Lanzhou Travel Forum

Hi, I'm thinking of going to live and work in Lanzhou soon and I wonder if you can offer any thoughts on the life and environment there. For example, just how bad is the atmospheric pollution there? Do you have any other comments on life there? Thanks for your help Allun

Last I heard he was playing for the local football team there.
Yes, Lanzhou is notorious for air pollution. However you will still manage to survive in good health if you get out of town every weekend...and that's the good thing about living in Lanzhou. There are many interesting places to visit in the surround Gansu provincial vicinity. Every weekend you can do an interesting excursion while getting fresh air at the same time.

I'd sure think that decision out carefully, and do a lot of reseach. It is polluted, far away from everything, and unless you're desperate, you can do a lot better...

I have just returned from two days in Lanzhou, and it is a truly awful place. I tried hard to like the city, because often the grimiest, unappealing places have a certain charm, character or attractiveness that is overlooked.
But I gave up with Lanzhou. Although there are wonderful places to see within a very short distance of the city and fantastic countryside all over Gansu, the city is just a mess. The streets are harder to cross than anywhere else in China and even the parks look tired and unloved. I would genuinely like to like Lanzhou, but I cannot think of a good word to say about it, other than the station is excellent.
Lanzhou is an environmental nightmare and an example of how urban planners can destroy a city.

Lanzhou is one of the biggest industrial cities in western china and therefore there are lots of pollution, poverty, people etc (bear in mind Gansu is one of the poorest province in China).

If you want to live and work in Western China, a good city would be Kunming in Yunnan province which is much better.

Rgds
Victor