Last days in Lanzhou

This may be a shorter post as I covered a few of these items on Instagram and I am trying to find time to work on a “First Impressions of China” video (with my rubbish editing skills). I thought it was still worth sharing a bit more detail on some of these sights/places with some better resolution photos.

During my two days in Lanzhou, I explored White Pagoda Mountain (aka Baitashan Park), Sun Yat Sen Bridge, the night market, and the Gansu Provincial Museum.

White Pagoda Mountain & Sun Yat-Sen Bridge (Zhongshan Bridge)

The Sun Yat Sen bridge is a bit of an anomaly among the otherwise relatively modern, or more traditional ancient Chinese buildings which dominate Lanzhou, in that it has a very 19th century or turn of the century look, as one would expect for a bridge built in 1909. Having lived in England and Canada, bridges which have a similar look are not uncommon, so I wasn’t hugely interested in it aesthetically, however, its claim to fame is (1) being the first bridge constructed to cross the mighty Yellow River, and (2) being named after the famous Kuomintang leader Sun Yat-Sen, whom I presume needs little introduction.

I did manage to see a traditional pig skin raft with a man and his wife on it being carried down river whilst I was on the bridge. Prior to bridges and proper vessels arriving in the area, during the Silk Road heyday, these inflated pig skin rafts would have been among the sole methods of crossing the Yellow River so far upstream, so it was certainly amusing to see.

After crossing the bridge, you are at the footsteps of White Pagoda Mountain (“WPM”) which dominates a significant portion of the north side of the Yellow River bisecting Lanzhou. WPM and the various structures (temples, palaces, gardens etc.) is much larger than the still significant portion which I saw on my visit, with sections further up the mountain and away from the city accessible by cable car. I simply walked up to the temples at the top of the eastern section, and there was still plenty to see in an afternoon. As you can see in the photograph below, there are 2-3 other sections to see, which I didn’t quite appreciate until I had already descended the mountain (when I took the photo below).  

The highlights for me were the Baita Temple at the top of the mountain, the temple which was just below Baita (I didn’t catch the name), and of course the view. Baita Temple itself effectively crowns part of the hill and is dominated by a White Pagoda, itself surrounded by several temple buildings and a sort of veranda with benches. One of the images I have added below contains a brief history of Baita Temple, in case of interest. Overall, despite being a heavily trafficked / touristy place, WPM was very pleasant and given its size it felt quite quiet, perhaps it’s the temple vibe?

Lanzhou Night Market

After visiting WPM, it was later in the day, so I decided to explore and walk through Lanzhou for about 40 minutes to arrive at the night market I’d read about. Compared to the Muslim quarter market in Xi’an, the Lanzhou night market felt much more subdued and orderly. It’s a relatively straight row of individual carts/stalls selling their victuals, with seating for various separate restaurants tucked into the buildings behind. I tried a few items, some of which locals handed me and insisted that I try. Rather than fill up at the market and make a mess of myself, I decided I’d prefer to sit down to eat and get a cold drink. I wandered through one of the back streets to a Jiayuguan BBQ place and settled in, it had amazingly friendly staff who were very keen to help me order etc., I even left with an offer of Chinese lessons from the hostess😉

Gansu Provincial Museum – and the noodles which Lanzhou is famous for

The following day I did not have much planned other than visiting the museum and eating more Lanzhou Beef Noodles. The Gansu Provincial Museum is quite good, and entry is free for locals and tourists. They have a dedicated Silk Road exhibit which I was keen to see, and which clearly highlights the diverse cultures and religions that made up (and make up today) the Silk Road. I saw first-hand the famous Bronze Flying Horse statue and several other artefacts which I am sure various Silk Road scholars will know far better than I. I have added a few photos on this below.

One artefact which caught my eye was some tiny carved elk, which I am fairly convinced has Russian influences (i.e. the ancient Rus People from the 8th to 11th centuries AD), as I think I have seen a very similar piece in a western museum or catalogue. Unfortunately, my internet in China is not particularly good with VPN/Google devices, and I am short on time so haven’t had any immediate luck in sourcing a comparative piece or article discussing, but I am no scholar so I could be completely off on this. In any case, it certainly highlights the clear East/West influences which characterize the Silk Road.

Bronze Elk - Warring States Period (475-221 BC) - Unearthed in Zhangye City, Gansu Province

Anyway, the last hours in Lanzhou were candidly immensely irritating as I was trying to buy a drone to film, however, banks and Alipay were ruining the fun with security checks and other nonsense, meaning I might not be able to get one at all, despite trying to sort the issues in store for nearly 2.5 hours...

I leave the reader with a bowl of Lanzhou Beef Noodles. You can now see why I don't do food photography. Next up, finally in the countryside, monastaries galore, Yaks, and more.

Cheers,

Simon