Dunhuang Revisited

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I have been to Dunhuang before... I know it's in the middle of nowhere... really... but two summers ago, during a 1 week break from my studies in Beijing, I went to Dunhuang by myself to see the desert, and to explore the Mogao Caves. There was something about Dunhuang two years ago that I loved. I don't know if it was the food, or the people, or just the general atmosphere, but Dunhuang has always held a special place in my traveling heart since traveling there.

At first, however, it was not on our itinerary. I didn't think we'd have time to fit it in, and thought we'd have more time in Turpan, so I thought I could show Witt the desert there. But when we arrived in Jiayuguan, we learned that the tourist attractions there could easily be done in an afternoon, and that spending another day there might be too long. So we made a decision to go from Jiayuguan to Dunhuang and then Turpan instead of straight to Turpan from JYG.

So we caught the 10:30am bus from JYG, being told that the bus would take 4-5 hours. Because of a slow start, and a ridiculous traffic jam at one of the toll booths that we passed through, we arrived in Dunhuang 6.5 hours later to cloudy skys and the threat of rain.

Now a little geography/weather lesson. Dunhuang is in the middle of the Gobi desert. It rains like 3 times a year there... and therefore, the city is not built for it. It is literally built right on the side of a MASSIVE sand desert, which mixed with high winds and rain is not a good mix. So Witt and I went to the desert, but decided it would be best to wait it out until morning, hoping that the rain would pass, and we could go into the desert dry, like it's meant to be. With sand getting in our eyes as we and the chilly air around us, we definitely did NOT feel like desert dwellers. But we decided not to let it get the best of us. We slept it off a little (traveling in a bus all day... though not actually doing much physical activity, is extremely tiring!) and then when we got hungry enough to wake us up, we headed to the night market that I remember from 2 years ago.

The market was as I had remembered it, bustling with vendors selling all kinds of souvenieurs and at the end food. We looked a little, Witt very excited to get some gifts for family and friends, and then we ended up at a chuan(r) stand and decided to eat a bit. Chuan(r) is just the chinese word for kebabs, and it is pronounced chuan everywhere in China, except Beijing, where an "eeerrrrr" sound can be added to the end of just about every word in the vocabulary. It is one of my favorite meals in Beijing because it is cheap, fast, and delicious. So Witt and I sat down, picked out a few vegetable chuan(r)s (Brocolli, green peppers, tofu, mushrooms, eggplant, etc.) and I also ordered some chicken wing chuan(r)s. I told them I just wanted one of each flavor they had (non-spicy, spicy, and sichuan spice) and we had ourselves a nice meal with beer and tea to wash down all the la jiao (spice put on top of all the vegetables). We got to chatting with the cook/owner, and learned that she and her husband had recently opened the stand to help enhance their salary after she returned from a 2 month cooking class in Beijing. We got to talking about hot wings, me telling them that theirs were delicious, but in Beijing there's one place I go where the wings are so spicy you can't taste anything for days and as respectfully as I could, told them that theirs were not quite as spicy as I liked.

Then they showed me! They said they hadn't even offered me the spiciest kind of wing, because I was a foreigner, and they thought I couldn't take it. So I ordered it right away, and waited in anticipation for their "crazy spicy" wings. When they arrived, I smelled it, and it seemed tame enough. It had a bright red color, but didn't really compare to the one in Beijing in brightness/scariness. When I took the first bite, I thought "this isn't so bad" and laughed that I had conquered the spiciest wing they could give me.

Forward 45 seconds later... I was heaving, sweat dripping from my face and tears coming out of my eyes. That wing was literally the spiciest thing I have ever eaten... ever! Witt thought it was hilarious and took lots of pictures of my pain, but then I got him to take one bite, and like clock-work, after 45 seconds he was doing the same. The owners and their mother were all having a good laugh at our expense, but they were kind and brought us more beer and tea, giving us plenty of napkins to wipe our brows with. It was great fun!

After eating, we walked around the market a bit more, and then headed home for our only night in Dunhuang. We were in high spirits, and glad we had come, but still nervous about the rain clouds above, which still hadn't cleared up.

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