7 Days in Lanzhou

Dusk on the 1909 bridge, the Yuan-era pagoda above, then Ming-style waterwheels; first-morning beef noodles follow the 1915 Ma Baozi standard of clear broth and firm noodles.

1. Zhongshan Bridge
2. lanzhou white pagoda hill
3. lanzhou waterwheel garden

The 34.5-centimetre Bronze Galloping Horse unearthed in 1969 anchors the Silk Road galleries; later the 1986 Mother sculpture and laozao at the night market, famous since a 2012 TV feature.

1. lanzhou gansu provincial museum
2. lanzhou yellow river mother sculpture
3. lanzhou zhengning road night market

In Yuzhong County, about 45 kilometres out, twin peaks near 2,500 metres and halls that sheltered the relics of Genghis Khan from 1939 until 1954; the pine shade is a change from the valley heat.

1. lanzhou xinglong mountain

A long day northwest into Yongdeng County for the early-Ming hereditary magistrate's compound, among the best-preserved tusi government offices in the northwest, with painted halls and ancestral courts.

1. lanzhou lutusi yamen

Morning lanes where the Zhuanglang River meets the Yellow River at the old ferry town of Hekou, then boardwalks among the ochre ridges of the ink Danxia for the low afternoon light.

1. lanzhou hekou ancient town
2. lanzhou ink danxia

First the 300-year-old pear trees of Shichuan in their river bend, then continue about 100 kilometres downstream to Qingcheng's courtyards, academy and water-flue-tobacco merchants' houses.

1. lanzhou shichuan pear orchard
2. lanzhou qingcheng ancient town

Five springs under the Huo Qubing legend, the 2,129-metre Lanshan lookout, and a closing walk on the roughly 40-kilometre riverside line before the train or the 70-kilometre airport run.

1. lanzhou wuquan mountain park
2. lanzhou lanshan park
3. lanzhou yellow river style line