We are fortunate that the travel agent Marvin Wu lives in Qingdao, so he picked us up at the apartment and took us to the airport in his very nice SUV. Even though the traffic was light, it took nearly an hour to get there. Marvin made sure that we got on the right airplane, bound for Shanghai. Apparently, there was no direct flight to Urumqi, so even though Shanghai seemed to being heading East, it was there that we went. Met two other couples from Shanghai heading West , but on a different flight. A total of 28 people had to come from different cities, including a father and daughter, friends of Marvin Wu coming from Australia (Tyson 12 and Dad “John” a medical doctor), Beijing to be coordinated, all arriving at different times in Urumqi (pronounced “you rumchee”).
We stayed a very nice 5 star hotel, the Majestic, which had all the required amenities.
October 3, 2009
We traveled by bus to Heavenly Lake, about 100 Kms through basically desert at first, territory that could have been in many places in the USA or Canada. There were many people living in “Yurts”, the round tent traditionally the home of Mongolians. We were able to visit one up close.
The route to Heavenly lake takes one up 33 hairpin turns and very scenic. Nang bread was discovered at the base of the lake and became a tour favorite food. Basically a flat round bread about one foot in diameter and can last for days as a traditional food of the local people.
We took a short boat ride on the lake, observing several temple, or pagodas around the lake. You can actually rent a Yurt as a hotel. It could compare to lakes in the mountains at home. Very peaceful. We eventually returned to Urumqi and visited a large Muslim mosque. This area of China is mostly inhabited by Muslims and are called the Ughur people (pronounced “weegur”). The have a lot of special rights, although not enough in their minds. They do not learn Chinese until grade 5 in school and are very much a separate society. In July there had been a serious incident in Uhrumqi, where 200 people were killed by the Uhgur people, causing a lot of concern.
Because the Muslim market closed early, our travel guide found a delightful evening show and dinner, put on to demonstrate the Uhgur culture. It was very nice, even though we did not understand the spoken parts. Stayed in Urumqi a second night.
October 4, 2009
Today we traveled by bus to the “Turpan City” area, also called “Turfan” to visit the ancient city of Jiaohe and the ancient well irrigation system. In addition we visited an Uhgur family who appear to raise grapes for a living. They have a very comfortable home and surrounding property.
They are likely considered well to do. This is still a very much Muslin/Uhgur area. Transportation is more often by bicycle, or small motorized truck.
The Ancient City of Jiaohe was built on an elevated area between two rivers. The elevated area is several hundred feet above the rivers and had steep cliffs, being a veritable fortress as a result. All of this area forms part of the areas known as the “Silk Road” traveled for centuries, via camel, on foot or by donkey.
The Karse irrigation system is ingenious being 1400 years old and without it, the area would never have become capable of supporting life. Basically wells up to 100 meters were dug at higher elevations (below mountain areas) and then tunnels connecting the wells led to lower elevations and eventually the water flowed in to the city and adjacent areas. The wells account for 30 % of the water used today, the balance by modern wells and pumps. Stayed in Turpan that night.
October 5, 2009
Today we traveled by bus to several areas, including the Tuyugou Valley and the Ancient City of Gaochang. In Tuyugou we walked around the village area and toured a local residents home. Very humble, but seemingly happy. We observed clothes being washed in tubs at the house and in the stream. It is very hot climate and people often have their beds outside, because the house are too hot at night (cooler outside). Wood is very scarce, so it is stored on the flat root tops, both for storage and for insulation as well as a fuel source. All in all a very peaceful area, but isolated today.
The Ancient City of Gaochang is accessed through very quaint country roads and Ughur villages. Again very Muslim in nature, very humble, almost no cars. There are lots of other nationalities in this area. Because of the National holiday, there were lots of children around. We rode to the Ancient City via Donkey carts. It covered a huge area and was a central city on the Silk Road some two centuries ago. The desert winds erode the formations of the buildings over time, but much remains.
The final chapter of the day was being taken to the train station, 50 kms out of town for an overnight ride in a “soft sleeper”, meaning there were 4 beds to a compartment, and actually were quite comfortable. It seems that the railroads did not follow the Silk Road in this case. We got on the train at 9 PM. There were lots of non orientals in the train station, from all over the world and going different places. Jack, our very capable local guide left us here.
October 6, 2009
Arrived at the next train station at 4 AM (the town of Liyuan), but the next city, Dunhuang was 2 hours (100 kms) away by bus over a very rough road, the National Highway #312, (which had been a very good road up to that point). Henry was our local guide, a very quiet spoken, but efficient and determined guide who got us where we needed to go, even though this group can be easily distracted and fails to listen much of the time. They are just like school children, seem to have to be told multiple times. Most tried to sleep on the bus, but it was difficult.
After a breakfast in the next hotel, we traveled to the Gobi desert (that fabled place we have all heard about). It is mostly gravel, not sand. The morning trip was to the Magao Grotto area. They are located 25 kms south east of Dunhuang. A huge system of caves (Grottos) along a high cliff wall built by Buddiist monks starting about 2400 years ago. We had an excellent and well informed local guide. There are a total of 492 known caves, many not accessible. In the ones we visited, there were huge Budda like statues carved in each one. 50,000 scrolls, or paper records were discovered in 1900 an subsequently many of those records were taken by primarily Europeans, and are now located in museums in London and Germany. They refer to those as thefts”.
The day was capped off by a visit to a sand dune area on the edge of Dunhuang where we were taken for a camel ride, albeit very short.
Huge mountain like sand dunes containing an Oasis and Pagoda were interesting and scenic. There were ultra light plane rides and tubing down the dunes as other options.
This certainly adds to the record of unusual activities. As to be expected, the weather was hot and sunny. We have a lot of very good meals of various, but edible kinds. Coke is deemed to be the “health protector”, killer of unwanted things.
The final activity was to catch an airplane from Dunhuang to Xi’an (home of the Terra Cotta warriors. Just prior to that, we visited the obligatory “government” store to view carpets and other items, all of course for sale. We purchased a small, but beautiful silk rug (1.5 m by 40 cm?). I am sure it was a bargain, because the price was reduced by two thirds? We took it with us, wrapped very small. Earlier, we had purchased two smaller rugs and had them shipped to Canada. We shall see if they arrive.
October 7, 2009
Arrived at the Dynasty Hotel in Xi’an, which was also a very nice 5 star facility. The weather here was rainy and/or smoggy, but pleasant. The morning found us in heavy traffic and a new local tour guide “Cynthai”, a capable well spoken young lady. We traveled to the Wall, 14.7 kms long around the city. Spent some time walking along some of the wall, observing the moat and surroundings. They claimed it was the only completely walled city in the world. Most of the city is now outside of the wall.
From there we traveled to the home of the Terra Cotta warriors, stopping for lunch along the way. This was a most unusual place. The government has done a magnificent job of creating facilities including 4 large covered buildings over the Terra Cotta Warriors, which have been excavated to date. Many foreigners and locals were visiting (still Chinese National Holiday). Well worth going to see, even if one takes into account the human tragedy in lives and money.
Each warrior looks different.
This one is constructed of wood and was on display at the Beijing Olympics.
Do I look like a great warrior or what?
October 8, 2009
Flew home early this AM to Qingdao, with Betty, met by Marvin and personally driven to our apartment. Good to be back and time to get back into lesson preparation.
