Zhangye Nightlife

In the north west quadrant of Zhangye is Marco Polo Street, a one kilometre stretch of sligtly bizarre architecture, depicting what the Chinese architects believe to look like an Italian street. It is classic case of Sino-kitsch, where a romanticised or idealised verion of some other culture is transplanted into provincial China and local people come to believe that this is "just like the original". The style of the buildings is barely skin deep and the architectural detailing is, as always, a wafer thin veneer stuck on boxy concrete buildings. A similar effect can be seen in a street in Baoji in Shaanxi. The desire to enrish Chinese provincial small cities with some form of classical Mediterranean styling remains a strong theme across China to this day. It's the reverse of the Chinatowns in the West, although in China you will not see many Westerners visiting these streets let alone living there.

Marco Polo street, however, has produced a lot of pavement cafes, although the ambinece of the Chinese version of this wonderful institution is marred by the use of the cheaperst variety of cheap plastic chairs and the presence of large screen TVs.

In the summer, this street is, however, one of the best places in Zhangye to sit out and enjoy a drink, and the street is lined with restaurants as well. There is not a lot beyond the Marco Polo statue halffway down though. Just one block east is the pedestrianised 'Food Street' with more traditional Chinese architecture, although the architecture and styling in that street is - in the context of a Hexi Corridor oasis town - almost as out of place as the mock-Italianate style here.