HIV/AIDS CASES IN GANSU 1993-2009 11/22/2009
 Red Ribbon on the 121 bus in Lanzhou for World AIDS Day (2007) World AIDS Day is approaching (December 1st). Last year I was a bit late with this post, so this year I thought I'd get it in early. Last year I showed a few posters that I came across on the street, and mentioned the widespread TV coverage (including news presenters wearing red ribbons). The standard of coverage in the Chinese media gets better and better each year. That said, it's difficult to find tables with easily comparable statistics, so I have taken the following information from a couple of articles roughly one year apart. Gansu HIV/AIDS figures 1993 - 2008* Cases of HIV infection: 626 New cases of HIV infection: 160 (January - October 2008), an increase of 26.3% on 2007 AIDS cases: 187 Deaths: 107 The overall percentages of transmission by cause are as follows: Drug use: 33.87% Heterosexual sex: 20.93% Homosexual sex: 9.11% Blood transfusion: 15.97% Mother-to-child: 2.5% Don’t know: 17.73% (estimated that sex is the main cause) Significant points: 86.42% of all infections are within the 20-49 years age group Cases due to sexual transmission are rising (40.63% of new cases in 2008) _____________________________________ 1993-2009* Cases of HIV infection: 889 New cases of HIV infection: 207 (January - September 2009), an increase of 29.4% on 2008 AIDS cases: 281 Deaths: 144 Transmission (less detailed than the previous year): Heterosexual sex: 20.97% Homosexual sex: 10.56% Significant points: Most new infections are through sexual transmission The two groups most at risk are 19-25 years old, and males over 60 years old HIV infections in 3 locations: Lanzhou (232 in 2008, rising to 347 in 2009) Tianshui (115, rising to 148) Linxia (83, rising to 96) Sources 2008: http://www.chain.net.cn/zhxw/xwbd/22093.htm 2009: http://news.pharmnet.com.cn/news/2009/10/21/280780.htm More information HIV/AIDS in the People's Republic of China (Wikipedia) *The first recorded case of HIV infection in Gansu was in 1993  Magic Johnson and Yao Ming: 'We are Friends.' Note the Red Ribbon is incorporated into 朋友 (friend). Poster seen at White Pagoda Mountain Park. WESTERN JOY PARADISE 11/04/2009
Xībù Huānlèyuán (西部欢乐园) is a mini theme park in Xīgù District (西固区), west Lanzhou. There are fairground rides (carousel, pirate ship, and so on), a roller-coaster, swimming pool, golf driving range, and a 'panorama tower'. It's pretty-much closed down in the winter months, so head there on a summer weekend. Location: Map Getting there: From Anning, take buses #3, then #80 (route). From the city centre, take buses #26 or #127 (which departs from the train station, route) Cost: Entrance to the park is free. There is a ticket office where you can buy books of tickets for the rides, or you can pay at the rides individually (Y5-30) More on Lanzhou's parks here and here.     NEW PARKSON DEPARTMENT STORE IN LANZHOU 11/03/2009
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.  LANZHOU PHOTO GALLERY BY STEPHEN JB KELLY 10/30/2009
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. GANSU WEBSITES AND BLOGS 10/22/2009
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. YELLOW RIVER STONE FOREST 09/16/2009
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. Here are some more colourful pictures. 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. BINGLING SI SLIDESHOW 09/14/2009
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. PINGLIANG SLIDESHOW 09/13/2009
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. TIANSHUI SLIDESHOW 09/11/2009
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:
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