Blogs from Qinghai, China, Asia

In this TravelBlog #132, Part II of my visit to the Province of Qinghai, I am introducing the "GREAT MOSQUE" of Xining, Qinghai's capital city. After some research, here is some additional information about this least visited and poorest of the China's provinces: Qinghai is bordered by Tibet, Xinjiang, Gansu and Sichuan at an average altitude of more than 13,000 feet on the Tibetan plateau. Here, summers are hot and winters are cold and dry. The province is home of a mix of minority peoples, mostly Hui Muslims and Tibetans, along with Kazakhs and Mongols. Geographically part of Tibet and historically a distant and obscure region, Qinghai for centuries supported nomadic herdsmen. Later it found fame as a distant "Gulag"! The central government is making great efforts to develop the capital of Xining, infusing much money ... read more

I went to Qinghai province last week for Fall break on a whim with a backpack and a sleeping bag, boots and the notion of camping. Well, I never used the sleeping bag, it was colder there then I expected and due to events on the train ride there I was not feeling up to the challenge. I took a train from Beijing on the 24th of October, two Sundays ago and because I bought my ticket that Friday there were no sleeper tickets available and I ended up with nothing but a seat for 23 hours. The bigger issue ended up being something I had not expected. Everyone seated near me wanted to talk to me when they found out I could speak some Chinese so I had a bunch of enthusiastic people trying to ... read more

Well folks it has been a little while since I have sent an update on my travels. There are a few reasons for this, one; the internet places are few and far between and second I have not been real interested in sitting in front of a computer. This usually happens to me after a few months away, I get tired and just spend a few days sitting back and watching the world go by. No photos and no internet. So here is a short synopsis of what has happened since my lat update. Finished travelling along the Tibetan plateau and am now heading east towards Xi'an and the Tera Cotta warriers. Spent one night camping along a massive lake and got to ride a local tibetan man's mtorcycle. That was pretty cool. Got a few ... read more

At the Beginning "Wo Pu Tong." Means I don't understand (or something like that). My friend Yla often uttered this whenever it became too hard to understand what the locals were saying. Me? "I don't have a clue what he just said." The language barrier is so thick that it hindered us from maximizing our sojourn in Shanghai. First stop: Shanghai. This is where we boarded the Qinghai-Tibet Train going to Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region. The fantastic urban planning, road design, and efficient and well-developed railway system are difficult not to notice. Our local city engineers and chief executives could learn a lot from Shanghai urban planners. Manila's traffic problems would be a thing of the past if only we have similarly well-designed structures. The cool weather is a welcome respite from Manila's sweltering ... read more

Seeks dreams in Qinghai -- Most beautiful oil cauliflower paddies... read more

The T 9662 tto Lanzhou was comfortable. We had the wide bedded soft sleeper with clean sheets and a cool but not cold, cabin. We boarded and slumped onto our seats. We chatted for a while, but soon could not do so any longer, and drifted off to sleep at 2330hrs. We rumbled and clacked into the night, and woke refreshed at 0630. The train halted at exactly 0700 at Lanzhou. There was the usual scrum as we got off in Darkness. “Shall we wait until the crowd dies down?” I asked Chris. “No” he screamed back over the short Chinese heads “Lets just get on with it,” and with that he entered the human river that was descending into the tunnel from the platform. This was pure football stadium crush injury stuff. I could see ... read more