Blogs from Xining, Qinghai, China, Asia

Hétfőn elsétáltunk a nagy mecsethez. Éppen Mekka felé kezdtek gyülekezni a sapis hui kínaiak. Egy idősebb magyarazott nekünk valamit, mi meg bólogattunk, mintha értenénk. Utána Berit apukájanak is megmutattuk a piacot a hotel mellett, estebéd és utána kicsit dolgoztunk a német blogon. Kedden reggeli után, úgy döntöttünk, hogy megnéztünk egy tibeti kolostort (itt élnek sima kínaiak : Han/ iszlám vallású : Hui/ tibetiek. A kolostor a sárga sapkás rendhez tartozik. És valamelyik dalai láma ott született vagy élt, annyira nem olvastam utána. Berit apukája valahogy felbérelt egy tele kocsit. Itt állnak mindig az út szélen és lehet velük alkudozni. Elvitt minket a hegyekbe kb 2800m magasan volt a kolostor. A hotel 2200m magasan van + 20 emelet. Több kis epuletbol állt a kolostor, hegyre fel is ment az út. A tetején vettünk egy gyertyát és mindenki ... read more

Xining It was another cold day, but no rain. There was a huge traffic jam getting out of town due to a car-truck crash blocking most of the road. Then there was the slow Chinese Army convoy of about 500 trucks going down the road. We spent about 40 miles passing the trucks. The road crossed high yak pastures and two 12,000 ft. passes and a 12,200 ft. tunnel. There was new snow from yesterday and the temperature on top was 36 F. Fortunately, we traveled a day ahead of schedule, or we would have been caught in the next snow storm. This area is near Tibet, and the terrain and people look like Tibet. Xining is a large city with strong Tibetan influence. We visited a Tibetan style monastery with huge golden Budas and a ... read more

Hi All, I've done my fairshare of travelling on trains but I must admit that this was one of the most incredible train rides I'd ever had. It was a long trip, nearly nine hours, but just looking out of the window was entertainment enough. We saw yaks, yurts, Tibetan cowboys, prayer flags, mountains and deserts. The railway also passes near to Qinghai lake, it took over an hour to go from one side to the other. The train terminated at Xining west station and getting a taxi was a trial. There are no taxis outside the station but in a car park where parking chaos ruled. After we'd finally sorted a price we set off, with another two people in the taxi. The driver seemed to take us on a tour of the city. We ... read more

Today I got up with a little bit of a cold, so I was taking it mellow. Traveling could be exhausted and without the language a tough job. So today was my day off.I used it to do download footage, write, and meet people in the hostel. Hostels are amazing interesting places. Marc Auge will define them as non-places, but I disagree. They have their own identity. They are island of non-nationality in the middle of anywhere. Places that have some universal rules but invites diversity, gives you a sense of safe, security and support. I believe is the only way you can make a trip around here without being completely lost. Hostels and Lonely planet are the common share language for many travelers around the world, spaces of possibilities, leanings, and opportunities to discover realities ... 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