But Yang Shouxi, a mosque gatekeeper, has seen it all before. Now they want to develop here. It's already too late. The difference between poor and rich is too big. Leaving the relative safety of a hotel to seek forbidden pleasures can prove a fatal misjudgment.
Locals say street gun fights between gold and opium smugglers are common.
Rumors swirling around Lanzhou feature the son of a high-ranking official, allegedly murdered in April because of mafia politics. After dark, the street milieu is the domain of the shadowy. Still, business is business. At least it's something. The Power to go On and On Asia's senior citizens show they can live to be old and enjoy it.