The city's best area for eating, however, is in the streets east of the Shengli Hotel , where practically every house is a restaurant, with cook-it-yourself hotpots the speciality. Next door to the Shengli, immediately to the west, is an immaculately clean and bright place with a lively atmosphere. The sign outside, "Caesar Rome International Food City", is misleading; there's no English menu and the food is resolutely Chinese. You can eat very well here for A?30 a head. Farther down Zhongshan Lu, east of Jiuquan Lu, is a genuine fast-food restaurant . Hamburgers, fries and Coke are all available, as well as Chinese food in plastic trays. Order by pointing to the pictures behind the counter.

At the Xiguan Traffic Circle there's a superb cake shop adjacent to the Lanzhou Legend Hotel, selling Western delicacies such as pains-au-chocolat, croissants and chocolate eclairs.

Towards the train station , the best place to eat is probably the night market on an alley that runs between Tianshui Lu and Pingliang Lu, about ten minutes south of the Lanzhou Hotel. Just walk up and down, sampling what you fancy; especially good are the grilled lamb, the jianbing (egg pancake stuffed with spicy vegetables) and the spicy hotpot cooked in small earthenware pots. Finally, Lanzhou is famous for its summer fruit . Don't leave without trying the melons, watermelons, peaches or grapes.