En route from Xi-an to Xiahe, I stopped for a short overnight in the city of Lanzhou. This wikipedia snippet does a pretty good job describing my experience in the city:
According to the Blacksmith Institute, Lanzhou is one of the 30 most polluted cities in the world, with its TSP (total suspended particle) rating 247% above that of the Gansu State recommendation. The air quality is so poor that at times one can not see Lanshan, the mountain rising straight up along the south side of the city. At one point, a controversial suggestion was put forward to bulldoze a mountain adjacent to the city, in order to let fresh air in to the bowl where Lanzhou is situated.
On the bright side, I did enjoy my visit to a "Western" restaurant in the city where I got to see people eating chicken wings with a fork and knife...cultural symmetry.
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