provinces and bordering three cities or prefectures and six counties, the farm covers a total area of 3.295 million mu.

The Shandan Army Racecourse was established by Huo Dezhi. It has a history of more than 2,100 years. It is the oldest horse farm in the world and the largest horse farm in the world. Many old movies have been filmed at the military horse farms, such as “Wrangler” and “Wencheng Princess”……

The farm is the oldest royal horse farm in the world and used to be Asia's largest army horse-breeding farm, and world's second-largest only after Don Horse Farm of Soviet Union. Shandan Farm now is the largest in the world as the Don Horse Farm has dissolved, and also a large producer of grain, oil, and meat for the Chinese Army.

Thanks to the flat land as well as the abundant water and grass resources. Shandan Farm is an ideal location for horse breeding and raising, and an ideal place for horses to multiply and grow.  It is As early as 3,000 years ago, horses have been raised here.

Since the Western Han Dynasty, based on the local Mongolian horses, it has introduced Turkestan horses, Mongolian horses and Shandan horse hybrids popular in Zhangye City and also in the nation since the Western Han Dynasty. The Shandan horses that have been cultivated by the hybrids have become famous in the world, and they have become the royal military horse breeding bases of the past.

The summer time of Shandan Military Racecourse is very short, so every July and August are the best time to travel to Shandan Military Horse-breeding Farm.

Here, tourists can enjoy the best scenery in Shandan Military Horse-breeding Farm, the grassland fields are situated on both sides of the road for tens of kilometres. Furthermore, the horse farm are the paradise of photographer, every summer when rapeseed blossoms, it looks like a golden ocean, and that is quite picturesque.

Tourists can also learn to ride on the grassland, but compare with the other horse farms, the horse of Shandan Military Horse-breeding Farm are mostly docile and obedient, the prairie is flat and vast . Tourists can experience the sense of trotting or galloping on the grassland.