Almost as traumatic as Gansu's history is its otherwordly terrain which ranges from the jagged and arid place called shahe to the rainbow sandstone Danxia national park. Imagine seeing multicolored light rays on a desolate sprawl of rocks that reminds you of the moon.

Lanzhou beef noodles are chewy and they sit in a clear broth with juicy slices of raclish, a sprinckle of coriander and greens and generous lashings of chili sauce. Every restaurant has its recipe. The food of Gansu's neighbors are also very well represented here...