West of Tianshui, on the road and rail line to Lanzhou, are a couple of little-known but fascinating reminders of the Silk Road era. The attraction at GANGU , 65km west of Tianshui, is Daxiang Shan (Giant Statue Mountain). It gets its name from the giant statue of a moustached Sakyamuni Buddha which was carved out of the mountain cliff during the Tang dynasty. The statue is more than 23 metres tall, and can be reached by foot along a path leading up from the town in about an hour.