Gannan Road, a bustling bar street at night with a great sound track from jazz to folk just east of Zhengning Road, is the other place to be. Grab a tiny bistro table and settle down with highland barley wine, craft beer or another drink. Some music performances happen later in the evenings such as at the popular Kui Live House on Jingning Road.

Famed for its special hand-pulled beef noodles, Lanzhou offers splendid bites to enjoy.

Weng Wanwan, 27, a tourist from Shenzhen, in South China's Guangdong province, had long wanted to eat Lanzhou's traditional food. She works in the education industry. During last year's National Day holiday week, she brought her mother to Lanzhou for a leisure trip. One night, she ate a dozen different foods on Zhengning Road. What amazed her even more was the sight of crowds pouring into the 200-meter-long street shortly after dusk.

"When I tasted the food, it felt like I was immersed in its flavor, which blended with the local atmosphere perfectly," she said. "That's an experience I've never had before in any other city."