Gansu in 9 days - 敦煌，七彩丹霞，嘉峪关,莫高窟 和 新龙门客栈,张掖

So I'm a big movie buff, and visiting places where movies I watched were filmed is a big deal.. 

So when a work opportunity came to visit Lanzou in Gansu Province came, a little light bulb lit up and I thought, New Dragon Gate Inn! One of my favorite shows from the 90s was filmed in Dun Huang and I can work something in to visit it! This was one of the first HK movies to be filmed in China and what a location!

Plus, I get to overload on Lanzhou La Mian (兰州拉面), another one of my favorite stuff. And the further I research, the more interesting the sites over there.

Now getting over to Lanzhou is no mean feat, requiring two flights last over 10 hours with stops in between and more driving and flying to reach the remote sites. There will also be extreme heat, dry searing conditions especially I have to go during the height of summer for the work part. If you think the two week spell of rainless conditions is hot, try 40c heat standing in the desert barefoot….

Our first stop after the long two legged flight was Lanzhou, for my research, teaching and practical sessions, so we had time to explore the city and take in the sights .What was most interesting was the proliferation of Electric Vehicles (EVs) with many models and brands that we will never see locally. 

People were friendly but traffic was chaotic and these EVs could accelerate at breakneck speeds. 

We took China Eastern on the outgoing flight, and some stewardess was fixing a leak in the ceiling, which was not very inspiring.. but at least the meal on board was not bad.

There was no check in booths yet, so it had to be manual, resulting in long queues.

By the way, if you intend to use local wifi, there are a lot of restrictions, so be prepared to use data or a VPN to 翻墙。。data coverage is decent but if you're out in the wilderness expect poor signal strength 

We returned on Juneyao airlines, which was Star Alliance and then China Airlines, which was the best in terms of entertainment and food. However both return airlines were delayed more than 90mins, which was apparently common so beware when planning connections. 

You can fly via any of the larger cities, but the key is total travel time. Eg, we initially wanted to go via Xi'an but the net total time was longer even though flight time was shorter than our Shanghai transit flights because the layover was really long. 

Chengdu is also another choice or just spend a night or two and see the local stopover sights.

So some notes 

- China is a huge place so curate the number of places to visit

- discuss with your team what you want to see, eg natural sites vs manmade or restored 

eg the Jia Yu Guan is more or less rebuilt, whereas the Yu Men Guan is in it's original state

- expect crowds so check for the best times to go

- check the weather, summer can be a really hot time with blazing sun and dress for the trip

- shopping / eating / just cafe hunting is also fun

- get wepay or some form of Chinese payment, credit cards and cash only work in bigger establishments

- even non smoking hotels often smell of smoke, even the top end ones aren't really able to enforce the rule totally so caveat emptor

- there are a huge variety of food, but check what's available in the area and enjoy the local cuisine. Just remember they use salt, oil and also chili a lot more liberally. Have a plan B for those who don't take hot food

- cater for delays in flight, eg extend your transit times or even stay overnight to avoid missing flights. Domestic flights are filled with all kinds, some really intrude into your space and masks are a thing of the past, so bring your own and expect the dude next to you to be coughing. People also rush for the exits once the plane stops. In fact they push and shove everyone. You will understand this more since the demand is so great and its really 供不应求 - so they spend their whole lives jostling for resources of all kinds

Finally, it's not our country so respect their style, culture and traditions, compare and learn, but not complain, especially loudly. Enjoy the journey and the sights!