Day 48: Lanzhou (兰州) – August 4

During our desert camping escapade, an unfortunate combination of sand and camera resulted in a faulty point & shoot camera. The ONLY licensed place in the whole province to repair the camera was back in Lanzhou, so we took a bus at 7am and arrived at 4pm. We were in a rush and lunch was a can of instant congee….at 2pm! We’re running out of games on iPhone and books to read. Anyone got any recommendations for good games?

We managed to find a cantonese-style restaurant and had some dim sum! No disrespect to the local flavours, but sometimes you just miss what you’re used to eating… We also watched a movie, and we were the ONLY ones in the theatre. It isn’t surprising, as the tickets cost $70 RMB, and for a place where the average monthly income is <$2000 RMB, you can understand why nobody watches films in the theatre! The movie was People Mountain People Sea (人山人海), a stripped down, no-nonsense film about some harsh realities of life.

Now to the good, our hostel is pretty cool! Located inside an old factory area, this whole place is now converted into a ‘creative park’, housing dance theatres, advertising firms, and the hostel! Right now, you can hear the faint sounds of guitar playing and singing in the background as I sit here chilling with a beer.