Bàolóng Shān (抱龙山) is in Anning District, on the north side of the river, near the Qilihe Bridge. The route up starts from the north side of the road at Xìngfú Xiàng (幸福巷) bus stop (buses # 3, 103, 72). Walk up the small road, until you reach a 90 degree left turn. In the first picture below, don't go straight on (it becomes a dead-end). Follow the road to the left, and stay on the road until it ends, at the foot of the hills.
Name: Gāolán Wénmiào (皋兰文庙)
Location: It's on the north bank of the Yellow River, a few kilometres west of the Xiăoxīhú Huánghé Qiáo bridge (小西湖黄河桥).
Buses to the foot of the hill: #20, 131, 142 to Lányā Jítuán Zhàn (兰雅集团站). Look out for the huge Sinopec filling station just past the bus stop.
Bicycle: The road up to Jiŭzhōu Tái (九州台) takes you right past it.
I rode past the place when it was a building site a few years ago, so it was good to finally see it almost completed. The grounds of the temple are full of statues of famous historical philosophers, politicians, and poets (Confucius, Mencius, Lao Tse, Sun Tzu, Li Bai, Du Fu, and so on), and the walls are covered in old stories and examples of classical writings.
Chinese: 五泉山公园 (Wŭquán Shàn Gōngyuán)
Location: South end of Jīngchāng Lù (金昌路)
Buses to 五泉广场 Wŭquán Guăngchăng: 2, 12, 18, 124, 149 (note: loads of buses stop at the 五泉山 Wŭquán Shàn stop, leaving you with a 10 minute walk south to get to the park. 五泉广场 Wŭquán Guăngchăng stop is much closer).
Entrance: 6 yuan
The best park in Lanzhou. You could easily spend a good 2-3 hours exploring the vast, tree-covered grounds on the lower-part of the hillside below Lanshan.
As well as the '5 springs,' trickling away in various places, there are Buddhist temples, a Sun Yat-sen memorial museum, tea houses, fairground and a zoo.
Jiāolóng Sì (蛟龙寺) is on a hillside overlooking the village of Qīnggăng (青岗), about 20km south of Lanzhou on the old road to Línxià (临夏).
Getting there: Bus #307 from the southside of the overpass, to the west of Xiăo Xīhú (小西湖). 2 yuan. Map.
At the temple
It was busy, as there were people celebrating the holy day of Ksitigarbha (Dìzàng 地藏), a Bodhisattva Buddhist idol (Púsà 菩萨), the guardian of the Earth, who vowed "Not until the hells are emptied will I become a Buddha."
Halfway up the hill, the area outside the Chinese-style buddhist temple was being used by worshippers to burn symbolic paper. They were leaving small gifts of fruit, nuts, and steamed bread on tables aboutside the door, and inside, prayers were being sung:
Pre-recorded buddhist chanting, playing on a loop in a quieter temple:
Tibetan influence
Given that this is the gateway to the Tibetan autonomous counties in South Gansu, the small Tibetan temple and stupor, high up on the hill, and prayerflags on the summit, seem appropriate.
The old and new roads to Linxia:
Looking back over Qinggang towards Lanzhou:
The wildlife:
Us:
Fúlóng Píng (伏龙坪) is a poor Hui area, perched on the clay hills to the south of Xiguan Shizi.
Píng (坪) doesn't have a concise translation. The definition in the dictionary says it is a "mountainous or hilly area" (山区或丘陵地区).
You get glimpses of the ramshackled sprawl from Jiěfàng Mén (解放门) and also from the trains heading out of the city towards Xining, but you only realise the scale when you follow one of the winding paths up, and lose yourself in the narrow alleys.
On this walk I only touched the surface.
I started out from the southwest corner of the Xiguan Mosque, crossing under the flyovers (still heading southwest) and up under a sign to the 金岛旧车市场.
UPDATE (27 AUG)
There is an alternative (probably better) start to this walk, from the Taiqing Gong (太清宫) Daoist temple at Jiěfàng Mén.
Get here by walking 100m west from Xiguan Mosque.
Take the market street to the right of the temple, then look out for the steps winding up on your left, about 50m along.
Back to my original route...
I followed some steep stairs leading up past some precarious houses, which levelled off next to a kindergarten:
This was my first chance to get a good view up into the area:
I followed the alley along, until I came to an opening, which looked down towards Jiěfàng Mén:
Finally, I worked my way to the centre of Fúlóng Píng. Traffic can drive up via a road from Āndìng Mén (安定门), at the south end of Zhōngshān Lù (中山路). It felt like a small country village up there.
Now on the 'main' road, I was able to continue upwards, heading sometimes south and sometimes east, along the hillside that eventually arrives at Lanshan.
The sign reads: "Raising people's morals, building a harmonious Chengguan."
Chengguan is the main district of Lanzhou's city centre, directly below Fúlóng Píng.
Towels and a mop, drying outside a small hairdresser's:
Here was the view from Fúlóng Píng, looking west over towards Huálín Píng (华林坪), another Hui area, which can be reached by heading southwest from Jiěfàng Mén:
By this stage I was back on familiar territory, having used this road to cycle up Lanshan several times in the past. I stopped off at a small mosque, and then a few hairpins later, reached a lookout terrace.
From here, a tree-shaded path continued up, and would lead you along the ridge overlooking Wuquan Shan, and eventually to Lanshan.
I called it a day, and took the steps down the hillside, directly to the west gate of the Minorities University. A shortcut through a market, an underpass under the railway line, and I found myself back in the city on Báiyín Lù (白银路), at the south end of Yŏngchāng Lù (永昌路).
Chinese: 白云观 (Báiyún Guān)
Getting there: Walk 500m west along the river from Zhōngshān Qiáo (中山桥), OR walk 250m north from Xiguan Mosque
A small temple, that makes for a pleasant stop on a riverside walk, possibly combined with a walk past the Xiguan Mosque. However, some parts are under renovation at the moment (August 2008), so it might not be the best time to visit.
In any case, if you have time, the temple at Wŭquán Shàn Gōngyuán (五泉山公园) on the south edge of the city centre is more interesting, and the park itself has a lot going on.
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