Eric's Beijing Diary

Sunday. Got to Lanzhou Friday night and went to the Foreign Experts Building at Northwest Normal University. I had called Holly before to tell her I was coming. But she said the rooms were all taken for the 19th, so she took the trouble to find a room for me at the foreign students' dormitory for one night. Really nice of her. I wouldn't have known how to do that.

I have known Holly since my first trip to Gansu Province back in 2006. I contacted the Foreign Experts' Building then because I hoped to meet a teacher, and I thought it might be easier to do that if I stayed at the University. But now, six years later, the real advantage for me is that I can get a room over the phone in a city that has no youth hostels without having to fight about a price that is artificially inflated for foreigners.

This morning I managed to find a church, thanks to Google Maps. I had a pretty good idea where it was, so when I hailed a taxi and he told me he had no idea how to get there, and I better find another taxi, I decided to take the 310, which, from all appearances, is the replacement for the old Wu Mao.

I got off at the end of the line and managed to ask enough questions to get me there. Late. But it was a nice little church, and I met some nice people there.