Gannan’s Hidden Wonders—The Manhattan of the Northwest

The road to Xiahe County was pretty much all grassland, with all sorts of cows and sheep ambling leisurely along the road.

    After arriving in Xiahe County and resting for the night, we finally made it to Lanzhou, the “Manhattan” of the Northwest. The beef noodles and barbecue here are both incredible, and this time I’d finally get to properly try them. We started with the barbecue. Just like I’d seen on TV, most of it here is grilled over an open flame, and with all those big pieces of chili added, it looked fiery in every sense.

    After a few skewers, sure enough, I found it wasn’t really what I was used to. The tianpeizi, a sweet fermented grain snack, was really good, though—definitely worth trying.

    Once we’d eaten our fill and settled into our accommodation, we headed to the famous Zhongshan Bridge. As you’d expect from such a popular attraction, it was absolutely packed.

    Looking out from the bridge, we could see lots of speedboats on the Yellow River. It looked pretty thrilling, so I suggested we give it a go.

    Once the speedboat got going, it was every bit as thrilling as I’d expected. With the wind from the Mother River in our faces and spray flying up around the boat, I couldn’t have been more excited. We finally brought that little adventure to a close beside the shimmering river.

    Lanzhou feels like a city where old and modern buildings intertwine, each lending it a sense of history and vitality.

    Night fell over Lanzhou, and the city slipped seamlessly from its bare-faced daytime look into its neon finery. That’s the charm of the “Manhattan of the Northwest.”

    After admiring the night views of the Manhattan of the Northwest, we headed back. At the hotel, I found out there was an open-air terrace on the top floor. This… wasn’t this practically made for me? I immediately went downstairs to buy some food and drinks, then quietly savored the night in this “Manhattan of the Northwest” all by myself.

    Early the next morning, how could we possibly skip a bowl of beef noodles? As luck would have it, a pretty famous beef noodle shop was just a few steps from our hotel, so I happily dug in. Hahaha, extra beef and an egg were an absolute must.

    The beef noodles really were amazing. That saying was spot-on: once you leave Lanzhou, you just can’t get this flavor anymore. After happily polishing off a bowl, I took a walk along the Yellow River to help digest it all and get a taste of the laid-back life people enjoy here.

    After our post-meal stroll, we packed up and got ready to head home. We stopped in Baoji for a night’s rest along the way and tried the local hotpot with sizzling-oil chili dressing. It was pretty good—fragrant rather than hot. The little flatbreads with the chili were especially incredible. So, so good.

    After a night’s rest in Baoji, we rounded things off the next day with a bowl of douhua paomo—tofu pudding with soaked flatbread. It looked like a bit of a culinary horror show, but it was surprisingly delicious, bringing the trip to a perfect close.

    Here’s the travel guide for this trip:
https://t0ghemccg3t.feishu.cn/docx/A8LUdbraIoqZK3xHqDMcJBPsnJe?from=from_copylink

Afterword

    
The whole trip was far too rushed, and there were some problems with the planning. I’d never imagined there would be so many people at Luoke during the National Day holiday, which meant we often ended up driving late into the night afterward. Once, we even came close to crashing into a herd of yaks. I got out to look and reckoned there were only a few meters between the car and the yaks. I broke out in a cold sweat—it was terrifying. On future trips, I absolutely have to leave myself enough “
buff
”。