Here are some photos of the places we visited on a three-day trip to neighboring Shănxī (陕西) province (spelled Shaanxi in pinyin, to distinguish it from Shānxī 山西 province).


Dāngjiācūn (党家村) 

 
 

The Ministry of Environmental Protection placed Lanzhou 50th out of 86 locations around China (stats for October 22). Lanzhou is on page 3, but as the results are not ranked I copied and pasted into Excel and reordered them.

The cities ranked 25-80 all got a 'good' rating. However, given that Lanzhou is often criticized for its poor air quality, I thought it would be interesting to see which places came below it. Here is a selection of the most well-known (with their ranking in brackets):

Lanzhou (50)
Changsha (54)
Chongqing (55)
Xining (60)
Hohot (61)
Chengdu (67)
Hangzhou (70)
Urumqi (74)
Xi'an (78)
Beijing (81) Light pollution
Harbin (86) Light pollution

This is what Lanzhou looks like today:

 
 

As sign that winter is on the way, roasted chestnut stands have sprung up all over the city. They do the roasting on the spot, and there are usually long queues of customers.

Roasting:

Sorting:

Selling:

The last time I bought some, they were 8 yuan per 500g (just over 1 USD). This stand gives out a free 'chestnut peeling machine' (剥栗器) when you buy 500g. I should have asked to look at it. We were given a small plastic thing with a serrated edge with our chestnuts a few weeks ago, so it's probably one of those. There are better offers at other stands around town: some places are doing 1kg for the price of 500g.

 
PANDA GRAFFITI 10/18/2008
 

No idea what this reads (paws?), but I liked the panda!

 
XIAHE REOPENS? 10/18/2008
 

Due to the riots in march, for the past several months travel to Xiàhé (夏河) Tibetan Autonomous County in south Gansu has been restricted for foreign visitors. Those who did manage to slip in found they had nowhere to stay. Even foreigners with residency there found travelling around almost impossible.

Well, after reading a few online reports that restrictions had just been lifted (and the Labrang Monastery resuming allowing foreigners to join their tours) I phoned the south bus station to get more information. I was told that foreigners could indeed now travel into the area, as long as they provide photocopies of passport and visa when they buy the bus tickets. 

I'll keep looking out for any reports that might verify this. 

South Bus Station
Bus times: 07:30; 08:30; 09:30; 14:30
Tickets: 49.5 yuan

Here are some recordings and photos I made on my last trip there in 2007:

 
 

At first glance, it's just a standard advertisement for the Mingshi Snooker Hall, in the underpass where Wŭdū Lù (武都路) meets Zhōngshān Lù (中山路). 

In fact, it's a job ad. The first position is for 'snooker babes' (台球宝贝 táiqiú băobèi). Applicants must be female, 18-25 years old, with a lively personality. Preference will go to those with snooker ability. The second position is for a manager. Again, the applicants should be female, 25-35 years old, with management experience, good communication skills, with a warm personality.

Below the photos is a description of what the hall offers its customers, including "elegant surroundings, reasonable cost, and professional technology." 

So, what do 'snooker babes' do?

All is revealed: the hall provides "beautiful practice partners, and free coaching from female snooker players." 

 
 

Before I came to Lanzhou, I had read two pretty depressing accounts of the place, both in Time magazine, which my dad used to post to me.

The first concerned pollution, the second drugs. I've travelled to the Dongxiang area south of Lanzhou several times, and am always reminded of the article.

Well, it certainly explains why you come across anti-drugs posters in the Hui muslim communities around Lanzhou (although the article claims that the addicts are mostly Han Chinese). Here is a selection.

"One person takes drugs and disaster befalls everyone"
The large character in the background is 毒 (dú), meaning drugs, and the smaller message on the right reads "yourself, family, community":

"Treasure your life: stay away from drugs"
The smaller message on the top right reads "For a happy life, under no circumstances get into drugs":

"Trying it once can destroy your life"
The person in the picture is holding 海洛因 (hăiluòyīn), meaning heroin:


"Drug addicts can save themselves"
A very loose translation, which has (I believe) the following explanation: There is a Buddhist saying "苦海无边，回头是岸", meaning "On the endless sea of suffering, repent and be saved [lit. you can see the shore if you turn around]." The first character 苦 (kŭ) has been replaced by 毒 (dú) on the poster (the two words also sound alike). So, to translate more closely, the slogan on the poster could also be "On the endless sea of drugs, repent and be saved." Note also the 毒 in the background:

"Mobilize and participate in the people's anti-drugs campaign"
In the picture, poppies are being "eradicated":

"Don't let drugs into our homes":
The figures in the picture can often be seen on the door frames of people's homes (especially in the countryside), as a 'protect this house' gesture: 

"Drugs will be taken seriously: traffickers will be punished, manufacturers will be investigated, and users will be warned."
The photo shows the 'results':

 
ERHU PLAYER 10/12/2008
 

Walking north from Nánguān Shízì (南关什字), I stopped to listen to this blind erhu player, who was across the road from the main entrance to the the provincial government compound, at the east end of the pedestrian section of Zhāngyē Lù ( 张掖路).

Here are a few recordings, starting with Sài Mă (赛马), which means "Horserace." This piece was also played by the electric erhu player I recorded by the river in August.

When someone told him the foreigner had put a few kuai into his box, he played the following medley:

 
LIFE 10/11/2008
 

This anti-smoking advertisement is in an underpass at Nánguān Shízì (南关什字)

The cigarettes have been arranged to make the word 生命 (shēngmìng), which means 'life'.

The skull caption below reads: "It's my choice, I like it. What about you?"