Once in Lanzhou we were shown to the bus by some helpful police officers, and after a couple of bus rides we arrived at the long distance bus station where we attempted to buy onward tickets down south. Liv's conversation with the ticket office went a little like this:Liv: 2 tickets to Xiahe please
Ticket Officer: there are no buses to Xiahe
L: Xiahe?
TO: There are no buses to Xiahe
L: But there's one at 2pm
TO: No.
L: (pointing to Xiahe characters in book) Xia He
TO: No bus.
Liv then decided to go to the info office to find out more.
Liv: Is there a bus to Xiahe?
Info Officer: Yes.
L: What time?
IO: 2 o'clo .... ah, you're a foreigner
L: Ah, yes
IO: You can't go
L: Why?
IO: You are a foreigner
It turns out that the police have forbidden foreigners to go south of Gansu into the mainly Tibetan areas - we suppose due to the Olympics and chance of repeat protests and riots. After more questioning by Liv and another foreigner the info officer whispered to Liv "if you go to Linxia, you might be able to get to Xiahe from there". So with this information we went to the ticket office ready to go to Linxia. It was then that hurdle number 2 arose: all foreigners must get 2 copies of their passports and visas to buy any bus ticket! That's a LOT of photocopies when you're travelling by bus across the country!!!
After getting the copies (and some more for later) and cursing the govt considerably, we had tickets to Linxia in hand. At 9.50am we went to find our 10am bus, where Liv got yelled at by the obnoxious driver for being late. He calmed down a little when we saw Adam following behind with a drawn fist (we were not in the best of moods at this time). It's lucky that the 3 hour bus ride provided amazing scenery and a chance to calm down! Along the way we saw phenomenal steep terraces, that from a distance seemed like they must be tended by hanging on ropes! We also saw many Muslim Temples, right on the edge of cliffs, and tall thin pagodas with the Islamic symbol on top. As we drew closer to Linxia (a predominately Muslim area) we passed through small towns, and although they are still very much Chinese, the white capped men and veiled women portrayed a very different and interesting image.
In Lingxia we had a conversation similar to that above, with an added annoyance that now it was necessary for foreigners to buy Chinese life insurance (like it would do us any good!) in order to buy a ticket anywhere - including where we had just come from! Being the stubborn travellers we are (and extremely pissed off at the govt) we made our way towards a small bus 'station' tucked away down a back alleyway, to get away with not buying insurance, though we had conceded at this point that we weren't getting to Xia He. Though the bus was a bit to close to the police station for our liking - as we felt like criminals sneaking our way across China!! We ended up waiting around for a couple of hours for more passengers and goods to arrive - including 2 motorbikes that Adam helped to get up on the roof (along with our packs).
Eventually we headed out of town, turning our heads whenever we saw a police officer，just like adlibing criminals! The bus ride to Xunhua, our revised destination, was brilliant and by the end of it our faith in China had been restored. We made friends with the passengers, gave NZ coins and a lolly to the poor little girl who had broken her arm and had her x-rays for passenger investigation. 
Soon enough though, it was our coins that were making the rounds through the bus! During the trip we made our way over the enormous mountain pass, dodging landslides and avoiding cliffsides as we went, with menacing looking grey-clouded skies following us along the way.
The old Hui (Hui is the name for Muslim Chinese) man sitting across from Adam became our teacher, pointing out animals and crops, and advising us on trip plans. It was great how he actively searched for things to point out and actively engage with us - he even claimed some fruit from another passenger to give us. 
Once in Xunhua, we bid our new friends goodbye, and found a cheap, and awesomely clean hotel to stay in for a few days while we explore the area. We headed out for dinner, and over the meal decided the day had been a success, although we had left Gansu province without seeing any of the sights we wanted to. The people had made up for the shortcomings of the govt, and we were happy and loving travelling through China again. Plus, we'll probably head back into Gansu and head to Xinjiang from the less-politically charged North.On the way back to the hotel, we were stopped by a police officer. When our heart started beating again we realised he just wanted to talk to the foreigner - guess its lucky we're in a wop-wop kind of place！
Adlibing it without insurance.
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