With the opening of the western segments of China’s national high-speed rail line in recent years, a host of ancient Silk Road attractions in Gansu province are suddenly much more accessible. The surreal rainbow-striped mountains in the Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park are now just a three-hour train ride from Gansu’s capital, Lanzhou, half the time as before. Also more accessible are the westernmost part of the Great Wall built in the Ming dynasty and the spectacular 14th-century Jiayuguan fort, looking splendid again after a four-year, $290 million restoration.