Sep 9, 2012 - A City with Splendid Civilization-Zhenjiang

Zhengjiang, on the southern bank of the Changjiang River in central Jiangsu, faces Yangzhou on the otehr side of the river. Known as the “three-hill scenic spot”, zhenjiang is screened on three sides by the Jinshan, Jiaoshan and Beidu hills. The other faces the turbulent river. Some 60 meters high and 520 meters in circumference. Jinshan Hill was originally an island in the Chang jiang River which became part of the land south of the river. The hill became famous in the Tang Dynasty but long before that during the East Jin Dynasty 1,560...

Jun 29, 2011 - Dunhuang- The Mogao Caves

"Caves of the Thousand Buddhas", have been carved in the San Wei mountain, between the 4th and 14th centuries. Interesting that the french and british came here about 100years ago and bought (stole) practically all the ancient manuscripts that can be seen now... in the Louvre or British Gallery! Dunhuang, "Blazing Beacon" or "City of Sand" is the end of the Great Wall during the Han Emprire and the last stop on the Silk Road before the Lop Desert

Jun 27, 2011 - 23 June - Pingliang

Next stop was Pingliang, where we stayed for 2 nights. Our trip notes said we would be staying in a comfortable but basic hotel - if this was basic, give me more! Luxurious rooms with a computer in each room for guests' use! Not bad! Pingliang is a town of around 107,000 people and the main attraction is the nearby holy mountain, Kongtong Shan. This mountain is very important to Taoists and has been mentioned in writings dating back to around 300BC. I'm not too sure of the Taosists beliefs - something to look up when we get back. There were...

Jun 27, 2011 - Jiayuguan

Beteen the Qilian Mountain and the Gobi Desert "Stone Desert", Jiayuguan was the end of the Great Wall before the fort of Duhuang was established, was the last outpost of the great Wall... after was the unknown and the beginning of the unprotected territories, the wilderness... and actually, still since the Xinjiang province is so different from the other chinese provinces, difficult to feel in China after Dunhuang.

Jun 25, 2011 - Xiahe... still the same majestic monastic village

This small monastic village didnt change during the last 5 years! More than a 1000 monks are living and studying in this Yellow Hat Sect. The temples are superbes and we have been lucky to assist to a very interesting ceremony with another 100 tibetans pelgrims and monks. The hike around in the mountain above the village offered some fantastic views.

Jun 25, 2011 - 18 June Liujiaxia & Bingling Si Buddhist Grottoes

Having breakfast at our bush camp we were visited by a group of locals who wanted to see what we were eating. After chatting for a while (or rather very complicated charades to try and communicate) they went on their way. We packed up camp and hopped back on Asima to finish our journey to Liujiaxia. We again created a stir when we stopped in a small village for lunch and the locals descended on us. We took photos of them and they took photos of us on their mobile phones, all the village kids were brought over for us to admire and they had a...

Jun 25, 2011 - 19 June - Xiahe

We have 3 nights in Xiahe, a town with 50% Tibetan population on the Tibetan plateau. It has a nice laid-back feel to it, though there have been problems here between the various ethnic groups, especially after the 2008 riots in Lhasa when demonstrations in Xiahe resulted in many deaths. There are a few restaurants in town which have traditional Tibetan food (yak meat), plus Chinese food. There is also one restaurant run by a Peruvian, with a Mexican and American in the mix somewhere, which sells pizza, burgers and Lomo Saltado, a kind of...

Jun 25, 2011 - June 16 Jiayuguan

Back in internet land - it's been a long strethch without it! On 16 June we left Dunhuang for the long drive (around 400km) on very bad roads to our bush camp right next to the western end of the Great Wall. The countryside was very dry and flat, again with many huge wind farms. Al was driving and said later that we were going at 90km/hr and it took us 20 minutes to pass one of the wind farms! We stopped for the night near a town called Jiayuguan and set up camp under the shadow of the wall. It was our cook group's turn to cook dinner and...

Jun 14, 2011 - 14 June - Dunhuang

On Sunday we set off in our air conditioned bus en route for Dunhuang, around 750km away. First night's stop was a huge town called Hami, which does not even rate a mention in Lonely Planet. Nobody spoke a word of English which made it fun trying to find something to eat. Richard and I found a restaurant round the corner from the hotel and had to resort to doing the bird dance around the room to indicate we wanted chicken, then point to food on other tables to get some veggies. The result was a delicious meal of chicken, chillies and...

Jul 9, 2010 - Silk Road -- Dun Huang

We arrived at the Liuyuan train station a little after 8 on Thursday and were met by our guide for Dun Huang. We were told that we could sleep on the 2 hour van ride from Liuyuan to Dun Huang, but it was extremely bumpy, so there was little hope for sleeping. We got to our hotel, rested for a couple hours, and then headed to lunch at a nearby local restaurant. I had delicious roasted vegetables, including eggplant, cauliflower, and "tofu skin" or tried tofu. Everyone else had different local lamb dishes. It was all pretty good. We also...

Apr 28, 2010 - And then we go a little higher

A rush start and we nearly miss the local bus to Langmusi (Lang moo sir). Bus packed with Tibetans. David still unwell and doped up for the trip. We see less agriculture now – mostly free range yak, sheep, goats and pigs. Some on the roadside and some way up in the hills. Grass shoots have appeared since our arrival a couple of days ago. Some of the housing now have glass ‘sun rooms’ on the front of their houses and we note that some new dwellings with the glass fronts are built facing the sun and not the road. Very little timber so vast...

Apr 24, 2010 - We head west

Managed to get our washing dry and pack ready for our train trip. The others head off to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. We meander around and end up at a park that includes the Temple of Heaven. We did not enter the temple area but remain in a bush like section. Just unwind and watch the Chinese families and couples relax on their Sunday off. The field full of small mauve herbs and other plants that looked like dandelions that the locals were picking. There were a number of radio antennae in one small area built of three or...