Ch'ano;-yi-p'u, about twenty miles from Ku-yuan, and containing perhaps a 

 score of tumble-down houses. To the north and south ran ridges of high 

 rounded hills, and eastward the massive peaks of the Liu-p'an Shan rose to an 

 altitude of 10,000 feet. The country opened out to the west into a wide and 

 fertile valley, bordered by comparatively low loess hills. 



On March i8th the descent was continued down the wide valley to the 

 west, and after fourteen miles of pleasant, well-cultivated country had been 

 traversed, Ch'ang-t'ai-p'u, a pretty walled village, was reached. Here the 

 houses, though small and built mainly of sun-dried bricks, were in good 

 repair, and the inhabitants looked prosperous. Once more the loess country 

 had been reached, and only in the watercourses were there any signs of the 

 rocky country just traversed. 



The next stage — a long one of twenty-four miles — brought the travellers 

 to the large and busy walled-town of Ching-ning Chou. Just before this 

 town was reached, the valley, which had been followed in its south-westerly 

 direction from Ch'ang-t'ai-p'u, narrowed down to a deep gorge winding through 

 a ridge of limestone. The villages passed through during the day were 

 mostly Mohammedan, and were all prosperous-looking places, whilst the 

 population of Ching-ning could not be less than 5000. Two days were spent 

 here and on March 23rd the march to Lan-chou was resumed. At this point 

 the road hitherto followed joins the great highway from Hsi-an Fu to 

 Lan-chou Fu, so that the expedition was no longer traversing regions hitherto 

 unexplored. The road from Ku-yiian Chou to Ching-ning Chou is suitable 

 for wheeled traffic, and a considerable number of carts were passed. In 

 places the going was a bit rough, but no heavy gradients exist, and the route 

 is excellent for mule transport. The country west of Ching-ning consisted 

 for the most part of high loess mountains, and was very barren, though 

 everywhere the surface showed signs of actual or recent cultivation. The 

 natives complained of the want of rain, and were very poverty-stricken. 

 Immense caiions winding through vast deposits of loess were noticed 

 frequently. Sometimes the road would follow one of these, and at other 

 times it would lie over the top or along the ridges. 



On the first day after leaving Ching-ning, a pass of about 7500 feet was 

 crossed, the caravan subsequently finding quarters in a village named 

 Ching-chia-yi after a march of twentj-three and a half miles. Many villages 

 were passed during the day's journey, but none were very large or important. 

 On March 25th Hui-ning Hsien was reached after a hard journey of nearly 

 twenty-six miles. This town is used as an exile-station, and although of 



98 



