Lanzhou Beef Noodles

Lanzhou is the capital of Gansu province located at the northwest part of China. Nestled between mountains, the weather is perfect and the scenery is superb. As the city has a significant Muslim population, Muslim restaurants and fast food chains are found in almost every corner. No McDonalds nor Starbucks but several KFC.

The most popular food in Lanzhou is the Lanzhou Beef Noodles (兰州拉面). This dish was first created during the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1875 – 1908), Qing Dynasty (1616 – 1911). It has five main features: clear soup, white radish, red pepper, green caraway and yellow noodles. The noodles can be wide or slim to meet different preferences. A bowl of beef noodles cost 10 to 20 yuan and takes only a few minutes to prepare.  According to a local, the best place to eat these noodles are in Muslim restaurants.

We had a chance to try this dish and it was huge and filling. It taste like any other noodles but maybe we just don’t know how to mix everything. Our guide put some vinegar on his noodle and spicy sauce so maybe that’s why he finished everything.

Bringing Joy To Kids In Rural China

It was a warm Saturday afternoon when 6 foreign torchbearers with their friends and family set off to a town a 100 kms away from Lanzhou. These torchbearers were armed with bags, toys, notebooks, pens and all other school supplies to share with 206 primary school students and 21 teachers of Gaolan.

The trip was long and bumpy but the scenery was spectacular and amazing. I was hoping we could stop so that we can take some pictures but we weren’t that lucky. When we arrived our destination, the students were waiting for us, waving flags, playing their instruments and chanting “welcome to our school”. You can feel the warmth and the joy in their actions and faces as they welcome their guests to their humble but quaint learning place.