A new Parkson Department Store 百盛 (Bǎishèng) has opened on Qìngyáng Lù (庆阳路), a few hundred metres east of Nánguān Shízì (南关什字). Map. It's got 5 floors of all the usual department store sections, but the 3rd floor supermarket is quite high-end for Lanzhou: easily the best selection of imported wines, spirits, beers, ground coffee, tea and snacks in the city. It's not cheap (who's going to spend Y20 on a small bottle of mineral water?), but on the whole the prices are typical for these brands. No fresh produce or dairy. If you are into cooking western food, Bai'an is still the place to go. See here for more imported food and drinks.
Have a look at this incredible series of photos "Qi Lihe" by Stephen JB Kelly (also published on the FOTO8 website, as a photodocumentary). He explores the area that I have covered in the "Walk to Hualin Ping", if you want to see the place for yourself.
The Yellow River 'Stone Forest' (黄河石林 Huánghé Shílín) is 145km north of Lanzhou (map). Take a bus to Báiyín (白银) from the East Bus Station, then change to a local bus, or negotiate a taxi (we paid Y120). Local farmers have rooms available for overnight stays. Trivia: Some scenes from the soon-to-be-released Mulan (花木兰) were filmed there (trailer). We were there on a very overcast weekend, so I put some black and white film in my camera (more colourful pictures). Photos here.
Here are the three Uighur Muslim restaurants that I know of in Lanzhou. For more information about 'Cuisine of Xinjiang', see here. Name: 新疆葡萄圆美食 xīnjiāng pútao yuán méishí
Location: 白银路 báiyín lù. Map. Bus stop: 中山林站 zhōngshān lín zhàn There are links to maps for many of the places on the site, especially in the locations covered in the pages listed along the top of the page. When there is no specific map link, click here to open the Redefining Lanzhou map. Scroll down the alphabetical index on the left, and click on the location you want to find.
Buses are cheap: Y1 - Y1.5 for most journeys. For bus routes, the best thing is to try to buy a city map (Y3.5) from a newsstand. If you are comfortable navigating a Chinese website, then the routes are available at the Mapabc site. Here is an example, showing the route for bus #1. Try cutting and pasting two place names from this site into the from-to search boxes (xxx 倒 xxx), and you'll get some suggested bus routes, as well as tips on how to complete your journey on foot at either end. Taxis aren't too expensive either. The meter starts at Y7 for the first 3 km, and then it's Y1 per km after that. Y10 - Y15 can get you quite far in the city. Thanks to Bill Schoerner (son of Otto Schoerner, mentioned in this earlier post) for finding and passing on this fascinating article about the construction of Zhongshan Bridge (map). In the introduction Bing Chen (陈冰) writes: "The bridge as metaphor for love, life and death – even an eternal gateway to Paradise - has long haunted the innermost depths of the human psyche. Many have become the stuff of legend and folktale - The River Kwai, San Lue Rey, ancient Rome’s Tiber bridge heroically defended against impossible odds by the republic’s first citizen hero Horatius, as immortalised by Thomas Babington Macaulay, to name but three. The first iron bridge over the mighty Yellow River bids fair to join this legendary roll call." Location: North end of Zhōngshān Lù (中山路), 300m north from the Xiguan Crossing (西关什字 Xīguān Shízì)
Buses: 9, 13, 15, 26, 105, 111, 112, 136, 139 and 142 I'm gradually uploading photos from this site into a photo set on Flickr. You can also access the Fickr set by clicking on any of the random thumbnails that now appear on the right-hand side of this page. Yèguāng Bēi (夜光杯) - or 'Luminous Glasses' - are made from minerals. You can find them in the local specialities shops (map), if you walk west from the Lanzhou Hotel, on the south side of Dōnggăng Xī Lù (东岗西路), west of Tiānshuì Lù crossing (天水路口往西走). Some of the shops in Huáng Miào (map) also sell them. 葫芦 (húlú) are dried gourds, which are then engraved, often in very minute detail. They range in price from a few kuai to hundreds and thousands. You can find them in the local specialities shops, if you walk west from the Lanzhou Hotel, along Dōnggăng Xī Lù (东岗西路), west of Tiānshuì Lù crossing (天水路口往西走). There is also a well-known shop at the top of the White Hill Pagoda. The photos below were taken at Huáng Miào. |
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