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
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