Travel Blog » Asia » China » Gansu

Gansu Travel Blogs

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.

China

Map of China

China's Flag

Recommended Books:

Hostels in China
Latest Gansu Blog Entries
Gansu Photos

By Mercante
October 29th 2007

Il Tibet fuori dal Tibet

Asia » China » Gansu

Labrang, Tibet

Questa Cina non finisce mai di stupire: mi spingo sempre piu' ad oriente con l'intenzione di entrare nel cuore del paese ed eccomi... in Tibet! Ufficialmente non e' proprio cosi', mi trovo infatti nella provincia del Gansu, che si allunga da Ovest ad Est per piu' di mille chilometri, ma una volta raggiunta la grande metropoli di Lanzhou, vero e proprio volto della nuova Cina proiettata verso il futuro, a sole 4 ore di autobus si entra in un paesaggio fatto di grandi montagne, vasti pascoli e mandrie di yak: e' questa la storica regione dell'Admo, per secoli parte integrante, e [View Full Entry]

By Yves en Anne
October 28th 2007

Xiahe en Tongren

Asia » China » Gansu » Xiahe

Vrolijke werkman
Iedereen heeft zo zijn open lucht werkatelier langs de kant van de straat

Dag allemaal, Na Langmusi zijn we naar Xiahe getrokken. Om zeven uur 's morgens in de vrieskou een overvolle bus genomen naar Xiahe. Er waren geen zitplaatsen meer dus moesten Yves en ik (met andere Tibetanen en Chinezen) in het gangpad zitten, verstopt voor eventuele wegcontroles onderweg. Hoewel de rit maar drie uur duurde was het een van de minst aangename die we al gedaan hebben. Ik had weer eens migraine en zat misselijk met mijn plastiek zakske klaar op de grond. De verstikkende lucht in de bus en de penetrante geuren van zure yakboter en pas opgestoken sigaretten hielpen natuurlijk [View Full Entry]

By Yves en Anne
October 26th 2007

Langmusi

Asia » China » Gansu » Langmusi

Oma en kleindochter

Dag allemaal, We hebben niet veel tijd doorgebracht in Lanzhou, wat maar een tussenstop was om tot in Langmusi te geraken. Na een luxueuze nacht in een kamer met badkamer(en bad!) hebben we 's morgens vroeg de minibus genomen richting Langmusi. De rit zou 10 uur duren maar dankzij de Chinese ijver is er een nieuwe weg aangelegd en werden we na 7 uur rijden opeens pardoes uit de minibus gezet. Groot was onze verbazing toen we daar gepakt en gezakt langs de kant van de weg stonden, omringd door besneeuwde bergen in the middle of nowhere. We zijn dan maar [View Full Entry]

By tegunk
October 16th 2007

...tibet? part II

Asia » China » Gansu

so, the journey continues...... yesterday was another lovely day in xiahe. i grew to really like that town in the short amount of time we spent there. only about two or three days, but it was great. people were pretty nice (although i've become really paranoid about thieves and so forth as i hear more horror stories. i've gotten really cynical about talking to small children, which is a necessity i hate. they're taught so young to hit you up for money, and they seem to be at an ideal level to slip their little hands into your pockets), and there [View Full Entry]

By ktw
October 14th 2007

Learning Tibetan

Asia » China » Gansu » Xiahe

Monks at Labulang Lamasery

Xiahe... a long way from Jiayuguan: 10 hours of snoring men and screaming children, some meaty vegetarian dumplings in Lanzhou and a 6 hour busride to 3000m above sea level - the Tibetan Plateau, and we're in Xiahe. It feels like a different country. The bus station is in the East of the town, and one long road of shops and houses stretches west until it arrives at Labulang Lamasery, the largest Tibetan Monastery outside Lhasa. The streets are even more chaotic than usual, three wheeled bike/trucks that sound more like tractors zoom up and down, the ubiquitous green taxis beep [View Full Entry]

By tegunk
October 14th 2007

tibet?

Asia » China » Gansu » Xiahe

after way too much time on trains with disgustingly loud snoring men rousing homicidal feelings in both kt and i, one hour in lanzhou (my only opinion was "big, grey, city; yuck"), and then another cramped busride, we're finally in the first place that i really liked upon arrival. when i told kt "this place seems nice", she nearly fell out of the open-air taxi we were catching to our hostel. she informs me that's the first time i've said that since we left australia. surely not! apparently so. but, thus far, xiahe has been nothing but lovely. we found a [View Full Entry]

By tegunk
October 12th 2007

love and hate in jiayuguan

Asia » China » Gansu » Jiayuguan

the trek begins...
we headed out into the unknown...

at the moment i am feeling mightily pissed off. the dumb computer won't let me access myspace, i'm exhausted and my body hurts from walking up sand dunes and bits of the great wall, and sitting on cramped buses, i've got my period, and jiayuguan isn't doing it for me. there's another 5 hours to kill before we can get on a train and get out of here. we're on our way to lanzhou tonight, which is the most polluted city in china (or was it the world?), but it's just a stop on the way to xiahe. so. that's my [View Full Entry]

By ktw
October 12th 2007

Camel bum and Jiayuguan

Asia » China » Gansu » Jiayuguan

camels at sunrise

so... my birthday prezzie to myself was an overnight camel trek out into the Gobi Desert. For 300 kuai we got everything included, from a local guide to instant noodles served out of the cup around a fire. It was a pretty amazing experience. Our guide, Li, has a face like a dried up fig - brown and wrinkly, and when his face relaxes you can see that the depths of his wrinkles are still pink - not tanned brown like the rest of him. His face crinkles up pretty easily in the glare of the desert, and he's quick with [View Full Entry]

By tegunk
October 9th 2007

dunhuang ho

Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang

me n the camel
it may not have been a comfy ride, but how cool do we look?

my sleepy brain and cold fingers are just about co-ordinated enough for a quick entry, so i might write this in point form, but i'm sure you'll understand that this place is just as lovely and amazing as all the others have been so far.....i'm just buggered. our shortest train ride yet, on the 7th (the eve of kt's birthday) - only 13 hours or so. another cramped hard sleeper, but it was an overnight trip and therefore relatively painless as we could just sleep most of the way. what also made it more fun was making friends with the two [View Full Entry]

By ktw
October 9th 2007

Dunhuang

Asia » China » Gansu » Dunhuang

T-Gunk and camel

Ahhh. I'm an old lady now, so I'm allowed to start this entry with "I remember when..." but since I've never been here before I can't compare. Tegan gave me a vegan Oreo cookie with a lighter flame that threatened to set the train on fire at about 6am on my birthday, mmm tasty. Dunhuang has been a mixed experience so far. The train ride here was relatively easy, hardly anyone on board we crossed the desert for another 13 or 14 hours. It was pretty bare out there, but we watched the desert change from brown to reddish to yellowy [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Asia » China » Gansu