Tours and holidays with added interest
Lanzhou
- Name in Chinese characters: 兰州市
- Name in Pinyin: Lánzhōu Shì
- Status: Prefecture-level city
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Lanzhou sits on the banks of the Yellow River. A strategic position but one that has confined its growth; the city now sprawls for some 40 kilometres along both banks. The steep-sided banks also restrict the circulation of air and with a considerable capacity for heavy industry within the city that means a very poor air quality.
Lanzhou has played an important role throughout China's history and is, perhaps, the first stop westwards where Turkic features more familiar in Central Asia start to become more than a rarity.
Travel
Lanzhou's airport (Airport code: LHW) lies a long way (about 70 kilometres) out of town making it less than convenient for short journeys. The airport connects Lanzhou with most of the big cities in the mainland, especially those to the east and west.
Lanzhou's railway station is becoming increasingly important. It lies at the junction of the main route west and the spur that goes up into Qinghai Province, and now beyond into Tibet. Another spur just short of Lanzhou heads up into Ningxia Hui and Inner Mongolia Mongolian Autonomous Regions.
Attractions For Visitors
Lanzhou sits at the gateway to the Gansu Corridor (aka the Hexi Corridor) and therefore really marks the start of the Silk Road, the challenge. Anyone continuing west now leaves the Yellow River, the cradle of Chinese civilisation and a marker for the comfort-zone, and heads into marginal lands between mountain and desert.
The sites of interest are limited but can help you prepare for things to come.
Gansu Provincial Museum:
White Pagoda Park:
Five Springs Mountain Park:
An excursion further afield can take you to:
Bingling Si (Thousand Buddha Caves):
The following China Journey includes a visit to Lanzhou:
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Current Comments
2 comments so far (post your own)Hi Freya
Unfortunately, yes, Lanzhou is one of the most polluted cities in China. To quote a report from September, 2011:
"Lanzhou was the city with the worst air pollution while Haikou had the best air quality in the country, according to an air pollution report conducted recently in about 1,100 cities in 91 nations by the World Health Organization (WHO)."
That said, short term visitors need not worry overmuch - unless, perhaps, they have a pre-existing respiratory problem.
Posted by China Journeys on Sat 17 Mar, 2012
I have heard that Lanzhou is a really dirty, polluted industrial city. Is that right?
Posted by Freya on Fri 16 Mar, 2012