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Silk road tour, day 5, Pingshan canyon and Painted mountains

From Zhangye we drove to the Pingshan canyon. This is smaller than the grand canyon but as there is no flowing river it is still impressive. It is red sandstone and was formed when this area was under water.

This area is significant in the Silk Road as it was a trade route with Mongolia and also an area of defense during the Han Dynasty. Both areas are known as Danxia landforms characterized by their red stone base and steep cliffs.

We started walking along the upper pathways to take in the views.

We then took the stairs and paths to the lower part of the canyon. There is a shortcut to take a ladder straight up or to continue to walk around the canyon. Some of us walked around the canyon.

We then took stairs and a spiral staircase back up to the top to a different platform. I saw several rabbits on the hike but they were too quick to get a picture.

Buses then take you back to the main entrance area. There I rode a camel. The old gentleman appreciated the business.

We then traveled a distance for lunch outside of the Painted Mountains. They were formed from layers of silt and mineral sandstone formed in a lake eventually being uplifted and tilted when the crust moved. After years of erosion of the outer layers, the colored layers were exposed.

They were beautiful though the only way to get to the 4 viewing areas is by shuttle bus from one platform to the other. The artificial walkways took away from the beauty of the place but the platforms provided great viewing points for pictures.

This formation is called a large scallop cumulus.

It was a beautiful day being able to walk outside in the sunshine!

Silk road tour, day 4, Mati Si temple

Originally we were to have a long bus ride with views of scenery along the way. Even though I know that it was pretty I did not want to spend that much time on the bus. Instead, a bunch of us booked a high speed train then hired a driver to drive us to visit the Temple. This was supposed to be in our tour but was taken out.

The people here were very friendly and it was not packed with tourists like other places we have been.

On the way we saw sheep sharing the road and beautiful mountains and plains.

These grottos were built around 317 to 402 AD in the Linsong mountain. The mountain itself is red sandstone. Paths connect caves inside and wind their way up to the temples. This is one of the most important Tibetan Buddhist grottos in China. Legend has it that once a sacred horse left its footprint in a rock here. Mati means horse hoof.

Thousand Buddha temple

Going up the stairs and into cave passages you can get to the statues of Buddha.

The details on the roof carvings are wonderful and amazing.

So incredible the carvings and structures with passageways that connect them.

One passageway you have to climb vertically with footholds. Those brave enough can see a really cool view.

View from the top

I first walked up the many steps to get to the top of the hill and look at the surroundings.

The white stupas. These house ancient relics and have prayer wheels at the base.

Tavatimsa grottos

Then I walked to the temples carved in the rock. There are 7 levels of passages and temples to get to the top.

This was the last passage to the 7th level of grottos and is to bring luck in life.

Outside the Temple grounds we had time to take pictures as they keep track that everyone who visited is accounted for by scanning tickets. The driver was helpful to do all of that for us and herd us around so we would see everything.

On the drive back we saw many Villagers hauling corn.

We had him drop us off at the Night market where we met up with others from our tour.

Yummy food of course and lots to see.

This was a gelatin, nut, watermelon dessert that was quite tasty.

A spicy crepe with a skewer of fried crabs.

Silk road tour, day 3, Chaka salt lake

I woke up early to get in a 5k run at Qinghai Lake and hopefully get some sunrise pictures. It was very cloudy so it was not spectacular.

This poor yak was up on the ridge but ran down to the water to be with his buddy. That yak was being used for pictures.

Then came the long bus ride to the salt lake. There were a few places along the way but we did not stop because of poor visibility.

We then arrived at the Chaka salt lake. This natural crystallized saline lake is part of the Qaidam Basin, which is the largest salt mine in the world. It is at an altitude of 3,059 meters (10,036 feet) and is oval shape covering an area of 105 square kilometers (40 square miles). It could supply all of China enough salt for 85 years. It looked like a frosty wonderland and a nice day for walking around a bit.

There water was cold but only for a minute. The air temperature was definitely colder than I am used to.

Salt ice cream. It is pretty hard to describe the taste but not overly salty.

Think rice noodles with chili sauce and tofu for lunch.

Afterwards we piled back on the bus for a really long drive to the hotel. Unfortunately there was an accident with two buses that shut down the road for some time. But eventually we made it to Xining.

Silk road tour, day 1 and 2, Lanzhou to Qinghai

We started our silk road tour by flying to Lanzhou.

The silk road:

Silk Road, also called Silk Route, ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two great civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward, and wools, gold, and silver went east. China also received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from India) via the Silk Road.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Silk-Road-trade-route

Due to a flight schedule change it meant that we missed the tours of the city. We made it in time to go to the night market.

Zhongshan Night market.

Spicy potatoes with chili and coriander.

Yes. Axolotls for sale. Though legal I do not approve as they are endangered.

On the left are sheep’s heads. Yes, they eat the whole parts of the head.

Large walnuts and very expensive grapes.

Tofu and stinky tofu. I don’t know how they process the black stinky tofu but it tasted much like the original to me. Spice here is outrageous. I was in search of drinks.

This is whipped cream frozen with liquid nitrogen. See the video below.

We woke up early for breakfast then to leave to visit the Kumbum monastery. Some history:

Located 26km south of the city proper, the sacred Kumbum Monastery (Ta’er si), is the best of the sights in the Xining area. This attraction is generally acknowledged to be one of the six most important monasteries along with the Ganden, Sera and Drepung monasteries in the Lhasa area, the Tashilhunpo Monastery in Shigatse and the Labrang Monastery in Xiahe. The ancient monastery, built during the 39th year (1560 AD) of the reign of emperor Jiajing (Ming Dynasty 1368-1644 AD), boasts a Tibetan name, Kumbum, which means a grand place housing 100,000 Buddhas.

The sight is most sacred due to the personages who have graced it with their presence. It was originally built upon the birth place of the founder of the Gelukpa Sect (Yellow Hat) of Tibetan Buddhism, Tsong Khapa. Two of his disciples from this region also went on to become famous in the Buddhist world, one becoming Dalai Lama, the other the Panchen Lama, both great living Buddhas. The present Dalai Lama, now in exile in India, also studied and lived here.
https://www.tibettravel.org/news/201404083599.html

Lunch outside the monastery area. Vegetarians decided they had enough eating family style with just a few veggies dishes thrown in.

There was fresh yogurt in the cup on top. It was too good to wait.

The grand vegetarian kitchen is a separate building and houses three very large woks for cooking. This is one of them.

**The Hall of Butter Sculptures** (Suyou hua tang) contains many of the famous yak butter sculptures. This art has existed for many hundreds of years, originally coming from Tibet to Kumbum in the sixteenth century. The detail is incredible.

This is the house that the dalai lama will stay in when visiting.

After the monastery, we headed to Qinghai lake which is at approx. 3000 meters elevation. There were plenty of sights along the way.

Closet to the lake we stopped to rent bicycles and ride part of the way.

White yaks are rare and are used for pictures and riding. They live here on the plateau with a lot of space to roam.

At the lake, we checked into the hotel and I walked to the lake. I missed sunset but snapped a picture with the moon rising.

Fenghuang ancient town

Street food and night boat ride on the You River

We arrived in the evening after our troubles as to whether foreigners were allowed in due to the pandemic. Small places still don’t realize that the borders have been closed since March 27 and we have been in the country for awhile. After settling in, we did a little exploring.

I ate some street food and this was so yummy. Pancake batter bread that is split then chili sauce, pickled greens, some really yummy spices, and cucumbers and peanuts. You could also get sticky rice that is pressed flat instead of the pancake. I’ll be trying that next.

This is little shrimps in a batter to make a pancake. Yummy but definitely shrimpy.

Boat tour at night

The next morning we woke early to climb a hill to an abandoned pagoda to see the sunrise. We were a little late as we had trouble finding the trail but it was spectacular.

After sunrise I went for an 11.75 km run throughout the ancient town and into adjacent farmland. I especially stored at a little island to cook if on the river before continuing.

Early morning views from my run. I would stop along the way to take random pictures.

The second morning I woke up early to walk around the part of ancient town I haven’t been. Specifically I walked to Phoenix square to take a picture of the sculpture. While I was sitting watching all the Chinese women dancing for exercise, a tour group took a picture with a Tujia woman and wanted me in the picture. So funny when you are a random foreigner they don’t always get to see. You get asked to have your picture taken often.

Random people

Huangxiqiao ancient town, Hunan

The town was first discovered in the year 687 during the Tang Dynasty.
There was often fighting between the Qing Emperor Kangxi and the Miao ethnic minority group. This town was rebuilt for military purposes (along with the southern great wall).

There are four gates. The south gate has been permanently closed. The eastern gate is called
the “lucky gate,” and is the one used most often. It is the entrance for events such as weddings. The north gate is used for funerals. The west gate belongs to the chief of the Miao people in ancient times and only he could use it.

Besides the ancient city wall, the interior of the town is similar to other villages the area. People live here peacefully. They have livestock
and local residents grow and process corn outside their houses.

In a few years, the town will be rebuilt in the style of the Tang Dynasty, and no one will live
here. While this might be beneficial for providing tourism, it is a shame
that tourists will no longer be able to see this way of life.

This game the kids played is like Rock, paper, scissors but with feet. If you choose the same footing as the champion, you lose. This young man had been game champion many times.

Southern great wall, Hunan

This section of a great wall was built during the Ming dynasty. It was used for protection against the revolt from the Miao Ethnic Group.

With a length of 190 kilometers, it has an area in the middle for armaments and soldiers and towers for check points approx. three
to five kilometers apart.

You can see at the top of the picture that the wall continues into the next hill.

In the Qing dynast the great wall was rebuilt.

After running in the morning, then walking all day, these were a lot of steps! 847… Not that we were counting!

Furong ancient town, Hunan

We traveled to a remote area halfway from Zhangziazie on our way to Fenghuang ancient town. It is not as popular as our ending destination and it is for this reason it is quaint and worth a stop to see as it is not touristy.

Furong Town is also known as Hibiscus Town. It was originally Wangcun Village but changed after a popular and award winning movie Hibiscus Town that was filmed here. It is found in the Western Hunan Tujia and
Miao Autonomous Prefecture.

Today the old town is a mix of Tujia (original people here)
and Han Chinese people. The town is beautiful. The scenery is lovely with cliffs and a waterfall to the You River.

Lunch was amazing. We are just outside of the gates of the old town. The potatoes are unbelievable and the spice here in Hunan is hot but so delicious.

Pickled daikon with red wine vinegar and tofu with lots of chilies.

The typical Tujia “Diaojiaolou” building is high on the cliff for easy defense against invaders.

This “Xizhou Bronze Column” marks the ceasefire after a long war. It is inscribed with over 2300 characters of the story of the war and teens if ceasefire.

The waterfall was closed but we went around the one side where there was no guard to go behind the waterfall. It was so hot that standing under the water felt great and just what we needed. I was waiting to be going out but we made it through without interrogations.

Some of the others on the tour “saw” us.

Behind the falls are statues of native Tujia people.

At the top of the falls.

From there we had another 2 hour ride to get to the next ancient town. As buses are not allowed into the town, we had to transfer to a shuttle bus. Unfortunately they did not know what to do with foreigners as covid-19 restrictions have changed. Finally they were able to straighten out whether it was safe to let us enter.

Zhuanjiajie, avatar mountains, day 2

We started the day at the same entrance at the Bailong elevator, this time going in a different direction than the day before.

Tianzi Shan

There narrow strip of green between the two mountains is where we hiked yesterday, going uphill to get to the beginning then going down into the valley.

A closer view of where we walked yesterday.

This naughty money listens for plastic bags then runs and breaks a hole in the bag to steal some of the goodies.

Tujia minority

One of our guides is from the minority village. They had an information center explaining much about the culture.

This outfit is 24 kg total in weight. Girls who wear this much have been rewarded with riches by a suitor.

They make there own alcohol, baiju. We tried plum but this one has snakes in the alcohol as it ferments.

Yuanjiajie

From there we took a bus to get further towards a trail that we would take to get back closer to the town. It was a lot of downhill but at least the steps here were dry.

Ten mile natural gallery

Wulingyuan national park day 1

We went to Wulingyuan National Park which is amazing. The park is dotted with sandstone cliffs that seen to have ridden out of nowhere. These quartz structures are in some dense tropical forests and reminiscent of the wonders in the movie avatar (though that is tomorrow’s hike!)

After a bus ride that took hair pin turns rather quickly, which adds to the experience we arrived at the elevator that takes you to the top. Bailong elevator takes you to the top of the one cliff and we spent time walking around the top then making our way down.

Of course there were monkeys there to see what they could get from visitors.

Of course we started in the touristy area which we quickly left behind. There were many climbs up and of course back down through the peaks. It was very slippery and if course I fell a couple of times.

One step to heaven. This took s climb up on a vertical ladder but the views were breathtaking.

Corridor in the cliffs

Golden whip stream. Finally we were on a flat area without climbing unbelievable amounts of stairs then going back down the other side. Easier and faster walk from here.

We worked out way around the base of all of these magnificent structures. It is truly humbling to be in and out of the various areas in this forest. Not many take this hike and it was very challenging with the wet rock surfaces.