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Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

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By MattyV
January 1st 2008

No money no cry, No visa no time - now with photos of Han-Dynasty Great Wall

Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang

The road to the Jade Gate Pass

Happy New Year to everyone! While my New Years' may not have been the best I have had, I had other things to worry about and they are the two things that travellers definitely don't want to be worrying about: money and visas. Yesterday, after my day trip with the taxi driver I hired him for another day to see a few more of Dunhuang's amazing sights, however after getting back to my hotel I realised that I was a little short of cash, I had enough for the day trip tomorrow and the entrance fees but not enough for food [View Full Entry]

The other entrance to the Jade Gate Pass

By MattyV
December 31st 2007

Caves, dunes and camels

Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang

The outside of the Mogao Caves
Despite the fact that the actual wall has been concreted and in a way Chineseified, the caves themselves make up for any worries you may have.

Mogao Caves and Crescent Moon Lake Unfortunately, whilst typing this blog, and getting halfway through it, I somehow managed to drop my LP on to the keyboard and in the process it deleted everything that I had written, and I hadn't saved it. So, even though I am frustrated beyond all measure I will try and re-create the masterpiece that it was. Yesterday, I managed to hire a taxi driver to take me to the Mogao Cvaes and the Crescent Moon Lake at Mighsha Shan (Singing Sands Mountain) so I woke up early after getting a good night's sleep to find [View Full Entry]

Some original artwork on the outer walls

The housing of the giant Maitreya statue

By MattyV
December 30th 2007

Why does it keep getting colder?

Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang

Jiayuguan at night - bus stop1
Even the bus stops have neonlights!

Dunhuang I arrived in Dunhuang this morning and it is easily the coldest place I have ever been to. My fingers froze during the 500m walk from the train station to the taxi and bus stand. Once again, good old winter has meant thant anything recommnedd in the LP by way of hostels, hotels or restaurants is closed. They should have two editions, a sumer one (which could just be the normal edition) and then a winter one, where they remove 90% of the thing recommended in the book. This meant that finding an actual dorm room was impossible and once [View Full Entry]

Changing landscape as Dunhuang approaches

By MattyV
December 27th 2007

Jiayuguan by bicycle - now with 3 more exciting photos

Asia » China » Gansu » Jiayuguan

Stelae and spinifex

Its cold in Jiayuguan, especially when riding a bicycle So I arrived in Jiayuguan early this morning, so early that most of the hostels or hotels were still closed. The two places that I did have a look at both said no when i asked about dorm rooms, so etiher they were both full (unlikely) or they didn't want me to pay the cheap rate, so I ended up forking out for a decent room with a fantastic shower - really, this thing is amazing, it reminds me of the whizz-bang toilets that the Japanese have: more buttons than you know [View Full Entry]

The Great Wall stretches north of the fort to a river the name of which I can

By 5vor12
December 25th 2007

gruesse aus tibet

Asia » China » Gansu » Xiahe

Frohe Weihnachten, joyeux noel and happy christmas

herzliche weihnachtsgruesse aus xiahe in tibet! nun ist es wiedermal einige tage her, dass wir uns gemeldet haben. inzwischen ist mal wieder einiges passiert. sind von lanzhou aus, wo wir heidi und jutta (am 22.12.) getroffen haben, am 23. mit dem bus nach sueden richtung tibet gefahren. zu weihnachten in buddhistischer umgabung, viel schnee und hohen bergen, haben wir uns so gedacht. aber wie immer sah die realitaet anders aus, wenngleich viel schoener und atemberaubender als angenommen. erster stop nach lanzhou: bruetenhitze, muss den fliess offen tragen. unfassbar, mitten im dezember [View Full Entry]

By 5vor12
December 20th 2007

noch vier tage bis weihnachten?

Asia » China » Gansu » Lanzhou

frohe vorweihnachtstage euch allen! sitzen gerade in lanzhou, einer millionenstadt irgendwo in der noerdlichen mitte chinas. eine stadt die sich damit ruehmen kann in den neunziger jahren als region mit der hoechsten luftverschmutzung chinas gegolten zu haben. angesichts der nicht eben kleinen konkurrenz in diesem ranking eine zu beachtende leistung! heute soll alles besser sein. naja, die sonne scheint (vermutlich) taeglich, zumindest laesst sich am gelb-braunen himmel ein heller fleck ausmachen und gegen nachmittag kann man, wenn man ganz genau hinsieht, sogar die berge wahrnehmen die [View Full Entry]

By MattyV
December 10th 2007

Peace in the mountains

Asia » China » Gansu » Xiahe

More monk boots

A relaxing day in Xiahe Okay so last night the Pierre (sorry if I spelt it incorrectly) and myself headed to a Tibetan bar/disco that we had been to the night before but I forgot to write about, and this is a proper Tibetan bar/disco. There was no sign above the door, just a flashing neon light and a whole group of Tibetan men entering and exiting. So we entered and I was immediately struck by the kitsch of the place but somehow thats what made it so great. It was a reasonably small rectangular room, with couches lining the walls [View Full Entry]

By MattyV
December 9th 2007

A Magical Bus Trip

Asia » China » Gansu » Xiahe

Valleys

Friends through silence So yesterday I caught a bus very early from Xining to Xiahe. I woke up at 6am and was out of the hotel heading to the bus station by 6.30; it was freezing cold. Some how I managed to navigate my way to the right bus and stood around waiting for the driver to come and load our stuff onto the bus. Once all the gear was loaded and we started getting on the bus an argument broke out between the driver of the bus and a family of Tibetans, something to do with not having enough tickets. [View Full Entry]

By MattyV
December 9th 2007

Prayers in the snow

Asia » China » Gansu » Xiahe

Snow!
Snow in the courtyard of the hostel.

A day full of surprises Okay so when I got up and looked out the window something didn't look quite right, so I opened the door and stepped outside into the snow. Yeah, it snowed over night, its kind of cold here. Anyway, after the excitement of the snow wore off it was off to the monastery with a French guy I met the night before, we were to take a tour of the monastery with a monk who spoke English. The Labrang Monastery in Xiahe is ranked as one of the 6 glorious monasteries of the yellow hat sect of [View Full Entry]

By MattyV
December 6th 2007

Repost: Best laid plans of mice and men

Asia » China » Gansu » Lanzhou

Water show1

Plans change, deal with it REPOST: I neglected to mention that the night before, in Xian, I went to a sound and light show at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda and it was amazing. Then as we wandered back towards our hostel we came across a heaps of people doing exercises and dances, all following someone with an umbrella and waving fans to te beat of massive drums being played. It was really a good way to end a great day at the warriors. Had my first rough day today. I had booked a ticket to Lanzhou, nothing really there its [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » China » Gansu