Lanzhou, Gansu Province

3. Paul Meets a Local Gentleman

One day in Lanzhou we wandered some way out of town just looking. My Chinese friend asked me to slow down. He said an old man wanted to see a foreigner and was running after us. This old man was quite intrigued to see foreigners in his village. I asked him if we were the first to visit his village and he replied, "No." I asked him if the missionaries had been there in the 1930. Again, "no." Had the Japanese been there in the 1940s? Another, "No." The Russians in the 1950s? One more, "No." Which foreigners had come here before us? He replied, "Some Mongols had visited there in 1099." We were, however, the first in 900 years to visit that village. We enjoyed our visit together and he left happy.