LocalGuide

Field notes

The journal

What we've learned walking this city — written when there's something worth saying, not on a schedule.

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Zhongwei — Where the Desert Meets the Yellow River

Ningxia2 min read

Zhongwei — Where the Desert Meets the Yellow River

At Shapotou, the Tengger desert's dunes come down to the Yellow River's bank. Zhongwei sits between them, at the end of a marketed desert highway that's genuinely worth driving.

Xi'an to Guyuan — Across the Loess Plateau

Ningxia3 min read

Xi'an to Guyuan — Across the Loess Plateau

The old Silk Road ran northwest out of Xi'an across the loess plateau. The route still passes Pingliang's sacred mountain and Guyuan's cave temples — and through country the economic boom largely skipped.