http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Gansu en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:09:41 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:09:41 BST I stay a couple of nights at Pingliang possibly the world's most boring city but visit Mount Kongtong a Daoist monastery perched precariously on the top of a cliff. It's quite a walk up the mountain but absolutely worth it and looks just like you imagine China to look like with little temples and Pagodas clinging to the treelined slopes.When you see these stunning views it becomes immediat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Lanzhou/blog-297351.html I say for a couple of nights in a town called Liujaxia where they obviously don't see many Westerners from the looks I got and caught a boat up the Huang He Yellow River from the huge Dam 60km to the Bingling Si Buddha caves.An enormous seated Buddha has been carved from the cliff face. At 27m high and 1600 years old it's an amazing thing to behold though not the biggest in China by a long http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Lanzhou/blog-297344.html I stopped briefly at Wuwei to visit an Eastern Han tomb dating from 100AD where the region's most celbrated relic a bornze Flying Horse was discovered. The symbol has since been adopted by the Chinese tourist board.The tomb is deep underground and very cool compared to the 35 degree heat outside but all of the original statues and artifacts that were found in the tomb have been removed to be http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Wuwei/blog-297342.html After crossing the Taklamakan desert lit. go in don't come out and visiting the world's second LOWEST late near Turpan 175m below sea level I cross into Gansu province and head for Jiayuguan to visit the fort at the very Western end of the Great Wall.Building work on the wall began in abou 220BC by the Qin pronounced Chin dynasty and the remaining parts of these sections are made from mud http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Jiayuguan/blog-297340.html After I finished the last post i went down to the night market and had some dinner of chuanr kabobs and some bread walked around some more and came across this group of kids in front of a Dico's Chinese KFC dancing to this music. It was really funny just watching them and I got some pictures as well. Went back to the hotel took a shower helped out some Americans who were trying to c http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Dunhuang/blog-279985.html Okay well now I'm writing about stuff that actually happened today.Got off the train at 730 and went directly to a hotel suggested by god remember the travel book and got the cheapest room for 80 kuai. It has 3 beds and no bathroom that is down the hall and the shower's on the floor below. I think I could have found somewhere cheaper so I'll try for cheaper places in the upcoming day http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Jiayuguan/blog-279577.html Writing this a day late while I'm in Jiayuguan but will do my best to remember what went on.BeijngWoke up really early as in 445 and was amazed how light it was out that early quickly packed up my things had breakfast and embarresingly left a bag of milkycornflakes on the table. I know it sounds weird but I had a bowl of cereal didn't finish it probably had to do with the fact that http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Lanzhou/blog-279569.html A unos 300 km de Lanzhou es un pueblo tibetano a 3.000m de altura. El tren llego a Lanzhou a las 630 y directamente cogimos un taxi a la estacion de autobuses 30 para coger el bus de las 730h a Xiahe 45p. Llegamos a las 1130h antes de lo que pensabamos 270km 4h. La estacion de autobuses esta en la calle principal asi que fuimos andando a buscar un hostel. Nos alojamos en Labrang R http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-267948.html The last of DunhuangPhotos have been uploaded but no labels have been given to them as this stupid Russian keyboard won't let me its complicated but at least you can see themI have been all over the place in the last few days My last day in Dunhuang was pretty lowkey while also intense. I woke quite early and packed my bag ready to cehckout and catch my train later that night but first I ha http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Dunhuang/blog-232780.html Happy New Year to everyoneWhile 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Dunhuang/blog-231914.html Mogao Caves and Crescent Moon LakeUnfortunately 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 recreate the masterpiece that it was.Yesterday I managed to hire a taxi driver to take me t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Dunhuang/blog-231654.html DunhuangI 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Dunhuang/blog-231440.html Its cold in Jiayuguan especially when riding a bicycleSo 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 sho http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Jiayuguan/blog-231055.html herzliche weihnachtsgruesse aus xiahe in tibetnun 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-230239.html 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 s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Lanzhou/blog-229001.html A relaxing day in XiaheOkay so last night the Pierre sorry if I spelt it incorrectly and myself headed to a Tibetan bardisco that we had been to the night before but I forgot to write about and this is a proper Tibetan bardisco. 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-226480.html A day full of surprisesOkay 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 Englis http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-226262.html Friends through silenceSo 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-226246.html Plans change deal with itREPOST 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Lanzhou/blog-225641.html De dag na aankomst in Lijiang gaan we per fiets naar Baisha waar de beroemde dokter Ho woont. 2 jaar geleden ben ik hiet met Merlijn geweest en het dorp heeft ondertussen goed ingespeeld op de toeristen. Ik kan me namelijk niet herinneren dat er zoveel souvenirwinkeltjes en restaurantjes waren. De assistent van dokter Ho zegt dat ie het leuk vind me weer te zien. Ik vraag me af of dit een toeval http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-224796.html Tibet is on HolidayI should slow down. I should adventure hitch hike camp in the countryside wander out of town and off the maps for a while. I've merged onto the fast lane the tourist trail zipping along too fast to take the off ramps. South of Dunhuang I spy the sand dunes rearing up over the city's outskirts an ominous chain of wondrous shifting sculptures. A fence erected around their b http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/blog-218894.html 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 TibetUfficialmente 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 fut http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/blog-215779.html Dag allemaalNa 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 ee http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-214944.html Dag allemaalWe 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 badkameren 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Langmusi/blog-214726.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/blog-211742.html 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 openair taxi we were catching to our hostel. she i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-211121.html 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 Tib http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Xiahe/blog-211112.html 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 ta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Jiayuguan/blog-210568.html 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 th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Gansu/Jiayuguan/blog-210549.html