Blogs from Gansu, China, Asia - page 27

We left Xian railway station bound for Lanzhou on yet another 13 hour overnight trip - the best part of which was being able to see the first class waiting room! It was full of very comfortable sofas and large screen tv’s and quite a contrast from the usual railway waiting rooms. Nick said that Xian is the only city that automatically allows foreigners to use the first class waiting room, regardless of whatever class of tickets they hold. We arrived in Lanzhou early next morning and only had time for a quick trip to the loo and then onto a bus for the six hour trip to Xiahe. Xiahe is home to the Labrang Monastery, one of the largest working Tibetan monasteries outside of Lhasa. It is set in a beautiful valley in Gansu Province ... read more

9:00am, Tara guesthouse, Xiahe I was so excited today. At 10, i have got a tour with one of the monks through the monastery and after that, a horse ride through the grasslands of Sanke. I heard Ganjia Grasslands was better but i can't afford going there alone. So i'd settle for second best. 10:00am, The Labrang (or Labulang) Monastery Ehhh, the monks of all monks! My guide is the youngest of three sons. His two borthers is also learning (since learning never stops in buddhism) in one of the colleges at the monastery. Labulang monastery has altogether 6 colleges. Lower philosophy, higher philosophy, divination and i dont know what else. Anyway, after almost two days of being here, i realized that these monks speak english better than a lot of chinese whom i have met! ... read more

Jung Chang, in her 2003 introduction to "Wild Swans" makes the following observations about her visits to modern day China - "Exhaltation and excitement are exhausting. So are exasperation and outrage, which dog my every step here." Well, on a slightly less dramatic level, we know how she feels. In the interests of anyone reading this, I'll save my winge to the end. Our overnight loogie express from Beijing deposited us surprisingly refreshed in Xian, although without a Pacsafe cuddling my camera gear for the night I wouldn't have slept a wink. I've always scoffed at them but given the layout of a Chinese hard sleeper it was essential. We got picked up at the station along with several others, and by 9.00am we had ganged together to charter a minivan to the Terracotta warriors. ... read more

Having heard so much of the Yellow River, I was finally there .. ... read more

For the Chinese and many East Asian countries, a month after a baby is born the child is one year old; the point where the child is considered viable, having gone through the highest risk periods of infant mortality with life beginning with conception. As I was conceived in China, I am beginning this story of my life's journeys with the marriage of my parents on January 11, 1949. My parents William Donald (hereafter referred to as Dad) and Edna Dorothy (known simply as Bonnie since her college days, and hereafter referred to as Mom), were married at the mission station in Labrang, Gansu Province, China, in what is ethnographically Tibet. Labrang (Chinese name is Xiahe) is a major Tibetan religious center, with a monastery which at the time had over 5000 monks, but let's back ... read more