PARKS
WUQUAN SHAN PARK
Location: South end of Jīngchāng Lù (金昌路). Map.
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.
For more photos, click here.
LANSHAN FOREST PARK
Chinese name: 兰山森林公园 (Lánshān Sēnlín Gōngyuán)
Location: On the south side of the city, directly over the train station, behind Wŭquán Shàn Park (see above). Map.
Getting up: The easiest way is probably by chairlift, but you can walk up the hillside, cycle up, or get a taxi
Chair lift (兰山索道, Láshān Suŏdào)
Tickets are available near the entrance to Wŭquán Shàn Park, or at the chairlift itself. You have two options. Either walk up to the chairlift through some narrow alleys along the western boundary of the park, or you can walk through the park and get to the chairlift via the western gate. Map.
Getting there: Buses to Wuquan Shan: #2, 18, 117
Cost: Chairlift 20 RMB up, 10 RMB down, or 25 RMB both ways. 6 RMB park entrance at the top (also, Wuquan Shan Park 6 RMB, if you decide to combine the two parks)
Walking
I'm not really sure where people set off. If you want to do some walking, it might just be easier to use the chair lift to get up, and then follow the various paths down.
Cost: 6 RMB park entrance at the top
Cycling
See the map. This takes about an hour, on good roads. The route actually begins quite a way west of the hilltop. 500m south of Xīguān Shízì (西关什字), where Zhōngshān Lù (中山路) meets Báiyín Lù (白银路), there is a road that crosses the railway tracks, and then starts to climb up to Fúlóng Píng (伏龙坪). Look out for the signpost. It would be useful to have a map with you, but basically head upwards and eastwards. Locals will point the way. Once you're higher up (having passed through a couple of small hillside residential areas, the route becomes obvious. Near the summit, the road forks, giving you a choice of continuing on the north side or south side of the mountain.
Cost: 6 RMB park entrance at the top
WATERWHEEL GARDEN
Location: On the southbank of the Yellow River, 1 km east of the Huáng Hé Dàqiáo bridge (黄河大桥). Map.
Bus: #135 from the Xiguan Crossing (西关什字, Xīguān Shízì)
Cost: 10 yuan
The guidebooks recommend visiting the waterwheels a few km upstream of Zhongshan Bridge, but the place is getting a bit rundown. A much more spectacular display of waterwheels can be found at the Waterwheel Garden, a few kilometers downstream, just east of the Huáng Hé Dàqiáo Bridge (黄河大桥). The display of water wheels here is much more extensive then the ones near the White Cloud Temple (白云观 Báiyún Guān). As well as several pairs of riverside wheels, there are also working models of various water-powered devices that farmers used for milling, and a culture park.
Click here for more photos.
RETIRED OFFICIALS PARK
This isn't the real name of the park (no one I asked seems to know it), but I've named it after the Retired Officials Activity Centre (老干部活动中心 lǎogànbù huódòng zhōngxīn) next door. In the afternoons it is usually buzzing with music performances of traditional local opera, ballroom dancing lessons, and games of Chinese chess or cards. There are masseuses, boiled egg sellers, newspaper vendors, as well as plenty of tables and chairs where you can sit, drink tea, and take it all in.
From the Retired Officials Park, you can continue downstream through the Children's Park (儿童公园 értóng gōngyuǎn) at the south end of Huáng Hé Dàqiáo Bridge (黄河大桥), and then onto the Waterwheel Garden (兰州水车博览园 Lánzhōu Shuĭchē Bólăn Yuán).
BONSAI PARK AND FLOWER-FISH MARKET
Location: Nánchāng Lù (南昌路). Map.
Buses: #4, 137
Photos: Bonsai Park, and Flower-Fish Market
LANZHOU WETLAND PARK
The park is on the north bank of the Yellow River, directly below the Yíntān Huánghé Dàqiío Bridge (银滩黄河大桥) in Ānníng Qū (安宁区) and stretches for about 1.5km. Map.
See here for more photos
WESTERN JOY PARADISE
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)
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)
