May 15, 2008 - Lanzhou (Gansu province)

Today was one of those days. Rolled off the overnight train at 6:30 and bought a train ticket onwards for 3 nights later, since I was doing a side trip to Xiahe. Then went to the bus station at the other end of town. (Lanzhou is on the Yellow River which could usefully be renamed the Chocolate River.) The bus station wouldn't sell me a ticket without a copy of my passport and visa. So I had to hang around until about 8:15 for a 'shop' to open. With 2 copies in hand I returned to the bus station where they told me there wasn't a bus going to...

Nov 1, 2007 - Dunhuang

En ny togreise i Kina, og vi begynner aa se noen likhetspunkter til togturer vi har tatt tidligere. Vi gjenkjenner for eksempel musikken ombord, og Jo mener aa huske at den ikke har forandret seg siden hun begynte sommeren 2006. Hva er dette for noe? Har China Railways bare en CD, som gaar kontinuerlig i alle tog? Holder Kina fremdeles paa med sosialistisk godkjent kunst, dvs. at musikken er kommunistisk propaganda? Er det lenge siden det ble laget ny populaermusikk i Kina? Uansett hva svaret er, saa er musikken drepende kjedelig, plagsom...

Oct 23, 2007 - Lanzhou

We left the hotel in Dunhuang at 5 am for the airport. There were about 100 Korean students flying with us and the smell of Kimchee permeated the flight. For those that don't know about Kimchee, it is composed of rotting cabbage and garlic with another ingredient that is unidentifiable but smells like excrement. There was even a cartoon from the in-flight magazine showing a westerner thinking of this smell and an Asian liking it. It was funny, because the smell was so powerful that many of the Koreans were also commenting on it. Anyhow,...

Oct 21, 2007 - Dunhuang

A fresh day, Amy took us to the Yulin Grottoes, also known as the Valley of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which is about 2.5 hours from Dunhuang. These were only opened to the public in 1997 and have only had 10,000 visitors since that time. It was really a special privilege to see these, it did, however, cost us an extra $75, but was surely worth it. These caves were originally done at least 1,000 years ago and were painted with frescoes, much of the original paint remains. The buddhas were restored in the 19th century and have a fresher...

Sep 21, 2007 - Dunhuang

I've arrived in Dunhuang and once again it seems like I'm the only foreigner in town. I'm the only person in the dormitory I've booked myself into and in the restaurants. There are two main draws of Dunhuang - the Mogao Caves and their buddist artwork, and the huge sand dunes nearby. The Mogao Caves are my first visit, and despite the expensive entrance fee (180Y - the most expensive entrance fee I've paid in China!) they are just about worth it. I've read that this site is possibly the most important centre of buddist art in the world,...

Sep 20, 2007 - Jiayuguan

Its taken 33 hours with very little sleep to get here and I arrived at 4.10 in the morning, but its been worth it. For the last 4 weeks or so I've been getting a little fed up with China; communication can be such a hassle sometimes if you don't speak Mandarin, there's being stared at, and the never ending negotiations for the price of everything. But the local's attitude has made all the difference, and today has restored some of my faith in China. There were still the same old obstacles to overcome with communication, but thankfully the...

Aug 7, 2007 - iNOW- Lanzhou, Day 1: In which I almost got in a fight with an unnamed laoshi

Where to begin... The past 36 hours have been packed full of interesting things to write about. I guess I'll begin with an explanation for the title above: Day 1: In which I almost got in a fight with an unnamed laoshi I feel like, all day long, I have been acting as an English dictionary/cultural reference with my labmates- in the same way that they are human Chinese translators for me- and Xiao Li, who I am sharing a hotel room with, just asked me why the chapter titles in my novel all begin with "In which...". It seemed only fitting to...

Sep 22, 2005 - Wuwei

We have had a good day. We didn't have to get up too early as the distance wasn't too long - 450km. The road runs between the Qilian mountains to the south and the Gobi desert to the north. The Qilian mountains rise to over 6000m and are snow covered at the peaks. Yesterday they were unfortunately covered in haze when we were at the fort, but this morning we were blessed with clear skies and an impressive panorama for our drive. Soon there was a new express road with lovely tarmac to enjoy. The speed limit sign said 90 so we drove at that...

Sep 21, 2005 - Jiayuguan

A long (615km) dusty day with 180km of roadworks. However, we did reach half way to Sydney in Km! We were in a stretch of road between the Taklaman and Gobi deserts at the time and celebrated by eating a Sainsbury's fig roll from the pack of emergency en route rations that Rachel had bought for us to take. Yum yum, (better get stock in Carol, could be a run on them when we get home.) We had been recommended a detour onto a good road (no trucks allowed) by our guide. He had given us the mile post number to find it but no other directions. We...

Sep 18, 2005 - Jiayuguan

The 22 hour journey from Xian to Jiayuguan was actually fairly painless. We boarded the train at 6:00 pm, and arrived at 4:00 pm September 19. We are heading into the wild west. Jiayuguan is the end of the Wall, and way back then the official border of China. The Fort has been restored, but is still very beautiful. If has a rustic look as opposed to the brick fortress of the main wall near Beijing. Not much else in this border town. But the city is very strange. It looks like it is waiting for another 200,000 people to show up. The main...

Sep 18, 2005 - Jiayuguan

The 22 hour journey from Xian to Jiayuguan was actually fairly painless. We boarded the train at 6:00 pm, and arrived at 4:00 pm September 19. We are heading into the wild west. Jiayuguan is the end of the Wall, and way back then the official border of China. The Fort has been restored, but is still very beautiful. If has a rustic look as opposed to the brick fortress of the main wall near Beijing. Not much else in this border town. But the city is very strange. It looks like it is waiting for another 200,000 people to show up. The main...

Sep 16, 2005 - En busca de los budistas

Acabadas las gestiones y tras un par de dias salimos zumbando hacia Tongren. A solo 100 kilometros de Xining, pero a 5 horas de autobus. Una media de 20 kilometros hora, que no esta mal. Aun no sabemos como lo consiguio hacer tan lento... Pero bueno, todo eso para que? Tongren se supone que es un pequeno pueblo, el primero al que vamos, famoso por dos templos en los que se hacen las thangkas, pinturas tibetanas de budhas, demonios y demas animales caracteristicos. Eso aparte de que seran los primeros templos budistas que veamos en China,...