We left to visit the Gobi desert after a brief rest from the caves. It was really hot out (34C) but at least there was no humidity.
The first thing we did was to ride the camels. It was a 40 minutes trek through the desert with a guide leading a string of camels. Pretty fun and relaxing. Yes this is a tourist trap but now I can check riding a camel into the desert off of my list!
My camel.
Afterwards I found a couple people from my tour who wanted to ride the helicopter and would split the cost. It was a quick ride but easy to see the crescent lake oasis from above.
Crescent Lake oasis.
Two videos from sections of the flight:
I did not have enough time to do some sand sledding or hike up the dunes as a lot more tourists showed up. But I went to the oasis to get more water and walk with new friends from the tour for awhile before heading to the bus.
Back at the hotel for a shower and then walk to the night market to look around.
We are a local spicy potato dish with some beer and stopped at a seller of black Jade. I bought 3 glasses with lids and a Black Jade bead bracelet. In the light you can pick out there green though the rock itself is black.
We traveled 5 hours to get to Dunhuang from Zhangye. Dunhuang is a city oasis which just pops out of the Gobi desert sand.
The next morning we took a short trip to the Modao Caves. I am glad to have been okay if a tour as the number of types of tickets are restricted. Mogao means high up in the desert.
According to Tang Dynasty (618 – 907) records, a wandering monk in 366 AD had witnessed a vision of thousand Buddhas under showers of golden rays. Inspired, he started the caves construction work that spanned ten dynasties. Mogao Caves are also known as the Caves of a Thousand Buddhas.
This is the largest treasure of Buddhist art in the world. The earlier caves are more of the Indian style of Buddhist depiction with more Chinese style in later works. Each dynasty can be distinguished by the colors and cultural depictions in the paintings. It also have a glimpse of culture, politics, religion, and the arts. There are 492 caves from the 4th to the 14th centuries. They were actually forgotten for 500 years with some vandalism. Only 20 of the caves can be visited. No pictures are allowed and groups can only enter certain caves as long as temperature and humidity are stable there.
Caves 23 of the Tang dynasty show workers in the fields.
The unique artistic style of Dunhuang art is not only a blend of Han Chinese artistic styles assimilated from ancient Indian and Gandharan customs, but also an integration of the arts of the Turks, ancient Tibetans and other Chinese ethnic minorities.
The discovery of the Library Cave at the Mogao Caves in 1990, together with the tens of thousands of manuscripts and relics it contained, has been acclaimed as the world’s greatest discovery of ancient Oriental culture. This significant heritage provides invaluable reference for studying the complex history of ancient China and Central Asia.
It depicts Mount Wutai with a large scale map that depicts daily life. The Grand Buddha sculpture is from the Tang Dynasty which shows elegant architecture.
Caves 16-17 are 3 stories restored in 1906. They found sanskrit manuscripts of medicine, astronomy, and geology. Only 8000 exist in Gansu and Beijing; the rest being taken by explorers to other countries. They were held in cave 16 a non-descript monks cave off of 17, which can be seen here: https://www.e-dunhuang.com/cave/10.0001/0001.0001.0017
Monks living area today are caves with no murals.
Song dynasty preserved the murals on the outside facade of these caves.
In cave 259 you can see architecture from the Wei dynasty. There is an influence from India and gabled ceilings. The sculpture is 5th century. It boasts alot of blue from Afghanistan (Lapis lazuli) and the sculpture is the Pensive bodhisivata.
The 9 stories pagoda was built in the Tang Dynasty but only colors have been restored. The Buddha is 35 m high. It was the 5th largest Buddha in the world but 2 in Afghanistan were bombed by the Taliban so now it is the 3rd largest. It is the future Buddha known as Maitreya. This is the bodhisattva who will appear on Earth in the future, achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma.
Paintings found around it were destroyed when the roof collapsed.
This is the last day in Zhangye and a pretty long day ahead. After 3 hour bus ride we arrived at Jiayuguan Pass. This is a key point of trade for the silk road as well as a protection point as it is linked to the western most part of the Great Wall.
Jiayu Pass or Jiayuguan is the first frontier fortress at the west end of the Ming dynasty Great Wall, near the city of Jiayuguan in Gansu province. Along with Juyong Pass and Shanhai Pass, it is one of the main passes of the Great Wall.
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Jiayuguan Pass
This area is called the Hexi corridor and is only 15 km between the mountains on each side. The mountains themselves provided some protection and only a small wall was needed there as invaders could be seen from the fortress towers. Also, in this remote area, it was difficult to get and move materials.
We walked from what would be the city at the time to the fortress that housed the civil and military leaders and also had towers to watch for invaders, particularly those coming from the West. Soldiers and munitions would be found here.
Temple of literature
Outer city wall
Here merchants could walk along as they could not enter the fortress.
Warrior temple and God of wealth
Amusement temple
This is meant as a stage for entertainment.
A close up of the ceiling that shows many Taoist symbols.
The outer wall
The outer wall leads into a confined area in order to contain invaders as there is another gate they would have to get through. They would be ambushed by soldiers above. You can walk along the inner courtyard wall as well as these outer gate walls. Every corner has a watchtower.
The first inner area for defense taken from the top where soldiers would stand.Watchtowers.
The Light gate
This heads to the inner courtyard where generals, troops, munitions, and horses were held.
Cannons
Cannons were invented in China in the 12th century. The idea was taken by the Mongols who then passed it on to the Turks who then passed the new weapon on to the British….
Generals residence
This is the outer building wall of the residence courtyard which had a meeting house, residence house, and kitchen.
Residence area
This is where officials lived when you enter the separate compound door.
Opposite Gate leading to the west
Getting to the top wall
To get to the top there are a series of stairs next to a ramp. The ramp was used for horses, most likely to move heavy materials to the top of the wall.
A weapon used during the time.
View from the top looking at the inner residence courtyard
View from the top looking at the inner courtyard
The view from the top looking outside towards the one set of mountains.
Shorter outer wall for merchants. No need to enter the garrison in order to move materials.
Great wall not so great here. Hard to move stone on mountain and this area is so dry that the wall can be made from dirt mixed with straw. The more impressive wall is about a half hour away and the other sections closer to Beijing.
This fortress is the actual end of the great wall here in the north west. It is the furthest Western point on the wall.You can see the wall running across the picture.
Resting brick above door
The extra brick is above the arch on the ledge. Rumor is that he would not get paid if his numbers were not exact. With the extra brick he made a story of the western wall being blessed with strength.
The western outer wall is thicker and more fortified because it faces west where enemies were known to attack from. There has been some sort of wall here for thousands of years because of enemies. However, the silk road was known as a way to promote trade from the West. Marco Polo used this trade route and brought back noodles from this region (excavations have found evidence of noodles here 2000 years ago). Wheat was brought from the West as well as Buddhism, which predates Christianity by thousands of years.
The end of the Great Wall
A short ride away is found a section of the Great Wall that butts up against the mountains. This is the western most section of the Great Wall that ends at the Jiayuguan Pass.
I made it to the top, snapped pictures from the tower, made an informative video and a silly one as well before going down the other side to get a view there from a path.
The below is not a good video as not pre-planned. Three teachers were singing Pink Floyd’s The Wall on the Great Wall.
It is crazy to be on a highway where there is not much traffic in the desert but still have enough connection to create this blog post!
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.
The route we took.
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!
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.View from one of the top grottos.
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.Fried rice roll.A spicy crepe with a skewer of fried crabs.
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.The salt mounds are naturally formed.This mound had been sculpted.Buddhist prayer flagsThink 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.
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.
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.Large sunflowers with the seeds inside.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.
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.They monks do run the operation here.Inside the large meeting room.The grand vegetarian kitchen is a separate building and houses three very large woks for cooking. This is one of them.Prayer wheels.A 360 view of the central courtyard.A large prayer wheel.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.
Sculpture of a Taoist goddess.
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.A telephone booth?
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.
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.
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.
East gateNorth gate.West gate.
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.
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!
