A three-hour bus journey from Lanzhou, China, LINXIA is a very Muslim town, dominated in particular by the Hui people. The town is, unsurprisingly, full of mosques, most of which have been restored since the depredations of the Cultural Revolution. Nearly everybody here seems to wear a white skull cap, and the women additionally wear a square-shaped veil of fine lace, green if they are unmarried and black if they are married. All the large, fancy eye-glasses that old men wear throughout this region are made in Linxia. There's nothing much to see in town; nevertheless, it's an interesting place to stroll around for a few hours if you feel like breaking your journey from Lanzhou to Xiahe.

Linxia's main street runs from north to south through town, called Tuanjie Lu in the north and Jiefang Lu in the south, with a large central square in between the two. The main mosque, the Nanguan Mosque , is immediately to the south of the square. Jiefang Lu terminates at a large traffic circle at its southern end. There is no train station in Linxia, though there are two bus stations . If you're arriving from the west (Xining or Tongren), you may be deposited at the smaller one in the far northwest of the city (known as the West bus station). In this case you'll have to catch a cycle-rickshaw into town. If you arrive at the main station (the South bus station), which is on Jiefang Nan Lu, a couple of hundred metres south of the Jiefang Lu traffic circle, you'll be able to walk to a hotel . The nearest is almost immediately to the north of the station, on the right as you come out - the Shuiquan (tel 0930/214964; dorms up to ¥30, rooms ¥30-100). It's the cheapest place around, with doubles and three-bed dorms, but they may want to charge you double as a foreigner. A few minutes farther north from here, on the right at the first big roundabout, is the Longlin (¥75-100). The hotel restaurant is quite smart and worth trying. Otherwise, head for the pleasant night market centred around the top end of Jiefang Nan Lu (the next roundabout north of the Longlin Hotel). You can stuff yourself here on heavy round breads ( bing) flavoured with curry powder; roast chickens are also available, as well as noodles and soups. On terraces overlooking the central square on the south side are a couple of very pleasant tea houses where you can sit out and enjoy the night air.

Be aware when trying to leave Linxia by bus: there's a lot of competition, and the touts for the private companies are very aggressive, seeming to stop at nothing, including kidnap, to get you to travel on their buses. Watch your bags carefully, or they might be grabbed off you and hurled through a minibus window. Departing from the main bus station at Linxia, there are frequent buses to Lanzhou and several daily to Xiahe. Buses to Lanzhou all go through Liujiaxia, the stop off for Bingling Si. There are also buses to Xining, Tianshui and Wuwei (via Lanzhou). You'll need to show your PICC insurance certificate when buying tickets in Linxia - the PICC office is north of the main bus station, beyond the central square, about twenty minutes' walk or one or two yuan in a cycle-rickshaw. The Bank of China lies a few minutes north of the Longlin Hotel, on the right.