Another post in a short time - suprisingly there is an internet access in western China. As of today, I reside in cozy hostel in the very center of Kashgar (I mean very very center - in the middle of old town and three minutes from Id Kah mosque). Accommodation is very unchinese with open rooms, wooden beds and common space without chairs but with plenty of carpets (we are in carpet country indeed :). What follows is a short account of things I have seen and experienced during my 12 hours in Kashgar (Kashi for sinophiles).
First and the most important thing, which should be mentioned about Kashgar, is livestock market - and baby, this is really something. It is huge, it is crowded, it has everything what moves and sometimes even the things that don't anymore (sun-exhausted cows and watermelons). You can see, bargain and test-ride donkeys, sheeps and lambs, cows and bulls, goats and horses. I have also seen snakes for sale (not on the plane :). It is sooo 19th century and out of touch with Maglev and other perks of Eastern seashore.
The whole Xinjiang is different from China (although differences are less strict in Urumqi thanks to the invasion of Hans encouraged by 'develop the west' program - a.k.a. peacefull assimilation) and the contrasts are the sharpest in Kashgar where Uighurs are still majority and Tajiks and Kyrgyzs account for the rest. As such it is also stuck in 19th century. Although ratio of cabs versus donkey-pulled carts is now in favour of cabs, still donkeys are one of the most important means of transportation.
Xinjiang is also land of fruits, especially watermelons. These you can find here in any shape, size, color or smell. Problem is that of all fruits, veggies and whatever we call plant, I hate watermelons the most - can't stand it. Besides fruits, region's other main product is mutton (again any shape, size, smell etc.). Right now, after shashlik / kebab dinner, I feel over-muttoned and I can swear that if I see any sheep, lamb or ram, mutton will erupt from any opening on my body. Here is another unsolvable problem I face - I will pass through mutton country for next six days...
Another distinction of Xinjiang from the rest of China is the early age local children are maturing. Today I saw seven to nine years old driving a scooter. It is frequent sight to see 10-15 years old boys selling and helping their fathers with carts, stalls and business in general. Completely different to Shanghai where high-schoolers are awaited by their grandparents in front of the school gate to be accompanied back home.
Besides above mentioned, I have observed and visited Abkah Hoja tomb, Id Kah mosque, old town, and one-eyebrow women which are probably considered as good and fashionable here (Breznev was sorry loser). Abkah Hoja was local chieftain, who established large tomb for his family and whose one great granddaughter was emperor´s concubine - don't ask me whether this is important or significant - according to the size of the tomb and how she is celebrated everywhere, it is.
Id Kah mosque is one of the biggest mosques in China and surely the biggest in Uighur style. It is also surprisingly open to visitor who can step also in side the praying premisses (carpets!) of course during no-praying time. Uighur style means open space with wooden pillars supporting the roof. This style is also used for living quarters in old town and as such I partially understand intention of Chinese government to level it and rebuild it according to safety standards. It is scary sight just walking by - some houses are falling apart in front of your eyes. Of course if it could stand for 500 years why do you feel the need to change it? Luckily changes in Xinjiang come very slow and old habits are rooted deeply (long live the donkey carts!).
As most of the city is built from mud or mud bricks, there is enormous amount of dust everywhere, which results in children which look beyond-dirty and possitively medieval (more on medieval things in China sometimes in the future - believe me the list is long :) Althoug I have to admit that there is certain charm in dusty kids running wild around streets of Kashgar old town, smiling and waving to any foreigner. With this I conclude my remarks on Kashgar and move on to some other destinations. Live long and prospere!
7/06/2009
7/05/2009
Looping the silk / silking the loop (preface)
After three days of lingering and resting in Urumuqi I am embarking on another adventure. This time I would like to follow entire Silk road on the Chinese soil and circumvent the Taklamakan desert. Silk road as, all of you know (at least I hope), starts in Xian and ends in Istanbul. In Gansu and Xinjiang (around Dunhuang) it splits into two branches (some say three, but the middle one is more like a shortcut connecting southern and northern path) - Northern, which leads north of Taklamakan along Tian shan mountains through Korla to Kashgar, and Southern part, which follows Pamir range through Hotan and up to Kashgar where the both paths reconnect.
Of course, I had already passed along a good portion of the northern route. Today I will board the train to Kashgar - the meeting point and great market where the caravans and traders exchanged their goods. This ancient city is going through renovation (Chinese style) in order to prevent any earthquake damage. Problem is that all the historical buildings and streets will be levelled and rebuilt using modern materials.
As I still do not know how much time I would have and how my journey will continue I plan to spend couple of days in Kashgaria and explore mountain passes into Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan (if possible). After Kashgar my journey will lead me through oasis towns south of Taklamakan (Yangar, Hotan, Niye and so on) specialising in knife production and carpet weaving. The end point is either Dunhuang (Gansu province), Xining or Golmud (both in Qinghai province) depending on transportation means available. Possibility of cutting the whole trip short and crossing Taklamakan to Urumqi is high as well - all depends on beauty of Pamir mountains and how the buses will work. Of course, the whole exploration is limited by time as I have to finish the whole journey in c. eight days in order to return on time to Shanghai where I am supposed to meet up with my friend and to proceed together in exploration of other provinces (awesome plan is taking shape already).
The whole Silk road all the way west to Istanbul might sound more adventurous (with all the 'stan countries with crazy political situation in there) but believe me, from what I saw in Urumqi it is much more travelled alternative. Urumqi, and the hostel we are staying in, is a sort of base for all the explorers planning to return overland to Europe (I plan this too but later - when situation and time will allow me to follow exactly the route of ancient caravans).
This preface to upcoming trip was written to clarify my travel plans for those not familiar with Chinese names and geography and in case there will be no access to internet along the way. If no "wan ba's" (internet bars) are going to be available, see you in eight days :)
Of course, I had already passed along a good portion of the northern route. Today I will board the train to Kashgar - the meeting point and great market where the caravans and traders exchanged their goods. This ancient city is going through renovation (Chinese style) in order to prevent any earthquake damage. Problem is that all the historical buildings and streets will be levelled and rebuilt using modern materials.
As I still do not know how much time I would have and how my journey will continue I plan to spend couple of days in Kashgaria and explore mountain passes into Pakistan and Kyrgyzstan (if possible). After Kashgar my journey will lead me through oasis towns south of Taklamakan (Yangar, Hotan, Niye and so on) specialising in knife production and carpet weaving. The end point is either Dunhuang (Gansu province), Xining or Golmud (both in Qinghai province) depending on transportation means available. Possibility of cutting the whole trip short and crossing Taklamakan to Urumqi is high as well - all depends on beauty of Pamir mountains and how the buses will work. Of course, the whole exploration is limited by time as I have to finish the whole journey in c. eight days in order to return on time to Shanghai where I am supposed to meet up with my friend and to proceed together in exploration of other provinces (awesome plan is taking shape already).
The whole Silk road all the way west to Istanbul might sound more adventurous (with all the 'stan countries with crazy political situation in there) but believe me, from what I saw in Urumqi it is much more travelled alternative. Urumqi, and the hostel we are staying in, is a sort of base for all the explorers planning to return overland to Europe (I plan this too but later - when situation and time will allow me to follow exactly the route of ancient caravans).
This preface to upcoming trip was written to clarify my travel plans for those not familiar with Chinese names and geography and in case there will be no access to internet along the way. If no "wan ba's" (internet bars) are going to be available, see you in eight days :)
7/03/2009
Melting pot of everything
Leaving Gansu behind we entered the stew of Xinjiang. As it turned out later it is not so hot (at least the days we spent here so far) as feared. Mountain ranges are plentiful with Pamir, Tian shan (and some other) and deserts are large (Taklamakam and co.). Besides meeting point of various cultures (Central Asia and China) it is also meeting point of Indian and Eurasian geological plate which partially explains the contrasting geography here. Not only is this province the largest in China, but it also has the world's second lowest (Turpan - 154 meters below sea level) and the world's second highest (K2 - 8,611m above sea level) point. Xinjiang is also the place where the journey of our group of four ends. Our routes separate as I plan to continue around China's portion of silk road, Thomas (Norwegian backpacker) will continue on his journey across all the 'stans in the steps of the caravans, and girls return to Shanghai to follow their own paths. Below you can found account of our journey up to separation point in Urumuqi (Xinjiang capital).
Craddle of grapes (in China)
Upon our arrival to Turpan (or Tulufan as it is pronounce in Chinese) we negotiated cab for 50 kuai (5 euro) per person for the whole day (not including entrance fees for sights). This gave us opportunities to see everything we planned in the vicinity of the city. We started sightseeing at Emin minaret (monument dedicated and named after local chief who succumbed to the rule of Chinese empire in order to gain hereditary title of Xinjiang governor for his family. Also he led his people into 20 years relocation after armies of the empire were forced to leave. Upon his return he fought various warlords and gained the praise and title he aimed for. Minaret and mosque is open to public and is built in Afghan style (fairly unique sight in China).
Our journey continued some 70 km out of Tulufan to village of Tuyog (a true Uighur village). In there you can literally see Uighur way of life (doing nothing most of the day). It includes some magnificent scenery and canyons around. Unfortunately grottoes (local version of Mogao caves) is closed as of today due to safety reason (of course we walked as far as it was possible). Nearby grape valley is the epicentre of raisins industry (local wine on the other hand sucks as it is too sweet - wine tasting provided courtesy of our skilled taxi driver).
After short stopover in Karez museum (wells and underground irrigation system with almost 4,000 km of tunels at its peak) we reached our final destination - Jiaohe. Jiaohe is ancient city which reached its peak in Tang dynasty but then was sacked by invading barbarians and thus left for ruins. Even after 1,500 years you can see perfectly outline of the city with house and streets preserved by lack of rainfall in the area. One of the highlights of the trip for me, as you can walk between the buildings and temples and see how the city was organized. Surprisingly, preservation efforts are done with some delicacy and no major changes are visible.
Urumqi (Wulumuqi)
Capital of Xinjiang Autonomus Region (for Uighur minority) is something what looks most like metropolis west of Xian. It is also the most landlocked city with furthest distance to any sea or ocean. Surrounded by epic mountains of Tian shan it is supposedly hikers heaven. Unfortunately we do not have opportunity to confirm this findings.
In here we visited local museum offering nice exhibitions of local minorities (from Uighur - 8.5 mil - to Russian - 4,500 headstrong), history of Xinjiang (in western style - from Neolithic age till today, but with Chinese tweaks - skipping 'uninteresting' periods - namely three hundred years of 13 to 16 century), revolutionary struggle of red army during independence fight in Xinjiang (no English captions) and carpets of Xinjiang (world renowed local product - especially in the south of the province).
After museum we searched for the biggest local food market (Wuyi Yeshi - Wuyi night market). Believe me this is sight to be seen. Liveliest and by far the most crowded market I have ever seen, stalls spread over three streets and over at least five blocks. It offers food, spicies, dried fruits, fake T-shirts, jeans and handbags as well as anything you can imagine - from pigeons to sandals and entertainment options. Food stalls offer lamb (whole thing with head and rams still on, or just the favorite pieces, e.g. head), fish, shashlik and whatever else you want. Of course we tried and feasted on local delicacies (be warned as prices are somehow high). We haggled with fruit sellers and make all other customers laugh (still not sure whether it was due to our inability to negotiate and understand what was going on or jokes of the fruit seller :).
Anyway, after our last supper we went to bed as girls had to wake up for early plain. Morning of their departure left us asking and scrambling for our ongoing plans. I plan to circumvere the Silk road on Chinese territory by visiting first Kashgar and then continue its southern branch along Taklamakan desert. For further updates please stay tuned :)
Craddle of grapes (in China)
Upon our arrival to Turpan (or Tulufan as it is pronounce in Chinese) we negotiated cab for 50 kuai (5 euro) per person for the whole day (not including entrance fees for sights). This gave us opportunities to see everything we planned in the vicinity of the city. We started sightseeing at Emin minaret (monument dedicated and named after local chief who succumbed to the rule of Chinese empire in order to gain hereditary title of Xinjiang governor for his family. Also he led his people into 20 years relocation after armies of the empire were forced to leave. Upon his return he fought various warlords and gained the praise and title he aimed for. Minaret and mosque is open to public and is built in Afghan style (fairly unique sight in China).
Our journey continued some 70 km out of Tulufan to village of Tuyog (a true Uighur village). In there you can literally see Uighur way of life (doing nothing most of the day). It includes some magnificent scenery and canyons around. Unfortunately grottoes (local version of Mogao caves) is closed as of today due to safety reason (of course we walked as far as it was possible). Nearby grape valley is the epicentre of raisins industry (local wine on the other hand sucks as it is too sweet - wine tasting provided courtesy of our skilled taxi driver).
After short stopover in Karez museum (wells and underground irrigation system with almost 4,000 km of tunels at its peak) we reached our final destination - Jiaohe. Jiaohe is ancient city which reached its peak in Tang dynasty but then was sacked by invading barbarians and thus left for ruins. Even after 1,500 years you can see perfectly outline of the city with house and streets preserved by lack of rainfall in the area. One of the highlights of the trip for me, as you can walk between the buildings and temples and see how the city was organized. Surprisingly, preservation efforts are done with some delicacy and no major changes are visible.
Urumqi (Wulumuqi)
Capital of Xinjiang Autonomus Region (for Uighur minority) is something what looks most like metropolis west of Xian. It is also the most landlocked city with furthest distance to any sea or ocean. Surrounded by epic mountains of Tian shan it is supposedly hikers heaven. Unfortunately we do not have opportunity to confirm this findings.
In here we visited local museum offering nice exhibitions of local minorities (from Uighur - 8.5 mil - to Russian - 4,500 headstrong), history of Xinjiang (in western style - from Neolithic age till today, but with Chinese tweaks - skipping 'uninteresting' periods - namely three hundred years of 13 to 16 century), revolutionary struggle of red army during independence fight in Xinjiang (no English captions) and carpets of Xinjiang (world renowed local product - especially in the south of the province).
After museum we searched for the biggest local food market (Wuyi Yeshi - Wuyi night market). Believe me this is sight to be seen. Liveliest and by far the most crowded market I have ever seen, stalls spread over three streets and over at least five blocks. It offers food, spicies, dried fruits, fake T-shirts, jeans and handbags as well as anything you can imagine - from pigeons to sandals and entertainment options. Food stalls offer lamb (whole thing with head and rams still on, or just the favorite pieces, e.g. head), fish, shashlik and whatever else you want. Of course we tried and feasted on local delicacies (be warned as prices are somehow high). We haggled with fruit sellers and make all other customers laugh (still not sure whether it was due to our inability to negotiate and understand what was going on or jokes of the fruit seller :).
Anyway, after our last supper we went to bed as girls had to wake up for early plain. Morning of their departure left us asking and scrambling for our ongoing plans. I plan to circumvere the Silk road on Chinese territory by visiting first Kashgar and then continue its southern branch along Taklamakan desert. For further updates please stay tuned :)
Off the beaten track!
In words of one show-off 'backpacker' from Norway, I will try to introduce to you Gansu - province of Gobi desert, Qilian mountains, and the last part of the empire that the Silk road caravans passed before entering no man's land of western barbarians. As already mentioned in other posts, our group of four travellers entered this province on the overnight bus from Xining to Zhang Ye. We planned to visit Mati Si (with allegedly lots of hiking opportunities), Jiayuguan (the last stronghold of the former empire with magnificient fortress protecting borders), end of the Great Wall, and Qilian mountains and theirs glaciers. You can see below how did we succeed.
Day like no other
Although previous day spent at Dalai Lama's birthplace was highly valued by all of us as so far the best one of our trip (due to its spiritual and 'natural' qualities), it was trashed by the day that followed. At two o'clock we arrived to Zhang Ye where we quickly found accommodation and slept sweatly till 9.00am. Afterwards we hopped on the bus to Mati He (a crossing 9km far from our ultimate destination). After unsuccessful negotiation of taxi (called by friendly farmer) fare - I personally think we overpaid but who cares when the fare is less than starting rate at any western European capital - we successfully negotiated our accommodation (10 kuai or 1 euro per person - I had never ever paid so little price for overnight stay - not including my homeless foyers at Scotland, New Zealand, in the US and Spain in no particular order :).
What followed was as surreal as any picture of Dalí. We waited one hour for a meal that ultimately smelled like puke (allegedly mutton and mushrooms), hiked in the best nature all of us have yet seen in China (not only were the waterfalls beautiful and magnificent, valleys deep with green, but also the meadows covered with yellow flowers were picturesque just like some Austrian postcard), had the photosession with bunch of Tibetan monks (all the so called 'supermodels' have no clue about the art of pose for picture), had dinner in traditional Tibetan tent with 100% original Tibetan girls, and danced with totally drunk Han tourists. Besides that, our Norwegian backpacker from the first paragraph, had an eye-to-eye discussion with one of the drunks each speaking in a different language (Chinese versus English). Obviously both had a good time as they settled their differences on a dance-floor. Tired and totally speechless we put ourselves with the vision of early morning wake up call in order to a catch bus to Jiayuguan.
Edge of the Empire
On our way to the ancient city, which still strongly resonates as the end of the civilisation in minds of most of the Chinese, we encountered our first herd of camels (50-100 heads strong). Same day we managed to negotiate visits to the fortress, through which caravans and expelled artists passed into oblivion, and the reconstructed last part of Great wall all for price of 60 kuai - 6 euros). For the first time we also experienced so called factory in the middle of nowhere phenomenon - here in Gansu and also in Xinjiang you can find factories churning up fumes of black smoke up to he sky. These factories are literally in the middle of nowhere without any city in their vicinity. Next morning came the highlight of my bargaining career so far as I managed to negotiate even lower price for cab drive to the glacier and back (each road c. 130km on gravel road). 360 kuai (36 euros) is 10 per cent better than two years old Lonely Planet suggests :) This puts me in good position to finally stop overpaying for fake market T-shirts and fabric market shirts.
The way up to the glacier is a story by itself. It is 4 hours drive with average speed of 40km per hour (in case you hire a taxi and not a four wheel drive Toyota). It follows gravel road for good 75 per cent of the way and offers some breathtaking (altitude caused and panorama caused) views. Of course our overweighted small cab overheated and cooling pipes exploded into face of our driver. Partial shower was delivered to me and our female Norwegian companion (no harm done to any of us). The most laughs gained speedy exit of our Norwegian backpacker as he was sleeping in the car. His reactions can be compared to those of a koala (slow and slower :). Anyway our humiliated driver (as he could not hold up to his end of the deal) called for help his family and manually repaired his car while we were offered family limousine (true Guangzhou produced BYD - Build Your Dreams). We took turns in pitying this car forced to drive entirely inappropriate roads.
Glacier is 4,300m above the sea level. We spent there good three hours hiking and exploring rocky country of Qilian mountain range and soaking in sunlight (therefore sunburned noses upon our return :D. On the way back we were fed fair share of dust from trucks transporting iron ore from local mines and resisted any attempts of our poor driver to increase the price. If he did not asked for it he would probably get it as we estimated that this trip put solid two years on his cars (usage-wise).
Sands of Dunhuang
As I already mentioned, western Gansu is mostly desert country with southern borders copied by Qilian mountains. From Jiayuguan we hopped on the bus to well known Dunhuang where we intended to visit those famous Budha grottoes at Magao caves. Again we succeeded in negotiating 'fair' price for tax hire - 120 kuai (12 euros) for three sites - Moon crescent lake and Mingsha shan (sand mountain on the outskirts of the city) and Mogao caves (30 km from the city proper). Although a bit disappointed by Crescent lake and commercialisation of the area by money seeking Han people, we found our breath swept away by the magnificence of towering sand dunes of sand mountain.
The greedy hawkers asked money just for use of ladders leading up to the dune top - which is pure exhortation and should be ignored completely. On the top of the dunes we could overview kilometers of sands leading up to the horizon. Furthermore, we witnessed meeting point of oasis and desert - wonderful sight. As this was my first desert I have ever seen, views made the strongest impression on me from all what we saw in Gansu.
Mogao caves were afterwards a little disappointing as Chinese reconstruction and preservation made their original features unrecognizable (curently, a modern meter-thick wall covers the sand stone in which are these caves carved). We undertook Chinese tour as no student discount was offered on foreign language tour although all four of us possess Chinese university IDs. The reason why did I for the first time shout on an adult man who completely ignored my modest and calm requests for explanation why rules of admittance are not followed (it is written that foreigners should pay extra 20 kuai for foreign language guide to the price of their ticket - which we were happy to pay). We visited 10 caves with various Budha statues from different periods and influences (from Tibetan to Nepalese, and from Qin to Tang dynasty) as well as cave 17 where great amount of ancient manuscripts were discovered and later exploited and exported to the safety of European museums (items left were lost or given as bribes to various official upon their transport to Beijing - only small amount of mostly less valuable scripts reached ultimate destination. All-in-all Mogao caves with their huge two Budhas (c. 40 meters high) are something comparable to combination of Leshan giant Budha (the worlds biggest) and Dazu caves and reliefs.
After the Dunhuang visit we boarded overnight train (soft sleeper) to Turpan, in Xinjiang province, where we intend to explore more. This soft sleeper was the first time in more than five days we got good quality sleep without any hustle (no bus or early morning wake up calls). Gansu province left fond memories in all of us as we were deeply impressed with its nature variety and fondness of its people. Turpan marks ultimately our last day of 'American' tourism for us (hiring the cars and letting ourselves to be transported around. This is mostly due to the fact that there are no other option and our schedule is thougher than though. More on Xinjian and its cities in following days. Enjoy!
Day like no other
Although previous day spent at Dalai Lama's birthplace was highly valued by all of us as so far the best one of our trip (due to its spiritual and 'natural' qualities), it was trashed by the day that followed. At two o'clock we arrived to Zhang Ye where we quickly found accommodation and slept sweatly till 9.00am. Afterwards we hopped on the bus to Mati He (a crossing 9km far from our ultimate destination). After unsuccessful negotiation of taxi (called by friendly farmer) fare - I personally think we overpaid but who cares when the fare is less than starting rate at any western European capital - we successfully negotiated our accommodation (10 kuai or 1 euro per person - I had never ever paid so little price for overnight stay - not including my homeless foyers at Scotland, New Zealand, in the US and Spain in no particular order :).
What followed was as surreal as any picture of Dalí. We waited one hour for a meal that ultimately smelled like puke (allegedly mutton and mushrooms), hiked in the best nature all of us have yet seen in China (not only were the waterfalls beautiful and magnificent, valleys deep with green, but also the meadows covered with yellow flowers were picturesque just like some Austrian postcard), had the photosession with bunch of Tibetan monks (all the so called 'supermodels' have no clue about the art of pose for picture), had dinner in traditional Tibetan tent with 100% original Tibetan girls, and danced with totally drunk Han tourists. Besides that, our Norwegian backpacker from the first paragraph, had an eye-to-eye discussion with one of the drunks each speaking in a different language (Chinese versus English). Obviously both had a good time as they settled their differences on a dance-floor. Tired and totally speechless we put ourselves with the vision of early morning wake up call in order to a catch bus to Jiayuguan.
Edge of the Empire
On our way to the ancient city, which still strongly resonates as the end of the civilisation in minds of most of the Chinese, we encountered our first herd of camels (50-100 heads strong). Same day we managed to negotiate visits to the fortress, through which caravans and expelled artists passed into oblivion, and the reconstructed last part of Great wall all for price of 60 kuai - 6 euros). For the first time we also experienced so called factory in the middle of nowhere phenomenon - here in Gansu and also in Xinjiang you can find factories churning up fumes of black smoke up to he sky. These factories are literally in the middle of nowhere without any city in their vicinity. Next morning came the highlight of my bargaining career so far as I managed to negotiate even lower price for cab drive to the glacier and back (each road c. 130km on gravel road). 360 kuai (36 euros) is 10 per cent better than two years old Lonely Planet suggests :) This puts me in good position to finally stop overpaying for fake market T-shirts and fabric market shirts.
The way up to the glacier is a story by itself. It is 4 hours drive with average speed of 40km per hour (in case you hire a taxi and not a four wheel drive Toyota). It follows gravel road for good 75 per cent of the way and offers some breathtaking (altitude caused and panorama caused) views. Of course our overweighted small cab overheated and cooling pipes exploded into face of our driver. Partial shower was delivered to me and our female Norwegian companion (no harm done to any of us). The most laughs gained speedy exit of our Norwegian backpacker as he was sleeping in the car. His reactions can be compared to those of a koala (slow and slower :). Anyway our humiliated driver (as he could not hold up to his end of the deal) called for help his family and manually repaired his car while we were offered family limousine (true Guangzhou produced BYD - Build Your Dreams). We took turns in pitying this car forced to drive entirely inappropriate roads.
Glacier is 4,300m above the sea level. We spent there good three hours hiking and exploring rocky country of Qilian mountain range and soaking in sunlight (therefore sunburned noses upon our return :D. On the way back we were fed fair share of dust from trucks transporting iron ore from local mines and resisted any attempts of our poor driver to increase the price. If he did not asked for it he would probably get it as we estimated that this trip put solid two years on his cars (usage-wise).
Sands of Dunhuang
As I already mentioned, western Gansu is mostly desert country with southern borders copied by Qilian mountains. From Jiayuguan we hopped on the bus to well known Dunhuang where we intended to visit those famous Budha grottoes at Magao caves. Again we succeeded in negotiating 'fair' price for tax hire - 120 kuai (12 euros) for three sites - Moon crescent lake and Mingsha shan (sand mountain on the outskirts of the city) and Mogao caves (30 km from the city proper). Although a bit disappointed by Crescent lake and commercialisation of the area by money seeking Han people, we found our breath swept away by the magnificence of towering sand dunes of sand mountain.
The greedy hawkers asked money just for use of ladders leading up to the dune top - which is pure exhortation and should be ignored completely. On the top of the dunes we could overview kilometers of sands leading up to the horizon. Furthermore, we witnessed meeting point of oasis and desert - wonderful sight. As this was my first desert I have ever seen, views made the strongest impression on me from all what we saw in Gansu.
Mogao caves were afterwards a little disappointing as Chinese reconstruction and preservation made their original features unrecognizable (curently, a modern meter-thick wall covers the sand stone in which are these caves carved). We undertook Chinese tour as no student discount was offered on foreign language tour although all four of us possess Chinese university IDs. The reason why did I for the first time shout on an adult man who completely ignored my modest and calm requests for explanation why rules of admittance are not followed (it is written that foreigners should pay extra 20 kuai for foreign language guide to the price of their ticket - which we were happy to pay). We visited 10 caves with various Budha statues from different periods and influences (from Tibetan to Nepalese, and from Qin to Tang dynasty) as well as cave 17 where great amount of ancient manuscripts were discovered and later exploited and exported to the safety of European museums (items left were lost or given as bribes to various official upon their transport to Beijing - only small amount of mostly less valuable scripts reached ultimate destination. All-in-all Mogao caves with their huge two Budhas (c. 40 meters high) are something comparable to combination of Leshan giant Budha (the worlds biggest) and Dazu caves and reliefs.
After the Dunhuang visit we boarded overnight train (soft sleeper) to Turpan, in Xinjiang province, where we intend to explore more. This soft sleeper was the first time in more than five days we got good quality sleep without any hustle (no bus or early morning wake up calls). Gansu province left fond memories in all of us as we were deeply impressed with its nature variety and fondness of its people. Turpan marks ultimately our last day of 'American' tourism for us (hiring the cars and letting ourselves to be transported around. This is mostly due to the fact that there are no other option and our schedule is thougher than though. More on Xinjian and its cities in following days. Enjoy!
6/29/2009
Balancing ying and yang
Xining leg of our trip included several interesting stopovers such as Qinghai lake (the highest Chinese salty lake - if not the highest in the World), Dalai Lama's birthplace, Ta'er monastery (one of the six holiest places of Tibetan Budhism) and of course local delicacies and sights (actually just one within cities proper - Beishan). Details are described below.
After our arrival we immediately took a cab to our hostel (Lete Youth Hostel in international village suburb of Xining). This place turned out to be really a win win place with nice rooms and near perfect staff. Not only they were really helpful but also very very nice and answered all our crazy questions. There you go - my first recommendation - if this blog had more than three readers I would actually ask for money for this :)
Qinghai lake was major plan of our trip as it allegedly should offer awesome vistas of nearby mountains in combination with turquoise color of its waters. Due to time restrictions (we had only one day for a trip) we chose to join Chinese travel tour. Included in the 60 kuai (6 euro) fee was transportation and Chinese guide, whom nobody of us understood. On the way we visited yaks-occupied Ruyi mountain which became some sort of holy place after princess Wengchen stop there on her journey to her future Tibetan husband. Then we pressed on to Qinghai lake (description of multiple shopping stops organized by agency is not included) where we spent three hours exploring area 151. Typical China tourism destination when conveyor belt of buses spills its content in regular five minutes intervals. These tourists make pictures and eat in prearranged restaurants (like sheeps running through the slaughter house).
The Qinghai lake is beside its salty waters interesting also as a breeding ground for multiple species of Asian birds. All species convene on western shore island Niao Dao (now only peninsula as climate or whatever caused watter to recede) which make it one big bird poop and a groundzero of avian flu in China. The tours organized from Xining does not include visit to this island as it would make it very unconfortable for one day trips. As the breeding/nesting season was already over (we missed it by two weeks) we did not regret our decision. Anyone visiting this area should plan his trip at least for a single overnight stay in one of the many yurts around the lake and visit to this island - just to test his luck with flu. What makes this overnight stays very easy is friendliness of Tibetan people who are majority in the area. Though nature and environment make them happy and easy to laugh.
Next day we jumped on the bus to Ping'an (neighboroghing county city) where we hired a taxi with significant help of our new German friend (we met during the beer session of the previous night) who spoke fluent Chinese (after five years in Shanghai who would not :). Taxis are freely available with drivers open for discussion. We negotiated price of 150 kuai (15 euro) for 30 km drive up to the very village where the previous Dalai Lama (I think the 13th but I find numerics of rulers always confusing) pointed his reincarnation. And believe me it was all worth it - even the ten kilometers of road under reconstructions with a 50 kilos of a Norwegian female on you knees (as the cab was built originally for four passengers). Village is totally unexplored and untouched by tourism. The nature and mountains around offer magnificient opportunities for hiking and biking with so many trails you would need weeks to explore them all. Although villagers are little shy and afraid of foreigners walking around (guess why...) if you behave withing limits you would not be disturbed. House is although off limits for foreigners. Luckily there is no chance for 'kiss of death' of Chinese tourism and hopefully same priscine nature will be available when I will return here to do some serious hiking (literally this is the place with the best hiking potential I have seen so far in China).
Afterwards we successfully waived the bus for Xining and further to Ta'er monastery so we could explore further our spiritual side. Ta'er si (monastery) is one of the holiest places for Tibetan budhists. In fact it consists of complex of monasteries occupied by the same looking monks. Approximately at this time forces of ying and yang withing me started to fight (I am still not sure which one is represented by Shaoshan and which one by Ping'an county) and I got seriously sick resulting in general weakness and fever. To solve this problem I jumped onto overnight bus to our next destination - Zhang ye - and swallowed all-solving medicine - pink pills imported from Central Europe. As I sweated through the mountain passes of 3795m (the highest point I have driven so far) the balance of the force was restored and my body got better. Actually I still suspect heavy breakfast we had that day as food poisoning source. My conditions improved so dramatically that at 11.45pm in a pitch black dark of night I was able to purchase delicious and freshly baked pastry. This just proofs only thing sure about this country - if anything, food is worth exploring no matter how sick you are :)
After our arrival to Zhang ye with the help of our driver (people are so much friendlier here then eastern cost it is almost unbelievable) we found accommodation in local pride of a hotel. We stayed there overnight in order to recharge our batteries for exploration of Gansu province. Gansu adventures of four explorers from Norway, Czech Republic and Slovakia will be posted soon - stay tuned :D
After our arrival we immediately took a cab to our hostel (Lete Youth Hostel in international village suburb of Xining). This place turned out to be really a win win place with nice rooms and near perfect staff. Not only they were really helpful but also very very nice and answered all our crazy questions. There you go - my first recommendation - if this blog had more than three readers I would actually ask for money for this :)
Qinghai lake was major plan of our trip as it allegedly should offer awesome vistas of nearby mountains in combination with turquoise color of its waters. Due to time restrictions (we had only one day for a trip) we chose to join Chinese travel tour. Included in the 60 kuai (6 euro) fee was transportation and Chinese guide, whom nobody of us understood. On the way we visited yaks-occupied Ruyi mountain which became some sort of holy place after princess Wengchen stop there on her journey to her future Tibetan husband. Then we pressed on to Qinghai lake (description of multiple shopping stops organized by agency is not included) where we spent three hours exploring area 151. Typical China tourism destination when conveyor belt of buses spills its content in regular five minutes intervals. These tourists make pictures and eat in prearranged restaurants (like sheeps running through the slaughter house).
The Qinghai lake is beside its salty waters interesting also as a breeding ground for multiple species of Asian birds. All species convene on western shore island Niao Dao (now only peninsula as climate or whatever caused watter to recede) which make it one big bird poop and a groundzero of avian flu in China. The tours organized from Xining does not include visit to this island as it would make it very unconfortable for one day trips. As the breeding/nesting season was already over (we missed it by two weeks) we did not regret our decision. Anyone visiting this area should plan his trip at least for a single overnight stay in one of the many yurts around the lake and visit to this island - just to test his luck with flu. What makes this overnight stays very easy is friendliness of Tibetan people who are majority in the area. Though nature and environment make them happy and easy to laugh.
Next day we jumped on the bus to Ping'an (neighboroghing county city) where we hired a taxi with significant help of our new German friend (we met during the beer session of the previous night) who spoke fluent Chinese (after five years in Shanghai who would not :). Taxis are freely available with drivers open for discussion. We negotiated price of 150 kuai (15 euro) for 30 km drive up to the very village where the previous Dalai Lama (I think the 13th but I find numerics of rulers always confusing) pointed his reincarnation. And believe me it was all worth it - even the ten kilometers of road under reconstructions with a 50 kilos of a Norwegian female on you knees (as the cab was built originally for four passengers). Village is totally unexplored and untouched by tourism. The nature and mountains around offer magnificient opportunities for hiking and biking with so many trails you would need weeks to explore them all. Although villagers are little shy and afraid of foreigners walking around (guess why...) if you behave withing limits you would not be disturbed. House is although off limits for foreigners. Luckily there is no chance for 'kiss of death' of Chinese tourism and hopefully same priscine nature will be available when I will return here to do some serious hiking (literally this is the place with the best hiking potential I have seen so far in China).
Afterwards we successfully waived the bus for Xining and further to Ta'er monastery so we could explore further our spiritual side. Ta'er si (monastery) is one of the holiest places for Tibetan budhists. In fact it consists of complex of monasteries occupied by the same looking monks. Approximately at this time forces of ying and yang withing me started to fight (I am still not sure which one is represented by Shaoshan and which one by Ping'an county) and I got seriously sick resulting in general weakness and fever. To solve this problem I jumped onto overnight bus to our next destination - Zhang ye - and swallowed all-solving medicine - pink pills imported from Central Europe. As I sweated through the mountain passes of 3795m (the highest point I have driven so far) the balance of the force was restored and my body got better. Actually I still suspect heavy breakfast we had that day as food poisoning source. My conditions improved so dramatically that at 11.45pm in a pitch black dark of night I was able to purchase delicious and freshly baked pastry. This just proofs only thing sure about this country - if anything, food is worth exploring no matter how sick you are :)
After our arrival to Zhang ye with the help of our driver (people are so much friendlier here then eastern cost it is almost unbelievable) we found accommodation in local pride of a hotel. We stayed there overnight in order to recharge our batteries for exploration of Gansu province. Gansu adventures of four explorers from Norway, Czech Republic and Slovakia will be posted soon - stay tuned :D
6/25/2009
Once upon a time in the West
As our party of four boarded a westward train to Xian, our epic summer journey began. Below you can find short description of what we had done up until Xining (capital of Qinghai province). Xining is the starting point for most travellers intending to spend some time in Tibet and it is also called the gateway to the western part of China (the same is also said about Lanzhou, but as they are just three and a half hours train ride apart, who really cares?). Please read on!
In Xian we were welcomed by already familiar heat wave torturing China with temperatures well over 30 degrees of Celsius. After dropping bags at the Xian Railway station luggage room we immediately hop on bus (no. 306) to the first Qin emperor tomb and his guarding army of terracotta soldiers. This trip is made very convenient to accommodate huge demand of Chinese visitors. Bus no. 306 connects three main sites (Hot springs palace, Qin emperor tomb, and Terracotta army museum).
We visited only Qin emperor tomb and Terracotta museum due to lack of time and also because of our lack of enthusiasm to visit hot springs at 35 degree heat. Both sites of course belong to the UNESCO World heritage (and righteously so). Qin tomb is relatively calm place with plenty of pomegranate, pine, and other trees protecting emperor´s brain from brain-sucking birds (legends...). Tomb palace is not archeologically explored but it still offers incredible look at 2,000 years old irrigation systems and ceramics of Qin period of Chinese history. Whole 'hill' (burial place covering tomb and palace) is poisoned by mercury from protection mechanisms implemented against tomb raiders (there goes Lara...).
On the other hand, Terracotta museum is commercially explored to the utmost detail. New parking lots and stalls with shopping malls offer many souvenirs along the 500 meters long walk up to the museum. Three pits go from the smallest (pit 3 - called command center and including just few high ranking officers) to the biggest (pit 1 - including the whole army prepared to march) and are indeed awesome and worth every mao of 45 kuai student entry fee :) Museum also includes exhibition hall with nice exposition of bronze artifacts (still not sure whether real or fake), gallery of UNESCO sites around the world (for 'ticking' friendly travellers), and cool air of air conditioned halls as compared to outside hell. Of course, as an uncultural barbarian, besides the warriors (I hereby confirm that indeed each of them is different - at least in face details) I liked the most the 5-7m high marionettes from the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics.
After dinner and visit to exquisitely Chinese Great Mosque of Xian we hopped on the train again for an overnight journey to Lanzhou (back in 90s considered as the most polluted city of the world - I hereby confirm, although still smoggy, it is not the case anymore). Lanzhou was supposed to be our transfer station for Xiahe, which is grassland, religious, and very Tibetan place outside of Tibet. As usual nothing goes smoothly and upon our arrival we discovered that the whole Xiahe region is off limits for foreigners (nobody actually knows precisely the reasons). Disappointed and angered we turned around and without even visiting Lanzhou famous museum (hosting exhibits of 10,000 years old painted ceramics, original wooden Silk road message carrying wooden plates, and Roman coins found in the area) we started our journey to Xining.
Today in Xining we managed to have our best cake in China west of Shanghai and the best barbecue dinner in China (anywhere). Also we visited Beishan (local mountain with plenty of Budhist caves and temples) and literally eat the dust of sandstorm and soak in the water of rainstorm. Tomorrow our plan is to visit Qinhai Hu (Qinhai lake) - the biggest salt water lake in China and the ground zero for avian flu in China (we miscalculated our visit by cca. two weeks since most of the birds already flew away to their summer territories). Further posts will follow in couple of days - still do not know from where :)
In Xian we were welcomed by already familiar heat wave torturing China with temperatures well over 30 degrees of Celsius. After dropping bags at the Xian Railway station luggage room we immediately hop on bus (no. 306) to the first Qin emperor tomb and his guarding army of terracotta soldiers. This trip is made very convenient to accommodate huge demand of Chinese visitors. Bus no. 306 connects three main sites (Hot springs palace, Qin emperor tomb, and Terracotta army museum).
We visited only Qin emperor tomb and Terracotta museum due to lack of time and also because of our lack of enthusiasm to visit hot springs at 35 degree heat. Both sites of course belong to the UNESCO World heritage (and righteously so). Qin tomb is relatively calm place with plenty of pomegranate, pine, and other trees protecting emperor´s brain from brain-sucking birds (legends...). Tomb palace is not archeologically explored but it still offers incredible look at 2,000 years old irrigation systems and ceramics of Qin period of Chinese history. Whole 'hill' (burial place covering tomb and palace) is poisoned by mercury from protection mechanisms implemented against tomb raiders (there goes Lara...).
On the other hand, Terracotta museum is commercially explored to the utmost detail. New parking lots and stalls with shopping malls offer many souvenirs along the 500 meters long walk up to the museum. Three pits go from the smallest (pit 3 - called command center and including just few high ranking officers) to the biggest (pit 1 - including the whole army prepared to march) and are indeed awesome and worth every mao of 45 kuai student entry fee :) Museum also includes exhibition hall with nice exposition of bronze artifacts (still not sure whether real or fake), gallery of UNESCO sites around the world (for 'ticking' friendly travellers), and cool air of air conditioned halls as compared to outside hell. Of course, as an uncultural barbarian, besides the warriors (I hereby confirm that indeed each of them is different - at least in face details) I liked the most the 5-7m high marionettes from the opening ceremony of Beijing Olympics.
After dinner and visit to exquisitely Chinese Great Mosque of Xian we hopped on the train again for an overnight journey to Lanzhou (back in 90s considered as the most polluted city of the world - I hereby confirm, although still smoggy, it is not the case anymore). Lanzhou was supposed to be our transfer station for Xiahe, which is grassland, religious, and very Tibetan place outside of Tibet. As usual nothing goes smoothly and upon our arrival we discovered that the whole Xiahe region is off limits for foreigners (nobody actually knows precisely the reasons). Disappointed and angered we turned around and without even visiting Lanzhou famous museum (hosting exhibits of 10,000 years old painted ceramics, original wooden Silk road message carrying wooden plates, and Roman coins found in the area) we started our journey to Xining.
Today in Xining we managed to have our best cake in China west of Shanghai and the best barbecue dinner in China (anywhere). Also we visited Beishan (local mountain with plenty of Budhist caves and temples) and literally eat the dust of sandstorm and soak in the water of rainstorm. Tomorrow our plan is to visit Qinhai Hu (Qinhai lake) - the biggest salt water lake in China and the ground zero for avian flu in China (we miscalculated our visit by cca. two weeks since most of the birds already flew away to their summer territories). Further posts will follow in couple of days - still do not know from where :)
6/22/2009
Yet another relaunch!
In view of recent news, announcements, and restrictions I have decided it is enough, and engaged my brother in involuntarily posting posts on this site. In upcoming weeks you can find here summary of my travels (yeah yet another one :) around China - this time in scorching heat of summer. As the plan of the route is not yet settled, I will leave you lingering in limbo of uncertainty :) Enjoy!
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