travel
China Elevator Stories
Yellow River, Lanzhou (China Travel)
Lanzhou is Gansu’s provincial capital, located on the Yellow River.
12/02/2026
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
Before heading back to Northeast China, where I currently live with both my children, I visited Lanzhou as the last stop on my journey.
I visited Hohhot, the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, Yinchuan, Xining, and Labrang Monastery during my 10-day journey. I took the chance to travel a little through China since my sons were staying at their dad’s for a week during their winter holidays.
Lanzhou was such a surprise! My travel guide didn’t mention many sights, but it is a city filled with history and culture, and it became my favorite city of all the cities I have ever visited in China—and I have been to many.
Before visiting other sights, I headed toward the Yellow River, which was located near my hostel. I watched the sunrise over the river and the cars passing on their way to work.
Near my hostel was a bridge called the Yuantong Yellow River Bridge. Cars passed over it to reach their destinations, and the bridge was busy, albeit not overly so, and there were no traffic jams. The river was peaceful and not all that yellow in Lanzhou.
I then headed to an older bridge a bit farther down the river, but not too far away. This bridge is called the Zhongshan Bridge and was built by a German company in 1909.
It is a beautiful old steel bridge that has stood the test of time—much like German engineering, which is built to last rather than just for the short term. This bridge was lovely, and it didn’t allow cars to pass, only pedestrians and cyclists.
There is a hill with a temple beneath the bridge, a popular tourist spot in Lanzhou. I didn’t visit this particular temple, since I still had other places I wanted to see before heading to the train station, where I would take a 1.5-day-long journey on a sleeper train back to Northeast China.
Have you ever visited Lanzhou?