Getting there: You can walk up (via White Pagoda Mountain) or take the chairlift from the south side of the river. See the half-day walk.
Lanzhou Steles Forest (兰州碑林 Lánzhōu Bēilín) is perched on top of the hills on the north side of the Yellow River. Entrance is free, if you bring ID. For some reason this is very important to the people at the gate, who were very reluctant to let us in last time we were there without ID. The steles here are stone tablets carved with poetry and calligraphy (in a variety of styles), related to life in the northwest of China. If you can't read Chinese you probably won't get much out of it. That said, the gardens are pleasant, and it's an impressive building, with a fantastic view of the city on a fine day.
Getting there: You can walk up (via White Pagoda Mountain) or take the chairlift from the south side of the river. See the half-day walk. Chinese name: 兰州光辉布料市场 (Lanzhou Guanghui Buliao Shichang)
Location: Nánchāng Lù (南昌路), north of the Square, next to the Bonsai Park (map) Town God's Temple (城隍庙 Chéng Huángmiào), is know to Lanzhou locals more simply as Huáng Miào. The writing over the entrance reads: "Number 1 Worker's Club" (第一工人俱乐部 Dìyī Gōngrén Jùlèbù). Huáng Miào is an old temple complex of four courtyards, converted into a huge outdoor and indoor antiques centre (古玩, gŭwán). There are also shops for the sale of calligraphy equipment, tea sets and local craft specialities such as carved gourds and 'luminous' wine glasses. Weekends are especially busy. For more ideas of places to find antiques, arts and crafts, click here. One of the things I like doing at Huáng Miào is going up to the 3rd floor tea-house, where there are sometimes afternoon performances of the local Chinese opera Qínqiāng Xìqǔ (秦腔戏曲). Look out for the flight of stairs on the west side of the second courtyard. Entrance is free, but you will be expected to order a drink.Sānpāotáichá tea (散泡台茶) is 5 RMB with constant refills. You will probably be approached by the organisers, or even the performers, and 'invited' to give a donation. 10 RMB is acceptable. Click on the play buttons to hear some recordings. There are a couple of very popular noodle restaurants on the plaza outside the gate, as well as a Uighur Muslim restaurant where you can get lamb kebabs, flat breads, noodles and pilao rice (抓饭, zhuāfàn, slow-fried rice, baked with carrots and lamb). Getting there:
Zhāngyē Lù Zhōngduàn, 500m east of Xīguān Shízì 张掖路中段,西关什字往东边走500米 Map There is an impressive-looking Tiger lantern in the Children's Park (儿童公园 értóng gōngyuán), on the south side of the Huáng Hé Dàqiáo bridge (黄河大桥). See map.
In an earlier post on mountain biking, I mentioned that the hills to the north of Anning District were a good place to explore. I've finally got around to scanning some photos of the area (taken around 2003): There is access into the hills from the following places (from east to west):
Péilí Guăngchăng (培黎广场) Back gate of the Jiāotōng Dàxué (交通大学) Fèijiāyíng (费家营) Tiānfǔ Shāgōng (天府沙宫) location: here |
Sights and SoundsCategories
All
Archives
March 2014
|