Gansu Province, 665km (412 miles) W of Xi'an, 514km (319 miles) SW of Yinchuan
This was once the point where the Silk Routes crossed the Yellow River; however, whatever charms the old town possessed were buried long ago. In 1998, Lanzhou won the title of the planet's most polluted city by a considerable margin (Chinese towns filled 7 of the top 10 places). This dubious distinction led to humorous attempts to rectify the problem -- one entrepreneur got backing for a scheme to knock a hole in the surrounding mountains to "open the window" on Lanzhou's smog. Alas, after 18m (60 ft.) of leveling, and much talk of villas and technology parks, this grand dream of moving the mountain ended when planners discovered that Lanzhou was hemmed in, not by one mountain, but by 24km (15 miles) of mountains. Plans to convert the city's largest polluter -- a coal-fired power station -- to natural gas also fell through when the German partner found that the numbers didn't add up. In spite of further token attempts to clean up (including civil servants having to walk to work on particularly bad days) the city remains in the world's top 10 most polluted cities.
Lanzhou offers a glimpse of what lies farther northwest, but there are few reasons to linger. The museum is worth a look, and the town is a comfortable base for trips south to Bingling Si, Xiahe, and Langmusi. But your first action should be to book a ticket out of town.
