The hike

Julie on the Urumqi trek

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August 24th 2008
I feel like I've just completed an epic journey, worthy of multiple references to Lord of Rings, and various other epic journeys through the wilderness. Mostly because our last few days have been filled with nerdy, geeky literary and cinematic references, and the scenery just happened to match. On Wednesday we got a ride (hired a jeep) out of Urumqi at the relatively early hour of 8 am. By 12i ... read more

Asia » China » Xinjiang » Urumqi

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For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more