Jiayuguan, “The less said, the better”

This is first and foremost an industrial city with VERY little to offer the traveler. It is a major steel producing city with a foundry employing over 50,000 workers. The industrial pollution mixes very nicely with the dust from the surrounding desert to create a constant haze. It's only April and already the heat is starting to make itself felt by the middle of the day. While Summer is suggested as being the best time to visit for beautiful scenery, I think the heat would be hard to take then.
The main areas of historical significance have been turned into “theme park “ attractions and at best are poor imitations of the real thing. The Jiayuguan Chenglou “ (JiayuguanFort) is better than the reconstructed “Great Wall”, not that they should be patting themselves on the back over that but it hardly warrants the expense of stopping here to see it. I can see how this would fit into an organised tour of the Silk Road as it could be completed with a single night stop. My searches for blogs or any other travel experiences for here all indicated that the writers were indeed on guided package tours.
The best advice I have for any solo travelers contemplating a brief stopover in Jiayugoan is DON'T BOTHER.
I have a bus ticket 70 Yuan to Dunhuang for 0900 tomorrow, site of the Mogao Caves in the Mingsha Hills. That will be my last stop in Gansu and puts me closer to the mighty Taklamakan.