As the second city that our happy journey has visited on the Silk Road, Lanzhou, the capital city of Gansu province is just like a pearl shining on the gate to Hexi Corridor.
Even though it is well-known as an industrial city, Lanzhou boasts many grand sights, including Green Corridor along Binhe Road, five Springs Mountain, White Pagoda Mountain, Zhongshan Bridge, and Waterwheel Garden, Sculptures of the Mother River, along with many more.
Our trip in Lanzhou was started with visiting Zhongshan Bridge, which is said to be the No. 1 bridge on the yellow river. At the foot of the Baita Mountain, the Zhongshan Bridge is the symbol of Lanzhou City for its majestic looks and uniqueness. The bridge was first built under the reign of the Ming Dynasty.
Later, we arrived at the grand park of Lanzhou waterwheel, a theme park dedicated to the Yellow River culture. The park reproduces the historical scenes of Yellow River culture, especially the evolvement of irrigation civilization in the Yellow River region. In the middle of the park, the statue of Duanxu, father of the waterwheel, stands among numerous waterwheels.
Besides numerous waterwheels of various size and style, there are also vivid clay statues representing the typical Lanzhou specialties in the park, such as the beef noodles restaurant, and other local delicacies.
Lanzhou Beef Noodles, or Stretched Noodles, is the most famous local dish in Lanzhou. It was first created during the Qing Dynasty and is now popular all over China. This dish has five main features: clear soup, white radish, red pepper, green caraway and yellow noodles.
As we have already heard that rose is the symbolic flower of Lanzhou, we continued to Kushui county, where beautiful roses for drinking and eating flourish. What a colorful picture unfolded before me! My eyes were occupied with an azure sky, yellow mountain and green rose garden with sparkling red rose buds. The heavy aroma of roses took me to somewhere like a fairyland.
Villagers told me that May is exactly the harvest season for roses, which are popular with people home and abroad and have therefore become one of Lanzhou's jewels in the international arena.
Time is always tight on our schedule, but the short stay at Lanzhou still left us with a pleasant impression of this tolerant and placid city--the hospitable locals, multifarious restaurants, inexpensive yet delicious snacks, convenient transportation system, and much more...
