As I'll be leaving Lanzhou soon, I thought I'd post some links to websites and blogs that might be of interest for travellers passing through Gansu, or thinking of working here. 

Hope you enjoy these, and feel free to pass some more recommendations back to me.
 
LINXIA SLIDESHOW 09/14/2009
 
Línxià (临夏) is around 2 hours south of Lanzhou, on the way to Xiàhé (夏河). Buses from the South Bus Station, see map. 
 
 
Bǐnglíng Sì (炳灵寺) is quite an adventurous stop-off on the route to or from Linxia and Xiahe. See map. It's a bit of a hassle to reach from Lanzhou (the west bus station only allows foreigners on the midday bus to Liújiāxiá 刘家峡), so you  better off doing it when traveling from Linxia to Lanzhou.
 
 
Píngliáng (平凉) is 5-6 hours east of Lanzhou (see map). Well-known in Gansu as a Hui muslim town, it is most famous for the Kōngtóng Shān (崆峒山) mountain. Buses depart from Lanzhou's East Bus Station. 
 
 
Tiānshuǐ (天水) is 3-4 hours southeast of Lanzhou by train, towards Xi'an.  You can see the locations of the following pictures on this map.

The slideshow includes: 
  1. Fúxī Miào Temple (伏羲庙)
  2. Xiānrén'àn Nature Spot (仙人岸), which is close by to Maijishan. There are some nice walks through the hills, which take you by some interesting temples under the overhanging sandstone cliffs. 
  3. Màijīshān Shíkū Buddhist Grottoes (麦积山石窟)
 
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:

 
 

DUNHUANG
From Xining we returned to Lanzhou, and took the N857 overnight train to Dunhuang.

 
 

We hired a driver through Tibetan Connections, and drove around Qinghai Lake for a couple of days...