Traversing the Silk Road (IV)

Day 7: Urumqi >>> Lanzhou

The next day, we got up early to go to the local Red Mountain Park and there we can see the whole city.

Then we made our way to the Grand Bazaar, but there, my mom spotted a Carrefour across the road, and we ended up buying all our gifts for relatives from there. Well, my mom's right, the bazaar and a lot of the tourist souvenir places they over price things, and the items are actually not that nice - food wise, as they all say they don't have preservatives, or are all natural. But remember, these things are sold to tourists, who are not always the wisest when they are told they are getting a bargain, and also very unlikely to return if the goods are discovered to be bad quality.

So we ended up shopping in Carrefour for dried beef and lamb jerky, as well as all the different kinds of dried raisins and nuts. We also bought some spices that they use to grill lamb skewers with.

After lunch, we made our way to the airport to fly back to Lanzhou.

Day 8: Lanzhou >>> Hong Kong

Nothing much happened on the last day, just flew back.

On this trip, we got to know some of our fellow group members, and there was one pair that was particularly interesting. They are a pair of friends who have known each other since before they were even born. They grew up together and now travel together. One lives in San Francisco and the other lives in Hong Kong. One is quiet and reserved and the other is outgoing and loves to talk. They even shared stories of about their family - well mainly the outgoing one did. Her family used to own pawn shops and they had lots of interesting things pawned. People even pawned their blankets and shoes in the old days.

Seeing these two grannies, I hope that I'm as lucky as they are and will have other granny friends growing old with me when I'm their age.

Traversing the Silk Road (III)

Day 5: Hami >>> Turpan

The next day, we woke up early to visit the mausoleums of Hami Uyghur Royal Family. Nothing special here, it's just that the Uyghurs' are Muslims so the buildings were built in Islamic style. Also we got there so early, the Mausoleum's tour guide had not even clocked in for work, so the security guard ended up taking us around... we only bought the tickets when we were leaving at the end of the tour.

Then we were back on the road on our way to Turpan to visit the infamous Fiery Mountain. The Fiery Mountain are mentioned in the "Journey to the West" about the Monkey King traveling west wards with his master and two other disciples.

On the way, we stopped at another grotto, and got a glimpse of some impressive landscapes. At the Grotto of A Thousand Buddhas, our local tour guide was a young 16-year-old boy who showed us around the different grottos. He explained that many of the paintings and wall carvings have been removed by foreigners and are now in museums. In a way, it's a shame that we cannot see them here in the original setting, but then again, if it wasn't for them taking the paintings away, they might not have been preserved at all.

Next we visited the Old City of Gaochang, we entered the old city by donkey carts, and the city was like ruins, all the old buildings were built from the soil and had been weathered away. There is a building in which Monkey King's master had lectured in, but they had rebuilt that, so that's why it looks so nice and new.

Behind the Old City of Gaochang, we can see the Fiery Mountain, and our next stop was to the Fiery Mountain itself. There we see the Monkey King's rod as a thermometer, and other famous murals and statues of scenes/stories from the Journey to the West. In the story, the Monkey King stole the Fan Princess's fan to put out the heat of the Fiery Mountain, and the Fan Princess is the wife of the Devil Bull King. Ahhh, brings back memories of all the stories that I heard as a child.

Then we visited this "local family" who planted grapes and produced raisins. The host was the "clan leader" and he told us he had specifically stayed behind for us. He also then went on to introduce all the different types of raisins and what good they will do for our body if we take a couple of each every day - some were good for the liver, or for curing asthma, or for strengthening etc etc.

When he finally finished talking, all the ladies in the tour group went crazy and started buying things. I have to admit the raisins all tasted pretty good, but they may have been too sweet.... and I just thought they were quite expensive.... so in the end my mom and I didn't buy any.

When most of the ladies had bought all the raisins they wanted, then the clan leader revealed another pile of "more superior" raisins..... hahahaha.... all the ladies then started to complain and the clan leader said what made these raisins more superior is because they were dried on the vine. These were even more expensive, and we saw that he also had almonds and goji berries as well. But my mom pointed out to me that the goji berries were too bright and red! It looked like they had been dyed.

So in China, never believe anything....

Day 6: Turpan >>> Urumqi

In the morning, we visited another Islamic mausoleum first, then started to make our way to Urumqi.

Finally I can show you what our "natural restrooms" look like.... men can just go without cover, the ladies have to crawl into the hole there, or use an umbrella to shield ourselves. It was definitely difficult at first, it was so weird that you might have trouble going at first... hehehe....

Along the route to Urumqi, we also passed by the largest Wind Power station in China.

When we got to Urumqi, we experienced the traffic congestion that is very well known. Of all the cities we went to, Urumqi was the only one that had congested roads ALL THE TIME! However, I was surprised that this city was very developed. There were lots of new high rises and residential buildings. They even have an advance bus system called the BRT and their bus stations look really nice!

We passed through the city and continued on to Tianshan Tianqi (heavenly mountain and heavenly lake). This area is high in the mountain and looks very much like the rocky mountains and surrounding areas in Canada.

Here we also tried some lamb skewers and also their local bread (kind of like pita bread).

Traversing the Silk Road (II)

Day 3: Zhangye >>> Dunhuang

In the morning, we made our way back to the temple of the sleeping buddha. Throughout the trip, the places that we went to there were not a lot of tourists around, and very often the early morning destinations that we visited, we were the only group there.

To me, there's nothing particularly special or interesting about buddhas figures and temples in China, there are too many of them, and they all claim to be the oldest, or the biggest, or the most well preserved etc. But I enjoyed the tranquil environment as there were no incense burning and no crowds. They even had a nice backyard for visitors to sit.

The buddha was made from wood beams and then covered with mud and the details were pretty delicate, a testament to the skills of the makers. Due to the dry climate along the silk road, many of these (as we'll see later along our journey as well) are very well preserved.

In many of the cities that we visited, we also saw many grandmas and grandpas doing morning exercise like fan dancing, sword dancing, tai chi etc.

Next we started to make our way to Dunhuang, and along the way, we stopped at a factory that produced the Luminescent Cup. This luminescent cup was used by the Kings and Queens of China's many dynasties. The cup is made from jade that has been grounded and polished until it is very thin and so giving it's luminescence. The ones used by Kings and Queens were more ornate looking than these.

You can see also that when we fill it up with water, the water does not spill over but forms a kind of dome shape shield.... this is because the jade used has a strong magnetic field.

After our fellow tour group members purchased their luminescent cups, we made our way to the Great Wall. I've been to the Great Wall near Beijing twice, and that is really an impressive feat by the Chinese. The part of the Great Wall that we will be visiting this time was made in the Ming Dynasty and is the most west part of the Great Wall.

Jiayuguan is the name of the "city" and the certified by UNESCO as National Tourist Attraction, so there have been many conditions implemented to protect the surrounding environment. We were only allowed to travel within the area by foot, bicycle or their green-vehicles (cars powered electricity and minimizing any carbon emissions).

Actually Jiayuguan was more like one of the many border control points for China. The "city" or fortress is made up of two areas, travelers come into the city into the exterior check point area, where their goods are inspected and customs declared. Then there was the inner "city" where the officials lived, and for travelers who needed to stay overnight they can find lodging, food and entertainment.

top left: looks like mini figurines doesn't it, but these are actually life size, an area to show tourists what life was like inside the "city" walls

top middle: the Great Wall extending eastwards

bottom left: there was a stage for Chinese opera performances within the "city" walls

bottom right: an entertainer within the "city"walls

Jiayuguan is not as impressive as the Great Wall in Beijing in terms of height of the walls, as they are much lower. But it was interesting to see and imagine how lively this border point must have been in the past.

We then got back onto the bus to continue to make our way to Dunhuang, along the way, we stopped at a fruit stand selling hami melons. The region is well known for their hami melons and grapes.

It was quite funny, as the sun had already set and there was very little light left, and the fruit stand actually didn't have a light, so all the tourists took out their phones or flashlights. It looked like some illegal exchange of goods was taking place.

The hami melons were only RMB 5 each! Very cheap, and they also sold dried hami melon slices. They were pretty good, very sweet and a little chewy.

We finally arrived in Dunhuang around 9pm and had dinner and then checked into our hotel. This was the best hotel of the whole trip, that's why I took some photos. Also, Dunhuang is probably the cleanest city you'll find in China. The streets are extremely clean.

Dunhuang was an extremely important city in history as it was one of the main stops along the silk road and was extremely wealthy. It was also the city that "oversaw" the north-west part of China for the King.

Day 4: Dunhuang >>> Hami

The next day, we began our 8 hour journey to Hami, but before we really got into the long journey, we made a stop at Mingshashan (Mountain of whistling sand) and Yueyachuen (Crescent Oasis).

We rode on the backs of camels to go into the desert, and wore these fluorescent shoe sleeves, as these helped us to trek through the desert sand more easily.

We arrived at Crescent Oasis, and it was a disappointment as the oasis had decreased in size and was blocked off by railings. They actually put water back in to the oasis to keep it from disappearing!

This is my first time in a desert, and I have to say, it's a thrilling experience, especially as you see the endless hills of sand. Thank goodness it was early in the morning and it was not hot. We had the beautiful early morning light and that made all the scenery amazing.

Next we made our way to the MoGao Grottos, these are chambers/caves with buddhist paintings and carvings. A lot of the paintings have faded from the sunlight and also because people who lived in the area in the past did not know how to preserve them. They did not value the skills and time and effort that was spent on these. We were not allowed to take photos of the paintings in the Grottos, and also, only a limited number of grottos are opened to visitors each day, because the carbon dioxide that we breath out actually will damage the paintings over time, so each grotto has a carbon dioxide meter and when the level of carbon dioxide reaches a certain level, that grotto will be closed.

The paintings are done with mineral paints made from natural mineral, and are actually quite vibrant in colour. There are also carvings of buddhas, the tallest one is 37 meters tall, and you can see that parts were repaired during a later dynasty as the skills are different.

Then we continued on our way to Hami. On the way, we saw the Gobi Desert. Actually "Gobi" is not the name of the desert. In fact, desert means a 'sea of sand' and Gobi means 'waterless place' in Mongolian. So along the way, on either side of the highway, we see the cracked earth where little can grow and thrive, this is the Gobi. The Desert, is Mingshashan (Mountain of Whistling Sand) which we visited that morning. The reason why it's called Mingshashan is because each sand particle has a hole in the middle and when the wind blows there's a whistling sound, but cannot be heard by humans.

top left: Gobi along the road

top right: We reach Xinjiang Province

bottom left: one of the many factories we see along the Silk Road - Qinghai and Xinjiang provinces are rich in natural resources, so there are many oil refineries and mineral mining and refining factories along the road

bottom right: one of the many cotton fields, hand-picked cotton