I spent most of the day today in the city of Lanzhou, which was said to be the most polluted city in the world ten years ago, in 1998. The city still suffers from chronic pollution, but it has improved dramatically. I am often actually surprised at just how good the air quality is when I visit!

Lanzhou is one of a few cities that we visit on a fairly regular basis to buy supplies (fruit, cheese, cheap diapers, ink cartridges, etc...), and at one point we actually kept a small apartment there because we visited so often. The apartment was located just at the foot of the mountain shrouded in haze in the picture above. When the pollution was so bad that the mountain, which rises 2,000 vertical feet directly above the city, was nearly invisible to the rest of town, we could always see it because we were literally a stone's throw from the base.

The picture to the left was evidently taken on a much clearer day. That is, if it is not a 'doctored' pic. I found it on a local government website.

Lanzhou is home to over 3 million people. Of these, the vast majority are Han Chinese, while about 10% are some other ethnic minority. Chinese Muslims (Hui Ethnicity) make up the largest ethnic minority. Please pray for this strategic city, that God would raise up more laborers and use those who are already here boldly proclaiming the Gospel!