About 200km northeast of Tianshui, an eight-hour bus ride, lies the city of PINGLIANG . The surrounding area is a mountainous and very beautiful part of Gansu Province near to the border with Ningxia, and little known to foreigners. The chief local attraction is Kongtang Shan , a Taoist monastery, one of China's most venerated, perched precariously on a clifftop. Pingliang is only two hours by bus from Guyuan in southern Ningxia, and either city can be visited as a day trip from the other. The last bus to Guyuan is at 4pm, and there are late-night trains to Yinchuan and Xi'an.

 

If you arrive by bus the most convenient place to stay is at the well-maintained Jiaotong (dorms up to ¥30, rooms ¥30-75). Come out of the bus station, turn left, and it's about one hundred metres on the left. Continue down the road and you come to a string of cheap restaurants. If you arrive at the train station, two kilometres out of town, the nearest hotel is the Qinsanjiao (dorms ¥30-75, rooms ¥75-100), just south of the station, over the bridge and on the right. Continue down this road for a hundred metres and you come to a private bus station with sleeper buses to Xi'an and Lanzhou.

Kongtang Shan lies 15km north of the city. A taxi should cost around ¥20. You'll be dropped at the bottom of the mountain, from where you then walk 3km up a winding road to the top, buying a ticket (¥18) on the way. On arrival you'll be rewarded with spectacular views over the surrounding ribbed landscape and an azure lake. Maps of the area are available from kiosks at the top, and you're free to hike off in any direction. Head up for the best buildings, down towards the lake for the best scenery. Taoist temples, tended by kindly if somewhat scatty priests, dot the area.