Blogs from Dunhuang, Gansu, China, Asia
If you’re going to drive people across the desert in a ‘coffin’ bus at least make sure your aircon works.
Published: August 2nd 2011Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang
July 30th 2011
Until this point we had decided you can tell a lot about your future journey by the outside of the bus and the attitude of the driver. We hopped on our next sleeper bus and were asked to remove our shoes which we did excitedly assuming this bid positive signs for our 11 hour trip. Oh how wrong we were! As we got started on our very bumpy trip, we are actually convinced that we were literally driving off-road directly through the rocky desert, the driver turned on his version of an aircon or what we would call the fan. Not only was the air coming out hot (we measured it with our travel thermometer the next morning and it reached 39 degrees) but it stunk like a combination of a baby’s nappy and off milk. ... read more
July 29th 2011
After a quite pleasant and normal 5 hour bus ride we arrived in the desert town of Dunhuang. The trip from Jiauyugaun was spectacular as we had the front seats of the bus and an unobstructed view of the expansive mountains and desert sands in front, the further west we drove the hotter it got outside and by the end the whole road was pretty much a mirage. Our guesthouse was 10 minutes out of town at the very base of the giant sand dunes for which Dunhuang is famed. Nested amongst the trees we had our own little log cabin with a verandah and hammocks outside and we could hear the camels not far away waiting to take people up the dunes. On our first evening we went the short distance into town which actually ... read more
February 27th 2011
There are those of us who have an extensive knowledge of the whos, whens and whats of history, veritable encyclopaedias of this earth; and then there are the historically inept muppets like myself, whose brief escapade into the annals of the past via a couple of years of appropriate schooling ranged from 'how to build a motte and bailey castle' to 'World War One' with precious little inbetween. We are left perplexed and knee deep in metaphorical quicksand in any museum, gazing vainly at dates and place names we will surely never remember. These nuggets of wisdom are apparently intended to fit snugly into a jigsaw of historical comprehension which is a mere mental void. I feel the blame should be shouldered in equal measure by the influences of Hawkwind and Bexley and Erith Technical High ... read more
October 12th 2010
After several long driving days it was nice to have a couple of nights in Dunhang to relax (actually one more night would have been even better). We crossed from Xinjiang province into Gansu province and the difference is noticable in the food and the amount of development. Xinjiang is mostly Uighur and Islamic influence (lamb kebabs, pulled noodles, very little pork, etc). The food now is much more "authentic" Chinese where the default meat is normally pork and the dumplings are different. Also the city of Dunhuang is much larger and more modern than we expected. We went to the Mogao Caves in the morning which were spectacular. The carved statues and paintings on the walls are really something to be seen, and they are very well preserved. No photos are allowed inside the caves ... read more
August 9th 2010
It is funny how lines on a map can have such a huge effect on the ground. In this case the line in question was the border between China and ex-Soviet Central Asia. Up until then I hadn't realized how much has been destroyed in Central Asia, down to the peoples souls. When you reach Kashgar you discover to your amazement that you only entered Asia after crossing that border and that so far you have been somewhere in between, some kind of weird twilight zone. The Soviets did an amazing job at eradicating a lot of the cultures in their sphere of influence and substituting it with nothing in particular. The former Soviet states of Central Asia are neither here nor there, not belonging to Asia or to Europe. Arriving in Kashgar your senses are ... read more
The Let's Not Guide to the Takalaman Desert
Published: August 24th 2010Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang
July 26th 2010
Dear all, In similar recurrence to our adventures in the high Pamirs, we have ventured to remotest China. A note; Remotest China: Instead of there being lots of overpopulated villages in between the vast metropolises there are vast tracts of inhospitable lands. One such tract is the Taklamakan Desert, which I suppose like all blogs on such a place I feel a necessity to tell you that it, in the ancient language of these parts, means “He who enters does not leave”, a nice sentiment that really brings out the intrepid/stubborn mindedness inside me. So, these days the Han Chinese have quite put an end to the claims of the ancient peoples by being not one but two highways across its width. So when crossing such a desert, one would generally advise another to take ... read more
#121 Teaching at Taizhou Teachers College, China (Part 3, Desert & Crescent Moon Spring and Mingsha Sand Mountain, DUNHUANG, Gansu)
Published: March 8th 2010Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang
March 9th 2010
Dunhuang is a small but ancient and historical city in China's province of Guansu. It is an Oasis city along the fabled Silk Road, leading from the important city of Xi'an (home of the Terra Cotta Warriors) toward the countries of the West. Dunhuang is the half way point from the ancient metropolis of Xi'an to the borders of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Pakistan, and India and was an important desert-oasis rest-stop for the travelling caravans of merchants, religious and diplomatic envoys, and adventurers heading to and from China. It is a very beautiful and green city, but is completely surrounded by huge desert sand dunes and larger forboding mountains. Dunhuang has seen its importance rise and fall with the development of more modern and efficient transportation of China's valuable exports of Silk, Porcelain, Spices, Jade throughout ... read more
September 9th 2009
This is the first blog entry on the trip, and it's long over due. Have been in China for 2 weeks already, and spend the first week or so meeting friends in HK and Shanghai. The past three days were spent in Dun Huang, a major silk road city 2000+ years ago. Actually it was the border city that controlled the flow of goods and immigrants between China and Persia/Europe/India. Ideal beginning for my silk road trip. Amidst oceans of sand dunes and mountains of martian landscape, Dun Huang is an oasis filled with trees, grape vines, and cotton farms. The desert wasn't as prevalent before, which is another testimony of human civilization's negative impact. I suspect much of the greenery today is unnatural, forcefully created with ground water to drive agriculture and tourism. First day ... read more
June 17th 2009
I have been to Dunhuang before... I know it's in the middle of nowhere... really... but two summers ago, during a 1 week break from my studies in Beijing, I went to Dunhuang by myself to see the desert, and to explore the Mogao Caves. There was something about Dunhuang two years ago that I loved. I don't know if it was the food, or the people, or just the general atmosphere, but Dunhuang has always held a special place in my traveling heart since traveling there. At first, however, it was not on our itinerary. I didn't think we'd have time to fit it in, and thought we'd have more time in Turpan, so I thought I could show Witt the desert there. But when we arrived in Jiayuguan, we learned that the tourist attractions ... read more
October 28th 2008
Dunhuang, a dry place; lies in an irrigated cotton-producing oasis. Mogao Ku (Mogao Grottoes), one of the few famous grottoes in China situated some 25km southeast of Dunhuang town. Mogao Ku consists of 492 caves (not all open to the visitors). The first cave was built by Monk Lezun in 366 & the last ones carved out at the time of the Mongolian conquest in 1277. After that the Magao sunk into oblivion, until Monk Wang Yuanlu settled here at the turn of 20th century. He found more than 40,000 manuscripts in Cave No.17 & sold 6500 manuscripts to a Hungarian-British explorer Sir Aurel Stein between 1907 and 1914. A Frenchman bought a further 6000 manuscripts. All manuscripts found in Mogao Ku is classified under national treasures. Some of the paintings dates back 1600 years old ... read more
