Gansu itinerary in September

Hello!
We are couple visiting China for the first time in September. We are very interested in culture, history, Buddhism and nature (but not trekking), so we thought of visiting Gansu province. We will be flying in to Beijing and out of Lanzhou. our current itinerary is:
September 4th: Landing in Beijing.
5th-8th: Visiting the city and great wall.
9th: Train to Xi'an.
10-12th: Visiting the city and Huashan.
13th: Travel to Xiahe through Lanzhou.
14-16th: Labrang monastery, grasslands and maybe Linxia?
17th: Travel to Xining
18th-20th: Kumbum monastery, one day organized day trip (we thought of either Kanbula NP, Chaka salt lake or one of the monasteries that are harder to get to by by public transportation) and one day to see the city or do a day trip on our own.
21th: Train to Zhangye + Danxia.
22-23rd: Jiayuguan, Mati si' and Binggou.
24th: Giant Buddha and train to Lanzhou
25th: Flight out of Lanzhou.
Does this itinerary make sense? Are there any changes we should make? Currently we are going to be in Zhangye during autumn festival, how crowded would it be? Should we change it to be somewhere else during that time? Does going from Xi'an directly to Xiahe makes sense altitude sickness wise?
Thank you very much!

Generally, yes it does make sense but I would rework the order. I also think there are some places that you can easily tighten up a bit and still not rush, which will allow time to go to Dunhuang. If you go all the way to Zhangye/Jiayuguan and don't go the little bit extra to Dunhuang, you'll regret it. It's what I would consider Gansu's "highest value" target.

The overall dates are fine; the Mid-Autumn Festival should not be much of an impediment to travel or crowds. Going directly from Xi'an via Lanzhou to Xiahe does cause some people some issues with altitude but breaking up the journey at Linxia could help with that as well as with sightseeing. However, I am going to propose dealing with Xiahe on the way back to Lanzhou.

There are some connections in there that might make sense by overnight sleeper train--is that a possibility or a no-go for you? Also, some connections will need to be done by road--which means either local bus or private car and that has budget implications. I'll assume a tighter/middle budget rather than an expansive one with these recommendations:
Sep 4-8 Arrival and Beijing as you have it.
Sep 9 Morning high speed train Beijing-Pingyao. Afternoon/overnight in Pingyao old town.
Sep 10 Morning high speed train Pingyao-Xi'an. Afternoon Xi'an
Sep 11-12 Xi'an and Huashan. I'd put the Huashan day on the 11th and more Xi'an city on the 12th.
Sep 13 Morning D fast train Xi'an to Zhangye. Afternoon at main Danxia (best late in day)
Sep 14 Zhangye, including Mati Si then Reclining Buddha Temple and pagoda in the city.
Sep 15 Morning Binggou Danxia (best early in day before it gets hot). Check out of hotel before you leave around 07:30 and take your stuff with you in the car or taxi hired for the morning. On way back to town, get dropped at Zhangye West station for a noon-ish fast train to Jiayuguan South. Jiayuguan is a place you want to minimize your time, it's the least interesting place on the itinerary. Best thing to do is hire a taxi for a flat rate when you arrive, and go around to the key sights (First Watchtower, Fort, Xuanbi Great Wall) which all total takes about 4 hours, then drop you at JYG hotel for the night.
Sep 16 Morning train JYG-Dunhuang. I'd go for convenience even though a bit slower, and take the K41 train (get a soft sleeper even though daytime) which takes you into the Dunhuang city station adjacent to the town. Afternoon in Dunhuang area--best to rest middle of day when hot and head out maybe to Singing Sand Dunes around mid-afternoon..

Sep 17 Dunhuang, Mogao Caves English tour in morning.
Sep 18 Dunhuang first part of morning. Taxi to Liuyuan South high speed station (2 hrs' drive from Dunhuang town) for 13:00 fast train to Xining, arriving around 18:00
Sep 19 Kunbum Monastery which only takes a half day including transport to/from plus city sights, of which Xining doesn't have many. Xining at 2200 meters altitude is useful to help you get acclimated for Xiahe.

Sep 20 Prearranged trip to Kanbula NP, leave Xining first part of morning, takes a couple of hours to get to Kanbula midmorning, rest of day there and overnight in one of the adjacent towns along the Yellow River. You'll be taking your stuff with you, not doing a daytrip.
Sep 21 Morning bus or car from your town to Tongren, shouldn't be more than 2 hours. Tongren (Rebkong is Tibetan name) has major monasteries and is the center for Thangka painting. It's not a big place.

Sep 22 Morning 08:00 bus Tongren -Xiahe, takes 3 hours. Afternoon Labrang Monastery (there's an English tour), nunnery.

Sep 23 Morning Xiahe grasslands tour. Afternoon Xiahe to Linxia
Sep 24 Morning explore Linxia; afternoon Linxia to Lanzhou
Sep 25 Depart from Lanzhou

Important to remember: China is officially all in one time zone which is Beijing time. In any other east-west country (like USA, Canada, Russia, Australia), they would use multiple time zones but China doesn't. Transportation timetables are all according to BJ time. But once you get far enough west, I'd say Lanzhou/Zhangye and further afield, it gets a little silly to live your life by the Beijing clock. So locals adjust according to the sun. This means that once in this area in September, you'll find that 07:00 in the morning BJ time will still be pretty dark, while 19:00 in the evening BJ time will still have sun pretty high in the sky, and sunset will be more like 21:00 Beijing time. So you'll see things like major meals/restaurant openings shifted later than your watch might suggest...same for some attractions.

Thank you so much for your wonderful reply! This really helps! Your itinerary is really useful and it seems we'll act according to most of it.
Is Xiahe still as interesting at the end of September, or is it too late to still enjoy the grasslands?
Do you know any place to stay in Linxia? I had a hard time finding any.
Thank you very much!

Do you know any place to stay in Linxia? I had a hard time finding any.

Just look at Ctrip website: https://english.ctrip.com/hotels/ . Introduce the parameters you want and the offer will be, quite satisfactory.

The summer season on the grasslands will be winding down, but as long as you're still in September, it's fine.

I would not use ctrip.com for any hotel bookings, there have been too many problems with reservations not actually being made, with price switches, and various other issues. If you need ideas for lodging, then look at ctrip, but book directly with the hotel. Most hotels will match pricing with what's seen on ctrip. Or wait until you arrive in China and have a hotel staff member at a previous city book you by phone. Trust me, Linxia isn't going to sell out in September. Ctrip is fine for domestic China flight bookings, though not my preference for train bookings for those not already in China. Use www.travelchinaguide.com or www.china-diy-travel.com for trains.

Thank you very much! I will do as you suggest!

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