I will be heading to Lanzhou for 5 days in early December. Has anyone been there recently? If so, do you have any recommendations on restaurants or things to do? I spent three months in Gansu in 2000, so I have already done several of the interesting excursions around Lanzhou (such as Xiahe, Lingxia, Bingling Si, etc.), but I don't know the city itself very well.

Thanks in advance.

You're going to Lanzhou as a tourist?!?!

The most outstanding feature is the pollution - it's a long, thin city with mountains on either side which doesn't do much for the air quality.

In terms of attractions it doesn't boast much. Maybe you should try Tianshui instead - much nicer and plenty of things to see, albeit cold in December.

I'm not that well up on the restaurant scene there - but it's big enough that you'll have no problems finding excellent Chinese food. If you want non-Chinese you'll struggle to find anything decent.

PM with your dates - I get there every couple of weeks so a beer may be in order.

I am going to Lanzhou to work with some colleagues at Lanzhou University. I know better thank to go there for tourism!

Funny you should mention Tianshui -- I have been all over Gansu, from Dunhuang and the Xinjiang border in the north to the Tibetan Plateau in the west to the Loess Plateau in the east, but I have yet to make it to Tianshui. At some point, I would like to check out the Tianshui grottoes, though. Maybe as part of an overland trip to Sichuan...

I remember a street full of restuarants off of Tianshui Lu in Lanzhou, not far from Lan Da's gate. I think it was called called Nongmin Xiang, but I could be remembering a different city entirely. If this rings a bell, phillipas, and if you have have any recs in this area, I'd be thankful!

Thanks for the tips.

Unlike you and phillipas, I have only spent a day and a night there on my way back from Xinjiang. But, I was awed with what I saw. To this day, Lanzhou qualifies as the most impressive city that I previously had no clue about.

I just returned from Lanzhou, where I learned two interesting things about the city:

1. The driver of the taxi from the airport to the city told me that the distance is about 80 km (expect a whopping 230 RMB cab ride). He said that the only airport in China located farther from the main city it serves is Lhasa, which he says is about 130 km from the downtown.

2. A couple of days ago, I looked out the window and saw a very fine snow drifting down from the sky. I told my host, "look, it's snowing." "That's not snow," he replied. Yesterday, I learned that Lanzhou and Urumqi are rivals for the title of China's most polluted city, so I'm glad I managed to stay indoors most of the time.

All that being said, Lanzhou still has the best niu rou mian on the planet, so it's worth a trip.^

Your taxi driver was a bit over optimistic on the mileage - in both Lanzhou and Lhasa. Leastwise from my visit in Oct 2003.

In Lanzhou we took the local bus - much to the dismay of the taxi drivers. Quite reasonable price though it sat at the terminal for quite a while. Maybe 40km. We took the train to from there to Xining and onward to Golmud.

Lhasa might be 60km from the airport. If you are going from the city to the Nepal border you will pass it several times. No ideas on the taxi prices there as we took the overland route into town from Golmud. Still a better idea for acclimitization...... If you have the time.

YMMV - but wander happily whatever route you take (or get stuck with)

Fred

While Lhasa airport is only about 45km from town as the crow flies, the road follows the river valley, and is an about 90-100km drive.

Meanwhile, the new Lanzhou Airport is indeed about 70-80km north of the city by road, or about 50km as the crow flies.

When you are traveling on a budget holiday rather than business - time is not so important. rkkwan is certainly closer to the area than I. And I respect his knowlege.

But my approach to travel and accomodation is very different from the normal FT poster.. Lonely Planet versus the Michelin guide I suspect. As well as country versus city.

A bit of research suggests that the bus ride from the airport in Lanzhou is still 30 RMB. And probably after a long(ish) wait. However, there were a number of local men on the bus happy to talk about their city, where we were from and where we were going (in English). In the end the approx hour ride (once started) seemd to be rather less. And of course this perception would have been affected by the excitement of our small group being in "local" China for the first time. My point was (is) that there is an acceptable alternative to the taxi (and its costs). My apologies if I was unable to convey that.

In Lhasa yes route to the airport has a major detour to cross the river. There seemed to be construction of a highway bridge which would have shortened the route - though I can find no current references to it on the web. Perhaps again the time perception was altered due to going somewhere to/from other than the airport. Given the altitude, I would not fly into Lhasa if there were any other alternative I could fit into my time schedule. Most of the tour packages I see advertised include the transfer(s). We were traveling independently but arrived from Golmud by b*s. Now I would use the train - though probably not the "tourist special". Both avoid the airport but have other issues - mainly the extra time.

In any case I hope that the air in Lhasa is never as polluted as that which we found in Lanzhou.....

Happy wandering

Fred