Arriving in Xi'An

Distance covered - 5106km

Finally I arrived in Xi'an, China's cradle of civilisation. After 2 weeks exploring the silk road, now I am back into the modern world (actually most of China's large towns and cities are modernised). Disembarking the final train ride for this journey, I stepped into a new world of chaos, and unfriendliness that I have never experienced throughout the previous 17 days. 

Touts linger at every corner outside the train station and pedlars bar your movement, stuffing things into your arms and asking for money. Commuters walk the street, racing against time and each other, and the air smells of vehicle fumes. "Welcome to Xi'an, I whispered to myself".

Amidst the chaotic bus stations opposite the train station, I finally found the bus that heads to my hotel, 2km away from the train station. Another 20 minutes on the bus, I leapt down and frantically searched for the hotel that I've booked through the internet last night; and after 30 minutes of frantic search, I found it. It's always nice to lie down on a clean (I hope so) cosy bed after a journey.

Flipping through my pre-planned itinerary for Xi'An, I made a some tweaks to my plans since I've used up more days that I should, leaving only 3 days and 3 nights here in this ancient city. Exhausted and a bit homesick (Damn I miss food in Malaysia), it would be prudent to go easy on myself and take things slow, as I am perfectly sure I would come back here again since Xi'an is the main transport hub for Northwest China. 

The first day in Xi'an was spent in the main attractions in the city. I started off with Shaanxi Historic Museum, one of the best museums in the country. "Give me 24 hours of your time, and I'll return you with 1000 years of history", that's the motto of this museum, which I couldn't agree more. That is an understatement to be honest, the best quote I found was "Shenzhen in 25 years, Shanghai in 100 years, Beijing in 1000 years, and Xi'an in 5000 years". No city has endured that much history as Xi'an had in Asia. 

Xi'an has been the capital city for 13 dynasties, and had been ruled by at least 70 emperors, until they shifted the capital to Nanjing or Beijing. The greatest dynasties in Chinese History, the Han an Tang, both had their capital city here. Further more, it's the eastern end of the Silk Road, and in this city once was a trade nexus where goods of all over the world are traded in and out of Asia from Europe and Middle East. 

Shanxi Historic Museum

Museums in China are usually free, though you have to queue up for the tickets. The exhibition in this museum is never disappointing, showcasing artefacts from the ancient Zhou dynasty till the golden age of Tang dynasty. I could just spend one long day here but I didn't have much time, hence I sped up and left the museum after 90 minutes here. 

Hot babes of Tang dynasty (the chubbier, the hotter)

My next top was the Little Goose Pagoda, around 2km away, and I arrived after 30 minutes later. Due to my acrophobia and limited time (before it closes) I did not think climbing up the pagoda would be a good idea. Hence a stroll in the gardens around the pagoda, and a visit to the Xi'an City Museum next door would suffice this time. 

Little Goose Pagoda

The final stop for today would be the Big Goose Pagoda, yet, by the moment I reached there by bus, it was already 6pm and the pagoda is closed for visit. However, a short stroll around the new commercialised plaza outside the park kept me busy for 30 minutes. I have gone kind of nauseated with the food here, and instead I craved for the barbecue stalls I saw just a few yards from my hotel. Hence, I took a bus back to my hotel, stopped at the barbecue stall, and feasted on the grilled stuffs - pork cutlets, chicken wings, cuttlefish, etc. before I headed back to my hotel for a nice sleep.

Large Goose Pagoda

TianShui and the Maijishan Grottoes

Distance covered - 4753km

As I venture eastwards, there seemed to be more and more Han influence and lesser Uighur / Tibetan influence in the local culture. TianShui, for instance, is another typical Chinese city, and the only reason tourists stop over here is for the Maijishan Grottoes  together with Mogao Grottoes and other 2 grottoes, known as China's 4 main Buddhist Grottoes.

As I was still recovering from the cold I caught in XiaHe, I've decided that the remaining days should be just light and easy, with plenty of time to rest in the hotel. Hence, I decided to focus mainly on Maijishan here and forsake the rest of the minor attractions here in TianShui.

The early bus took an hour to reach Maijishan, and since the October tourist peak season has waned off, there weren't many tourists on the bus. Or is it because it's just a small city after all?

After arriving in the main entrance, there's another 20 minutes of hiking up the slope before you reach the grottoes. As I trekked upwards, I started to shiver, seeing the grottoes at the side of the cliffs of this mountain. Damn, it's going to be a difficult climb this time!

Maijishan Grottoes - it is kinda high up there.

Gulps.

It's really high up there

The grottoes are located high up at the side of the cliffs, and the only way to go up there, are a labyrinth of steel stairs. Yet, the temptation of the grottoes were too great for me to resist, hence I coerced myself to overcome my acrophobia, just to have a glimpse of the caves.

Delicate carvings

Amazing.

Touch me not!

Anyway, my hands were trembling too much for photography, so not much photos were taken. However, the carvings were amazing; most of the statues were already eroded with time, but the remaining ones, which are being preserved are still breathtaking. I could feel my legs shaking more and my guts shrinking as I ascend to the highest level, so a brief glimpse of all the grottoes and I was on my way down. Yup, the entire grottoes in just 30 minutes!

Maijishan and I.

Looking back, it was a bit too rush, but then somehow fear eventually overcome me and I just had to get my feet back on solid ground. Distracting myself with the wonderful autumn scenery of the nearby mountains didn't seem to work for long.

Goodbye Maijishan

Pine seeds

I took the bus back to my hotel, had plenty of fluids, fruits and rest, as I prepared myself for my last stop, Xi'an, China's cradle of civilisation. 

Little Tibet

Distance covered - 4214km

I woke up early and made my way towards XiaHe by bus; since I was in a hurry I took a taxi towards the new bus station which is 20km away from the city centre. Tickets were still aplenty as I took the 8.20am bus to XiaHe. 

Stalking lamas 

Visitor with prayer wheel

The trip was uneventful, as the bus sped by villages and hamlets surrounded by plantations (peanuts maybe?) and farms. The highway was smooth and apart from a few stops for refuelling and toilet breaks, I reach XiaHe by noon. 

XiaHe struck me as a town very different from the rest of China. Why so? Known as Little Tibet since it is one of most populated Tibetan settlement outside Tibet, this town is full of buildings of Tibetan architecture, and its street full of Tibetan folks. I was lost after disembarking the bus, so I walked around the main street, hijacking free wi-fi, in order to get myself orientated and search for a nearby hostel.

I got a small room in a nearby Tara Guesthouse, rested for a while and started wandering into the LaBrang Monastery, which is just opposite to it. The tourist office (shabby and dysfunctional) does organise tours twice a day, and a bunch of us (me, myself and a group of foreigners) hopped onto the 3.15pm tour, which started at 3.45pm due to technical error.

Labrang Monastery is one of the biggest monastery for the yellow sect of Tibetan Buddhist, hence it's so hustle and bustle with swarms of pilgrims visiting it daily. Our tour was led by one of the young novices (who's into making extra pocket money from our fees, and to practice their English). Fortunately, for the foreigners, I managed to step up as an assistant translator whenever my guide got stuck while explaining. 

Tibetan kinswomen

The main hall in this monastery is the Manjusri hall, which is reputed to be grand with yak-butter sculptures and enormous Buddha statues, as the hall reverberates with mantra chanting by the lamas. However, there was a blackout on that day, hence everyone decided to take a break for the day. The hall was dark with a few oil lamps, hence we had to sightsee in the dark, yet with our flashlight we could still catch some glimpse of this main hall.

The plaza outside the monastery

I think we're not alone here

The flagpole for the ceremony

Yak butter Buddhist Sculptures

Buildings in the monastery

Monastery building

The library was closed on that day due to an event; the bright side, this event was so grand that there was a major procession with flocks of Tibetan folks gathering at the plaza, chanting and praying. I felt very fortunate to be able to witness such an event!

After almost an hour, it was time to wander around the monastery, climbing up the Gongtan Chorten (Golden Stupa) next to the river bank for a view of the monastery. Rows of prayer wheels surround the monastery, and there will be flocks of zealous pilgrims and followers turning them as they walk around the monastery.

The procession begins

March of the lamas

Carrying out the big flag

Grim looking lamas

Yellow sect lamas

Grandmaster appears

Nice drums

Dance of the drum bearers

"Dude, you look awesome." "Yeah, I know."

Completing the ceremony

The end

Prayer wheels 

I took a short nap and was awakened by the sudden drop in the temperature. It was freezing cold and the heater was not functioning because it's not technically winter yet! Shivering like mad in the dark, I walked opposite to a local Tibetan restaurant for a light dinner - yak meat momos and yak butter tea (definitely not my cup of tea!), then sprinted back to the hostel to rest.

Tibetan lady with prayer wheel

I figured that I had caught a cold since I was mildly feverish and shivering. With no warm clothing, I wore 2 layers of tee-shirts and a jacket, in cargo pants, and wrapped myself within the duvet and collapsed due to the exhaustion.

Yak meat dumplings

Yak butter tea

I decided to change my plan; instead of staying longer in the morning to visit the nearby Sangke grasslands (autumn with the grass wilting, there's nothing much to see in the cold), I decided to catch an earlier bus back to LanZhou and make way to TianShui, my next station.

A short stay over in ZhangYe

Distance covered - 3488km

The 8pm train from JiaYuGuan arrived in ZhangYe by midnight, and it was starting to freeze. From the train station, I shared a taxi with an elderly lady and headed towards the city centre, which was around 10km away. By the time I reached the hotel, it was already almost 1am. I virtually collapsed after taking a nice hot bath, and dozed off in the clean white sheets of the hotel. 

The next morning I woke up around 8am in the morning but I was too lazy to get out from the bed. It has been a while since I've lazed on the bed after arriving in China; I missed the feeling of procrastinating too much! Since the train to Lanzhou would only be around 3pm, and there was nothing much to do here, I decided to take my sweet time watching cable tv.

By 11am, I started exploring the city, heading towards the infamous Da Fo Si (Great Buddha Temple), which is around 2km away. This temple houses the biggest wooden indoor reclining buddha statue in China, and some precious artefacts like the Golden inscriptions of the Heart Sutra, and many others in its museum. 

Great Buddha Temple

Main temple

Actually, ZhangYe's most famous attraction would be the ZhangYe Danxia (SunSet) Landscape, 40km away from the town city. The unique geological landscape of multi-coloured rock would definitely be astounding, especially under the golden rays of sunset. However, I was unable to squeeze it into my itinerary this time, hence, it would have to wait for my next trip then!

Mountains and plains

Awesome view from the train

My 3pm train took me 4 hours to reach Lanzhou; I did not personally like Lanzhou as it was too cosmopolitan. The air smells of factory fumes, with cars honking everywhere and commuters marching all over the road. The initial hotel that I book does not accept foreigners (contrary to what it claimed online!) so I decided to spend some extra money to splurge in a 3 star hotel to pamper myself, before my trip to the wilderness of southern Gansu, which was one of the best experience in this trip!

Entering Middle Kingdom via Jiayuguan

Distance covered - 3264km

The next day I left Dunhuang early morning via a transit minivan, which sent me to rendezvous with a bunch of tourists who were heading towards Jiayuguan. Again, I was the only foreigner on the bus. The bus sped and took around 4 hours to reach the town of Jiuquan, where we had lunch in a restaurant before splitting up according to the minivans we were assigned to.

The World's Mightiest Pass!

The Sturdy Walls

Entrance to the Jiayuguan Pass

Plaza in the pass

We headed towards the Jiayuguan Pass Scenic Area, where the majestic Jiayuguan Pass (also known as the World's Mightiest Pass 天下第一雄关) lies. The Chinese government has done an awful good work in implementing exorbitant entrance fees (no wonder the Guangdong siblings enjoyed smuggling into such places), yet, as a return you get wonderful clean 5-star toilets and wi-fi all over the area! 

The World's Mightiest Pass

The Guerrilla General's Office

Jiayuguan Pass was the most Western outpost in Ming Dynasty area of rule, which was nothing in compare with the Han's and Tang's Dynasties where they occupied up to DunHuang. Since it is only established 500 years ago, hence it is still well maintained, unlike Yang Pass and Yumen Pass. Legends stated that this pass was built with 99999 stone bricks; when the builders finished the pass, they had only used up 99998 bricks, leaving one brick behind. However, it was a felony to not use up whatever building materials supplied, they left it on the arch of one of the doors, claiming that the rampart will fall if they remove the stone. Maybe that was the reason why this pass has been guarding China's Western frontier through all the years successfully against invasion from this direction, where as the Manchurians managed to break through from the north east?

Poplar trees turning yellow

The First Beacon - From here the Great Wall of China starts

Our tour guide took us around the scenic area, from the Great Wall Museum, to the ramparts and city walls where he narrated all sorts of legends and stories surrounding this structure. It took us almost 2 hours to cover the entire fort, and by the time we were done with it, I was already exhausted. 

What's left of the beacon tower

Our next destination was The First Beacon of The Great Wall, which is like 12km apart from the Jiayuguan Pass. The great wall actually extends from the cliffs of the Taolai River, going eastwards till the East China Sea, and our next destination would be that area. There was nothing left at the beacon, except for ruins. However, there was a subterranean museum which was worth visiting. 

Underground tomb

The Taolai River Valley

In this museum, they found out an underground tomb dated to the Wei/Jin dynasty and now it is covered in glass and visitors can look upon it from above the floor through the glass floors. Other than that, there's a looking area which extends out of the cliff, where one could see the gorgeous view of the Taolai river valley. Since the looking area has glass floors too, I could only last 20 seconds before my acrophobia seized control of my senses.

Yeah, Indiana Jones style adventure!

Walking another 500 meters, one will reach the cliffs of the Taolai river, where you will reach an old deserted filming set, which was part of the famous movie New Dragon Gate Tavern (新龙门客栈). The film set was a bit dull, yet, to reach it I had to cross a plank bridge suspended with thick ropes, across the Taolai river valley. Scary indeed.

After the trip has ended, the minivan sent us off to our respective destinations; for me, I was off to my next city in mind, ZhangYe. Initially I was thinking of heading straight to Lanzhou, but since the trip would be 12 hours, and my tummy had been getting some upsets, I decided to stop in ZhangYe for a good night rest instead.