Ash Wednesday: Evening Prayer with Armageddon in the background. It’s the last night of Spring Festival. The last hurrah. The local folks have kept a good supply of fireworks in reserve, and now are detonating them. They echo in the canyons of big cement apartment courtyards. An especially resonant explosion will activate anti-theft devices on cars for blocks around, adding a frantic chorus. (In fact, it's only the legal holiday -- for banks and post offices -- that ends in four days' time. The celebration will go on for at least two weeks, and the amateur ordnance will be abundant throughout.)

Imagine that our Christmas celebration were to go on for days, and that the only products available during that time were, say, candy canes, eggnog and . . . chili dogs. At this time in Lanzhou, every shop is closed except for the large chain supermarkets. There are no street vendors except for those selling high-priced, overly-packaged fruits and other gift foods. Fortunately, the Muslim street vendors are out in full force, since they don’t observe Spring Festival. Their braziers flame with fragrant skewers of lamb chunks, dusted with fiery chili and served wrapped in warm, salty bread. Thank God for our Muslim brothers and sisters!