Lanzhou 兰州 Capital of Gansu Province

Lanzhou sits on the Yellow River surrounded by mountains both to the north and the south. The Yellow river is the second longest river in Asia and the sixth longest in the world. It's the first time we've seen it. Its called yellow because of the large amount of silt that it carries; however, its not so much yellow as it is chocolate. The chocolate river. I'm not sure its clean though. One of JS' students from Gansu told us its not safe to swim in. Anyway, the Yellow River is called "the cradle of Chinese civilization", because its basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization, and it was the most prosperous region in early Chinese history. Lanzhou has many mosques throughout the city, as there are many Muslim Chinese in the area. We also saw several temples and one big church.

Here's some shots of the river.

 

This iron bridge built by the Germans was finished in 1907. It claims to be the first bridge over the Yellow River, but its hard to believe. It is the oldest of the current bridges in Lanzhou, perhaps that's what they are trying to say.

 

Lanzhou is also famous for its Lanzhou beef hand-pulled noodles 兰州牛肉面.We also also ate some delicious lamb during our stay.

 

JS was very please because during this trip he was for the first time able to have an ongoing conversation in Chinese. He spoke with this Hui man for about 20 minutes. We learned that he works in a mosque near Linxia and has the early morning shift to call everyone to prayer. He was very kind and shared some lamb with us that he was carrying with him.

Here are some other scenes from around the city.