Beef noodles before ten, and pick your thickness at the counter

The shops open at six and the good ones have sold out by mid-morning; a bowl eaten at two in the afternoon is not the same dish. Call it niuroumian — nobody here says Lanzhou lamian.

You pay first, then tell the puller how you want them: xikuan (thin flat), maoxi (fine), erxi (medium) if you have no idea. The bowl arrives with radish, coriander and chilli oil in a clear broth. Say duo la for more chilli, bu yao xiangcai for no coriander. A few yuan, and the best breakfast on the Silk Road.