We finally arrived in Lanzhou around 5 or 6pm. A number of my friends decided that they didn’t really like Lanzhou. Perhaps it was the layout of the city, but I think it was mostly because of the people. The staring there was the worst, and after one day my black friend couldn’t stand it anymore. At least in other cities, a nice portion of the people don’t bother to stare at you (at least not for long). But in Lanzhou, everyone stares. I mean everyone. Unabashedly too. They don’t bother to hide their open-mouthed stares. It bothered my friend because in Chinese culture, it is considered rude to stare. I guess unless you are a waiguoren (foreigner).
I’ve shrugged off the staring aspect by now. Once in a while, it really aggravates me, but then I just remind myself that I’m in the middle of China and they are just curious. I guess if you ever feel jealous of famous people, come to China as a foreigner and experience firsthand what unabashed staring feels like. It’s one of those things that gets old really fast.
It’s not just the staring that makes Lanzhou people less appealing to visit. My friend had to stay in Lanzhou a few extra days while we were in Xia’he because the high altitude of Xia’he could have collapsed her lungs. She is Korean but is mistaken for a Chinese person a lot. When she couldn’t understand what people were saying to her right away, they got angry really fast. Some people speak more slowly with smiles when they can tell you are struggling to learn Chinese. The Fuwuyuan of Lanzhou apparently yell angrily when that happens.
We ate at the Taiwanese restaurant again, and I had my fried rice, which was delicious. That was one thing I was super excited about coming to China for. The Chinese know their fried rice.
I was really hot walking around, because Lanzhou was fairly humid and I still had my conservative wear on from the afternoon. We had 40 minutes before we had to return to the bus, so my group sat on a set of stairs and people-watched. We realized how hard it is to people-watch when the people watch you back.
Afterwards we went to the bathroom in KFC. All the guidebooks tell you to head towards Western restaurants for bathrooms because they are generally cleaner. I laughed when I saw the line for the women’s bathroom. No matter what culture you’re in, there is always a line for the women’s bathroom.
The bathroom had a squat toilet, which wasn’t very clean, but there was soap and water afterwards. That’s the only time I encountered the blessed soap/sink combo after a squat toilet experience. It’s kind of amazing what living in a developing country will make you appreciate.
We returned to the bus and took the short ride to the train station. This was my first Chinese train experience, so I was expected the worst. The train actually wasn’t that bad. We slept on “hard sleepers,” which consists of open compartments of six beds, three stacked in a row. I slept on the bottom bunk—the best type of bunk.
I avoided using the toilet while on the train, which can be nasty, only utilizing the sink to brush my teeth. We were all excited to be on a train, and the air-conditioning felt nice after sweating pretty much the whole day. I used my backpack and purse as a pillow (they contained all of my valuables), took two Advil PM, and fell straight asleep.
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