兰州
Lanzhou
The gateway to the Silk Road and the home of beef noodles — a river city squeezed between mountains on the upper Yellow River.
兰州
The gateway to the Silk Road and the home of beef noodles — a river city squeezed between mountains on the upper Yellow River.
Lanzhou is the city every Silk Road traveler passes through. It's where the Yellow River flows through a narrow mountain corridor, and where China's railway lines fan out toward Xinjiang, Tibet, and Mongolia. The city is most famous for Lanzhou beef noodles (Lanzhou lamian) — a dish so iconic that there are 50,000+ Lanzhou noodle shops across China, all claiming authenticity. The real thing is a bowl of hand-pulled noodles in clear beef broth with chili oil, radish, and cilantro, served before 10am. Beyond noodles, Lanzhou offers the Yellow River sheepskin raft rides, the White Pagoda Mountain park, and the Gansu Provincial Museum with its Bronze Galloping Horse.
