Waterwheel Garden: General Introduction

Lanzhou Waterwheel Garden is comprised of three parts: Waterwheel Garden, Waterwheel Square and Culture Square. The south gate of the Waterwheel Garden is a wooden gate with unique style. It is a component of a waterwheel, and also contains the meaning that Lanzhou is a city with two mountains (Lan Mountain and BaitaMountain) and a river (Yellow River).

The Waterwheel Square displays tens of waterwheels all over the world. It is said to be the largest theme park of its kind in the world. Lanzhou Waterwheel, with its unique style and excellent technique, is the representative of waterwheels in China. Besides, there is also a statue of the inventor of Lanzhou Waterwheel-Duan Xu. Duan Xu was an official in Ming Dynasty. During his tenure of office in South China, Duan Xu became interested in the waterwheels here. When he retired to his hometown-Lanzhou, Duan Xu devoted himself to making the Lanzhou Waterwheel. The invention was beneficial to the agricultural industry along the Yellow River.

The Waterwheel Garden is just close to the Waterwheel Square. By displaying 12 local waterwheels, it recreates the harmonious scene of the Yellow River, the waterwheels and the agriculture production.

The Culture Square consists of a tourist souvenir shop, the Yellow River Fancy Stone Hall, the Modern History Museum of Lanzhou and Performing Square etc. They show the waterwheel culture from many perspectives.

Waterwheel Garden Travel Tips:

Admission Fee: CNY10

Opening Hours: 08:00-18:00

Introducing White Pagoda Mountain Park, White Pagoda Mountain Park Guide.
Article from Gansu China.org.cn, edited by Cathy

The White Pagoda Mountain Park, famous for its white pagoda built during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368), is located at the northern bank of the Yellow River in Lanzhou.

The white pagoda, 17 meters high, covering a construction area of 8,000 sq meters, has a round foundation and seven floors. Its eight sides contain many statues of Buddha. On top of the White Pagoda Mountain stand the Mudan Pavilian, Guanyin Cave, Lan Pavilion and other buildings.

White Pagoda Mountain where the White Pagoda Mountain Park is located also boasts the elephant-skin drum, bronze bell.These are precious treasures for White Pagoda villages.

White Pagoda Mountain is also famous for redbub tree, which are the so-called "three treasures of the town." Through the impenetrable trees, tourists enjoy an excellent bird-eye view of Lanzhou from the White Pagoda Mountain Park.

Quick Facts on White Pagoda Mountain Park

• Name: White Pagoda Mountain Park
• Location: Downtown Lanzhou
• Phone: +86-931-8411259
• Dates: Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368)
• Best Time to Visit: March to September
• Recommended Time for a Visit: 3 Hours
• Opening Hours: 06:00-18:00
• Admission Fee: Free

Gansu Provincial Museum: General Introduction

The Gansu Provincial Museum,, covering a total area of 16.5 acres, is the most impressive museum in the province. The museum complex is made up of three separate buildings linked by corridors, and further divided into two sections; a natural resources section downstairs and historical exhibits upstairs.

There are altogether thirteen exhibiting halls here housing famous historical relics, minority relics and a number of rare or extinct animal specimens. Among the most interesting exhibitions or relics are listed below. The museum's exhibitions are all in English.

The bronze Galloping Horse of Gansu, a 1,800 years old statue discovered only thirty years ago in a small town called Wuwei. The 14cm-tall horse, with its procession of chariots and horses behind, recently made a tour of the US and Canada.

The exhibition of the Silk Road, containing many treasures including Neolithic painted pottery that was excavated from the town of Dadiwan, whose ancient civilization is believed to span back some 7,000 years. Also of interest are Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) Wooden Tablets, once used to relay messages along the road.

A 1.5-meter-high statue of a Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) warrior made of a colored and then glazed earthenware.

A gilded silver plate that portrays Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, that dates back some 2,000 years from theEastern Roman Empire.

Finally, for those into prehistoric presentations, the 4m-tall Mammoth, whose remains were excavated from the YellowRiver basin in 1973, is a fearsome sight.

Gansu Provincial Museum Travel Tips:

Location: No. 3, Xijin West Road

Opening Hours: 09:00-17:00 from Tuesday to Sunday

The Bingling Temple, The Bingling Temple Guide, The Bingling Temple Travel Tips, The Bingling Temple Travel Information.

Lanzhou is the capital city of Northwest China’s Gansu province where there is large population of Muslims. Historically, Lanzhou has been one of the most important cities on the Silk Road and Muslims have been inhabited in Lanzhou since ancient times. Lanzhou is also very close to Linxia, a city nicknamed China’s Mecca by Chinese Muslims. IslamiChina has summarized the following Lanzhou Muslim travel tips to our Muslim brothers and sisters to travel Lanzhou during a short period of time.

Tour Itinerary Planning

For Muslim Business Travelers If you are in Lanzhou for a business trip and you have one day free to travel around Lanzhou, you are suggested to have a day trip to Linxia, a city named by Chinese Muslim as China’s Mecca. The driving from Lanzhou to Linxia is fantastic as you will drive along the loess plateau and you will find hundreds of different styled mosques on the way. In Linxia, you can visit Mosques of various schools.

For Muslim leisure travelers

3 Days and 2 Nights Lanzhou Muslim Tour is the best choice for Muslim leisure travelers because this tour itinerary allows you to have enough time to know both Lanzhou’s culture heritages as well as Muslim heritages. You are not in a hurry to get around Lanzhou from one place to another. Please check IslamiChina’s Lanzhou Muslim Tour 3 Days for details.

Accommodations

4-star Savoy City Hotel is located in the city center of Lanzhou. This hotel is Muslim owned and all restaurants including Western and Chinese restaurants serve Halal food.

Halal Restaurants in Lanzhou

Lanzhou is one of the cities in China where you can easily find Halal restaurants. The most populous Halal food, Lanzhou Beef Noodles, originated here. You can find Beef Noodles restaurants almost in every corner of Lanzhou.

Mosques in Lanzhou

Since there is such a large Muslim population in Lanzhou, you can find mosques in every district of Lanzhou. Once you see a dome style building, it must be a mosque. Among all the mosques in Lanzhou, Xiguan Mosque which is in Arabian style, is the most famous mosque in Lanzhou.

Money Exchange

You can exchange traveler's checks or cash at most banks, and most 5-star and 4-star hotels always have a money exchange counter. You can also get a cash advance on your credit card on ATM machine. The exchange rate all over China are the same fixed by Bank of China. To change money, you have to have your passport at hand. If you want to change money in a hotel, you usually have to be a guest there. Sometimes if you are not a guest in a hotel but need to change money there, you can just say a random room number, but this doesn't always work. Remember to keep the exchange slip well because you need this slip to change the Chinese Yuan back to your currency if you do have this need at the end of the tour. At present, the RMB is not exchangeable on the International market, so it is only usable within the country. So when you are changing money, don't change too much, because it is difficult to change back into other currencies. To change RMB back into your home currency, you must retain the exchange slips that are given to you at the bank or money exchange counter.

Lanzhou has a variety of local products, which are the main attractions when you are shopping in Lanzhou. The population in Lanzhou not only includes Han nationality but also other ethnic groups like Tibetans and Muslim Hui people. Therefore, souvenirs in Lanzhou have strong features of both Tibetan and Muslim features. Of course, as a modern city, Lanzhou offers international brands as other cities.

Tao Ink Stone

Tao Ink Stone together with Duan Ink Stone, Xi Ink Stone are three most famous ink stones in China. The material of making the ink stone is from Tao River, hence the name “Tao Ink Stone.” Ever since Song Dynasty, Tao Ink Stone had been well-known in the whole China. The major color of Tao Ink Stone is green. Some may have dark-green water wave shapes, some may have yellow waves and some have red or black dots. Among them, the stone with yellow waves is the most precious. Generally, there are five types of Tao Ink Stones in the markets and their prices range from 40 yuan to 850 yuan. Among all the handicrafts in Lanzhou, the Tao ink stone is the most famous. If you can paint or write with a brush, the Tao Ink Stone will be a very good choice.

Yongdeng Shadow Puppet

Yongdeng Shadow Puppet is the only existing shadow puppet in Lanzhou. Yongdeng Shadow Puppet first popularized in Yongdeng and its nearby counties. In history, it played a vital role in passing down the cultures and social moralities as well as enriching people’s daily life. The settings and props are all made of cowhide or donkey hide. The proportion of images is exaggerated, with big head and long arms. Usually, the man image has big eyes and high forehead, while the women image has curved eyebrows as well as small eyes and mouth. The strong contrasts of the images and colors make Tongdeng Shadow Puppet interesting and pleasing to people’s eye.

Shopping Malls and Department Stores

Apart from shopping districts like Tieluxincun Commercial Area, Nanguan-Xiguan Commercial Area and Central Square,Lanzhou also has a variety of shops and stores. The most distinguished feature is that Lanzhou is the gathering place of various exclusive shops, such as Apple, Triumph, Mondial Aterlier and so on. Meanwhile, visitors can also find souvenir stores and local products shops in this city.

The newly built Lanzhou Rapid Shopping Mall Plaza is compared to Wangfujing Street in Lanzhou. The plaza contains 8 large shopping malls, 2 pedestrian streets and 4 landscape facilities. So far, it is the first large scale shopping center combing shopping, dining and entertainment together in Northwest China. The Rapid Shopping Mall Plaza is located on Donggang East Road. Tourists can get there by Bus No. 131, Bus No. 58 and Bus No. 76.

Lanzhou has a fairy convenient transportation system. Lanzhou ZhongchuanAirport is 80 kilometers away from the downtown area and it offers almost 40 air routes linking Lanzhou with Beijing, Shanghai, Xian, Urumqi, Jiayuguan and Dunhuang. Lanzhou Railway Station is on the foot of Gaolan Mountain and it is the transport center of Gansu, Qinghai and Ningxia. You may overnight train fromLanzhou to Jiayuguan and Dunhuang. After the Qinghai Tibet railway was opened, they operate trains from Lanzhou to Lhasa. Besides, there are also several national highways as well provincial public roads meeting in Lanzhou.

Getting to Lanzhou by Air

Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport, 74.5km away north of the city proper, is one of the largest airports in Northwest China. Currently, Zhongchuan Airport links Lanzhou with about 30 cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu etc. What’s more, the airport opens regular charter flights to Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Getting to Lanzhou by Train

Lanzhou Railway Station is located on the foot of Gaolan Mountain, south to the city center. Lanzhou Railway Station is the largest railway hinge in the northwestern regions. Long-Hai Railway, Lan-Xin Railway, Lan-Qing Railway and Bao-Lan Railway, four important railways in Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Ningxia Province, converge in this place.

Getting around Lanzhou by City Bus

There is a well-developed public transit system in Lanzhou. The major sight seeing places in Chengguan District, Qilihe District and Xigu District are all accessible by bus. There are two types of buses in Lanzhou: the big bus and the mini bus. As to the big buses, the prices range from 0.5 yuan to 2.5 yuan depending on the number of stops.

Getting around Lanzhou by Taxi

During the past few years, the taxi industry in Lanzhou has developed quickly. So far, over 6,000 taxis are in service. The starting fare of Lanzhou taxis is 7 yuan for the first three kilometers and then 1.4 yuan per kilometer thereafter. If you take a taxi at night, the fare will be 1.6 yuan per kilometer.