Once again we were to find ourselves on an early morning bus, or rather decrepit minibus, to make the 5 hour journey over more bumpy and half completed roads to the town of Zhangye. The town was made famous by MArco Polo who, according to the statue of him in the centre, stayed there for one year during his travel and described the city and its inhabitants extensively in his book. Other than that the only other sight  to see is a giant 35m sleeping Buddha which is sadly under restoration and could only be viewed by donning flimsy safety hats and through heavy scaffolding. Still it was a really pleasant, tree-lined city and in parts had lovely wooden pagoda style fronts that reflected what one might imagine CHina to be like. This was a nice break from the recent modernisation drive that most cities have undergone. We couldn't enjoy Zhangye's relaxed atmosphere for long and only stayed one night in this city, but it was a nice stopover before heading to Lanzhou the following day and, after a superb hotpot meal, we headed back to our extraordinarily nice and cheap hotel.