Minwei Hotel Lanzhou

... it won't be the perfect time to see the place at its best, but that doesn't make it any less that place. I didn't see Israel at its best when I went but it remains the one place that completely blew my mind in all my travels. Hard times bring out the best as well as the worst in people. Is it justifiable to go when it is not safe? Despite my promise to myself not to do anything that might scare my mother. I think so and if she were in my place I think she would understand my motives ...

... Noodles. Though Winter Solstice Festival used to be considered the second most important festival after Spring Festival, its importance has decreased with urbanization and growing interest in Western festivals. In attempt to stem this, the government has decided to apply for the Dragon Boat Festival to be listed by UNESCO as a piece of World Heritage, and some experts suggest giving days off for traditional Chinese ...

... i budhistes tibetans. Xinetes fines de fins cabells negres, ben pentinats, homes gruixuts de cap gran, rodo, de cara de peix bullit, ulls i llavis inflats i orelles carnoses; ancians arrugats d ulls de linea i ulleres enormes de pasta, de la revolucio cultural; uniformes mao gastats, colls rectes i gorres de visera curta, vestits porpra, saques de coto i policies de totes les mides; dos estrangers i un esparracat de vint anys, que sembla que porti dos segles rondant la terra.

... a paved path with plenty of stair cases. The path goes between a rocky cliff and the river, and there are literally hundreds of Buddas carved into the face of the rock. Buddist grottoes typically entail one central large budda who has one to several smaller buddassativas (spelling=??) on either side. Around them are lots of even smaller buddas carved into the rock wall backdrop. The whole setting is carved into a shallow cave, and the ...

... city buses and once again the drivers told me that this was a train station and that I needed to go back to the long distance bus station! Oh, Gee! Hadn't someone already thought of that bright idea! This time it was not back to the bus station it was off to find the nearest Tuk Tuk Driver because as crazy as they are driving those things in Chinese traffic every ...

... From the top the Bell Tower, visitors can get a bird's eye view of the surrounding areas and the building's brightly-decorated eaves. Standing in a very picturesque location on the west side of the center square of the city of Xi'an, the Drum Tower is only 150 metres away from the Bell Tower. Helpful Tips The Bell and Drum Towers are beautifully lit at night ...

... learn quickly that I always carry a camera with me and as soon as I appear they begin jumping up and down and yell either 'syung jee' (which means camera) or 'Kutchee or Kutcha' (which means...I have no idea what it means. Maybe it is local dialect for camera or picture). Once I take the photo they ALL MUST have a look ...

... the geological conditions. The scenery here is true that Canyon Village Runs the River upstream of the water, now is the rainy season, water strong, stirring roar, Baitao spreading beads, poly-ao jie Chung Yu Lang cleavage shore. Because it is cloudy, thick cloud cover, cloud would occasionally work together through the light, dropping in on the opposite side of the hillside above the meadow, reflecting the rising river valley ...

After getting our cultural fix we jumped on another bus and headed to Lanzhou, the capital of the Gansu province. There's not a huge amout to do here, which is a good job as we spent all our time battling with China's renowned transport system to organise how we were going to get to our next location - a true taste of China! We did manage to get a rather plush room for a bargain price to rest our ...

... things have changed a bit in Lanzhou. There are big buildings going up all over, and my favorite food stall had moved. With all the privatization going on in China, things change quickly. I witnessed this first-hand when my guide book told me to go to the West Bus Station, only to have them tell me to go to the South Bus Station, only to have them tell me I had a get insurance, THEN go ...