Day 21: Jiayuguan to Zhangye

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Well, that did not go as planned. We arrived to the station in good time, no problems at all and it was 28 minutes before departure when we suddenly realised it was the wrong station. Unfortunately, the correct station, the new one, is five miles from the one we had expected to use; the upshot was that we had to run up two flights of stairs, pass through both sets of baggage security, pass through ticket barrier, run through a tunnel, then run up three flights of stairs and then run the full length of the platform. Kevin in particular has had a cold for a few days, and his lung capacity was further affected by the altitude; he was still coughing and breathless 30 minutes into the journey.



On a brighter note, it was a bullet train, absolutely magnificent, bowling along through a manicured patchwork of tiny fields, then out into the open desert and clocking 196 kph. It was scrupulously clean, beautifully appointed, and it was a privilege to be able to experience it. The female attendants are very smart and helpful. They have a “plum” uniform of (woollen) pencil skirt and fitted cross-over jacket featuring an embroidered Peter Pan collar, worn with full-length black leather boots, topped off with smart pillbox hat over a black bun at the nape of the neck. The male staff have black suits and double-breasted overcoats with peaked caps and gold braid.



We arrived nicely on time at Zhangye; our hote is quite modest but very central, has good WiFi, and meets our most basic needs at a surprisingly modest £10 per double per night; in fact, for a rather shorter stay, I note that one might enjoy a special rate of 60 Rmb (£5) for four hours. Anyway, I can happily recommend it on grounds of economy, facilities and situation, but must admit that one member of the party entertains doubts. With a less than 100%!e(MISSING)ndorsement I will not specify the name.



We ventured out to see the town, including a very tall Pagoda (the oldest building), statue of Marco Polo and the truly impressive Buddhist complex of Dafo Si. The architecture is delightful and an especially wonderful building houses the (11^th century) longest reclining Buddha in China (34.5m), surrounded by numerous statues of his followers. In 1995, a secret hoard of ancient manuscript sutras was discovered here, certainly the most important since Dunhuang a century ago, and there is a relevant exhibition which would appeal to well-informed visitors.



By 1.30pm Kevin was sufficiently recovered for us to enjoy a light lunch; once again we stumbled upon somewhere special, an excellent meal at £5 a head including beers. This is a large city, maybe 2.5m. or so, in the Gansu corridor (a narrow route between the Beida Shan to the north and the mountains below Qilian to the south (Datong Shan) – beyond which lies the famed Koko Nor (now called Quinghai Hu). It is a slight misfortune for us that they have chosen to uplift and remove ALL of the millions of bricks forming all of the pavements simultaneously. One wonders why, and is reminded of the good burghers of Oban, in Argyll, who did the same thing with a view to changing the colour of the surface; when they didn’t like the effect, they then covered it all with chewing gum. Will that happen here?



Dinner was adjudged a howling success, a popular local venue – our table was accessed by a long walk through the crowded restaurant, to the obvious fascination of all present and the particular delight of all children. We still have seen only 2 westerners to date plus one just-possible who is staying in our hotel and speaks Chinese as a native. Decided on a nightcap in the diggings – but by 9.15 the only obvious liquor shop had closed its doors, so an early night is in order. Tomorrow (St. Patrick's Day) we plan an adventure – by local bus! Tonight (like most Fridays) there are loud fireworks exploding all around, possibly a religious thing?

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Photos

2nd Hard Seat
Simply magnificent. Inexpensive, on time, almost 200 kph, proper staff, no football hooligans.

A modern Chinese train
It is hard to believe that railways really started out in UK; where did we go wrong? These ones have not been privatised, does that make a difference?

Chinese Lion
More to these than meet the eye; this is a male, with his paw on a ball and a large pearl in his mouth; he sits on the left as you look out from the protected property, the lioness (with a cub) is on the right.

A cheery Buddha
The temperature has dropped markedly; maybe it is a coincidence but quite a few Buddhas in Zhangye are nicely wrapped up, very snug.

This was the rest of the light lunch...
Absolutely spiffing!

I want one of these
Surely it should be possible for tiny electric cars like this to be available everywhere? Many people do not require 100 mile range and 80 mph performance.

Comments

[Caroline]

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