Gansu - Part 1
Twelfth day started at 0314hrs, as I had stated in my last entry. After alighting from the train, we made our way to the exit, forgetting to make our next train ticket purchase, from Dunhuang (敦煌) to Lanzhou (兰州), As we made our way out of the train station, there were already few hasslers around, looking for people to take their cab. Anyway, we just randomly selected one driver and went with him, getting him to help us find a 2-star hotel, as usual. The 1st one we went to was full, so we headed to the one across the street which got a room, but ended up we had to pay for 2 nights, since the time we checked in was considered as previous night. Damn hotel! And worse, the shower ran on solar power, so no hot water until later in the morning. So we only did some wiping before heading to bed.
Woke up at 1100hrs and still felt the coldness in the air! The windows to the room was not closed, so the whole room had dropped to below your standard aircon room temperature. And to make matter worse, there was NO HOT WATER at all! It happened to be a dark cloudy day with almost no sun. So its was very cold out there. We had to put on 3 layers of clothes. With my running noses, my resistances to coldness had dropped a fair bit.
Apparently there was no public bus to the local tourist spots. So after settling our lunch with one of the local restaurant, we called the driver who picked us up earlier in the morning to bring us to the local sights. So in the end, we decided on going to 3 just sights, skipping Wei Jin Tomb (魏晋墓). We started with JiaYuGuan Fort (嘉峪关关城). Quite a big place. After seeing castles in Wales some years back, I ought to see a chinese Fort. The fort was decorated with a man-made lake and museum around it. The inside of the fort retained most of its original style and this fort is an important fort back then, protecting the China's border due to its strategic location. We spent more time in it than expected. There was even an archery area, where tourists got to shoot arrows down at the straw dummy from the top of the fort. As usual, it was not free but its relatively cheap, at 1Y per arrow. There was also a GuanYu Temple ( 关帝庙) inside the fort too. There was a legend saying that a great man calculated the building of the fort to great accuracy that at the end of the construction, only one brick was left.
After that, the 2nd sight was a part of the Great Wall. We got to climb till the end of it. A few hundreds steps later, we were at the end of whatever was left of this part of the Great Wall. The climb up was a little unbearable. With a running nose and ice cold wind for companionship, it did took a fair bit of labour to get to the top. With each step I took, I was asking myself why was I paying moolah to put myself through such labour. At the top, we were rewarded with a bird's eye view of the city.
The 3rd sight was the 1st sector of the Great Wall (第一墩). It was the 1st section because it started from the end of the cliff. Frankly, only one small section of it was left and give it another couple more years, or decades, it will probably disappeared, with the erosion of nature. The cliff was by a gorge, which will slowly "eat" away the cliff. At this sight, we got to see an underground cave. It was purly man-made that contained fossil skeletons on the wall, and underground excavation sealed with glass floor for viewing, and a gallery that extended out of the cliff, having a good better view of the gorge beneath it. There were cable car service that brought paying tourist to the opposite end of the cliff. It was a single seater swing like seat. I'm sure one can felt the adrenaline rush while sitting alone, gliding across the gorge with no protection around you.
Slightly further away from the underground cave was a filming site. Its was constructed like an ancient army camp. We wondered around the camp with the cold wind freezing us. There was a bridge across the gorge to another filming site which was constructed like an ancient home, with well too. Looked exactly like those in a period drama. Crossing the bridge did gave me the adrenaline rush, with the chilling wind around me and the fast rushing but not huge enough river roaring beneath me. The bridge did swing with each step I took. Its about 100m - 150m across.
With that ended our sightseeing in JiaYuGuan (嘉峪关). We got the driver to send us to the bus station to get our tickets for Dunhuang (敦煌). Along the way, he pointed out there were restaurants that sell fragrance meat (香肉), which was actually dog meat. Sound exotic enough, I would not mind trying that but it was too far from our hotel and I could not remember the there. We ended eating at this famous bun restaurants called Gou Bu Li (狗不理)which literally meant dog dun care. After dinner we headed for the nearby internet cafe, after which we walked to their night market. It was a little boring compared to the bazaar at Xinjiang. The day ended with NO HOT SHOWER! I normally went normal tap water at home but temperature below 20°and ice cold water, bathing in my current condition was a bad idea. We could only made do with kettle boiled water to wipe ourselves.
Thirteenth day started with a mad rush. We headed to the nearby train station to get our Dunhuang (敦煌) to Lanzhou (兰州) train tickets. Due to some miscommunication, I was issued the wrong tickets. Standing there to argue was a bad idea since we needed to get ourselves to the bus station for the trip to Dunhuang (敦煌). So I was directed to the next counter to cancel the tickets and made a new purchase. The line was a little long with certain people having priority queue and computer hiccup. In the end its 10mins rush to the bus station.
The ride was uneventful, taking nearly 6 hours. We reached Dunhuang (敦煌) at about 1500hrs and a lady started hassling us to get a cab for the famous Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). There was no public bus to Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). So in the end we took one of the cabs to city central which was actually only 2 streets away. The hotel we stayed was the most expensive so far. Most spacious but looked a little rundown. The toliet was a little flooded after bathing too. But this was the only one that provided each room with cable TV! I tuned to latest movie channel and I'm looking at a movie I watched more than 10 years back! We took our shower without the hot water since the temperature in Dunhuang (敦煌) was a little warm by the time we reached.
We went to MingSha Mountain ( 鸣沙山) to climb the sand dunes and to view the Moon Crescent Lake (月牙泉). As we expected, the sights in Dunhuang (敦煌) was among the most expensive for this trip. MingSha Mountain (鸣沙山) was a 5A site, like Tianshan Tianchi but more expensive. According to Frommer's China guide, the climb up the dunes was some sweaty work. It was no kidding me. If you dun walk with controlled steps, a lot of energy was wasted. A step up, half a step sinking was going to happen, not to talk about my physique. Perspiring with chilling wind blowing was no fun.
With each step, the same thoughts ran through my mind. Why was I paying to suffer? But as always, the higher you climbed, the better the view got. Along the way, we could see people sitting along the side of the slope catching their breath. Some were playing with the sand, rolling in it. They were very fine sand. 2 ladies on the way down suggested to us to take off our shoes to enjoy the feel of the fine sand. Looking down at my boots, its not a good idea. There were shoes protective cover for rental, covering from kneel down to the floor. Its a good thing we came in our boots with gutters, so no sand could get in unless we sank to our waist.
From the top, I really got an awesome view of the Moon Crescent Lake (月牙泉), man-made lake as well as its surroundings. We hanged at the top for a while, enjoying the chilling breeze and the sweaty effort. One side of a particular dune was named the sliding slope. As the name suggested, tourists paid to sit on a float and slided down the slope. We chose to walk down the slope. Taking 1 last look at the surrounding so not to leave out anything else since I dun wish to climb up again, we made our way down.
We made our way to the Moon Crescent Lake (月牙泉). Its a naturally formed lake in the middle of the desert. A building was constructed next to it in the recent decades. The lake had been around for milleniums. Like the saying beautiful from far, far from beautiful. From far, the lake looked beautiful but close up, it looked disappointing. There were a lot of camels sitting around, waiting for their owners to get tourists to pay for the ride. Riding a camel in a desert looked so fun but my wallet refused to sponsor me. Sigh.
We left the place, taking the public bus back to town central. We then started our ritual walk around the town. We went looking for a place to eat donkey meat. I doubt I could try that in Sillypore. As usual, we ordered too much food again. We asked for small plate of yellow noodles but it looked like extra large in Sillypore term. Reminded me of the entrée spaghetti I had when I was in downunder 5 years back. Temperature dropped pretty fast in Dunhuang (敦煌) by night fall. We finally found our way to the main shopping street, somewhat of the Orchard Road in Sillypore. Went to the internet café to gather information on the train schudule from Lanzhou (兰州) to Xining (西宁). Booked our airticket back to Xining (西宁) to Chengdu (成都) as well. And that ended our thirteenth day.
We woke up early for the fourteenth day. Half a day at the famous Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) was recommended. Our driver arrived earlier than we were ready. Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) was at least a 5A site, costing us 160Y each. If you are holding any China guide, if it is not the current year copy, the pricing in it are mostly outdated. It was a 10mins walk in the early coldness before reaching the entrance. All cameras and big bag had to be deposited at the free deposit counter. A chinese speaking guide was provided for free but it would have to wait a group to be formed. The thing was that each guide might show you a slightly different set of caves though the 3 main caves would always be part of the highlights.
There were 735 caves in Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟), with 492 of those containing paintings and statues, out of which only 30-40 caves were opened to public. Each guide would show 8 - 10 caves, so we shall 10 + 1 caves. After we finished our guided tour, we were allowed to roam the place on our own. We came a group that went into a cave that we din see earlier, so we joined them. If we hanged around the place for a while more, we could see even more caves. But we had a time schedule to adhere to, so we could not stick around the caves all day. Photography were only allowed after stepping through the exit, from behind the fences. So a lot of moolah making opportunity for people outside the fences. They would take a photo of you from behind the fence while you were still inside. Photo to be collected after you exited.
One of the oldest caves we visited was more than 1500 years. At some caves, layered of paintings could be seen, due to different dynastic changes in fashion or repair works. Tang dynasty had done the best art, especially during the peak of the dynasty. The world 3rd largest buddha, but 1st for indoor buddha statue, was found here in cave 96. It rosed in rank because the previous 3rd and 4th was destroyed in... errrr I think Pakistan... by the extremists. That buddha was over 30m in height and 1 of the 3 main caves to see. First built during the Tang dynasty and repaired numerous times over the different dynasties. Inside the caves, one could see the layered floor tiles over the different dynasties.
The other one was the 2nd largest buddha in Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟), which was over 20m, in cave 148. The final highlight was the sleeping buddha in caves 130. The inside of the caves was shaped like a coffin depicting buddha's death at age of 80 years. 72 monk sculptures was added to the back of the buddha, each having a different facial expression depicting their different understanding of the buddha's death.
One of the caves contained a sculpture that was said to be the Mona Lisa of the East. From one angle, when light was shone onto it, it was smiling and from another angle, it had a different smiling expression. And this was more than 1500 years old. In another cave, many of today's fashion design of clothes were found on the wall paintings.
In another cave was a vast treasures of Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) discovered. The cave was done up by a great monk. After his death, his disciples excavated a smaller cave within the same cave. In it was the statue of great monk which the disciples done to be a memorial place of him. Some 200 years later, the local people that smaller cave to hide all their religious and treasured artifacts. The area was entering a warring time. They then sealed up the smaller cave. Another 800-900 years had passed before a priest discovered the smaller cave while cleaning up the cave. He took some of the artifacts to sell. Slowly news spread about the treasures. Between 1904 - 1911, the germans, americans, russians, japanese and french came and bribed the priest with little moolah for the treasures inside. By the time the government took over the place, only 10000 artifacts were left compared to 50000 when the smallor caves were discovered.
His disciples believed that he had done great contributions to cave since he used the moolah gotten from the sales on artifacts and religious contributions to repair the cave. A plaque in memory of him was took up by the disciples in the but that plaque was now a reminder of his shame and treachery. After we exited from the caves area, we went around taking photos of whatever we could.
On the way back to town for lunch, we detoured to a Northern Wei Tomb (北魏墓) which was nearly 1800 years old. The tomb was discovered in 1981 only after they caught a tomb robber. He was only an accomplice. The main culprit was never caught. Almost everything was cleared out of the tomb, hence the owner of tomb was undeterminable. But based on the structure of the tomb, the owner was likely to be someone high up in the society hierarchy. The design of the tolnb was to make use of gravity to support itself. No cement was used at all. The tomb robber was very professional, knowing how to break into the tomb. Only the 4 corners of the roof was the possible way to break in. Removing a wrong brick would caused the tomb to collapse. It was said the real coffin of owner was to be found behind the wall painting found in the main room but no way to determine it. Removing that wall would caused the tomb to collapse.
After the tomb visit, we went back to town for lunch. Had donkey and lamb dumplings, together with wanton soup. We then headed for the West Thousand Buddha Caves (西千佛洞). Its was deserted with no tourists when we visited. This place paled in comparison to Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). A total of 16 caves with only 6 opened for public. Many sculptures were unfinished. Due to weather and earthquakes, most of the paintings were ruined but works from Northern Wei could be seen. It showed the refinement of the artists' styles and skills over the dynasties.
Our final stop was at the Dunhuang ancient city (敦煌古城). It looked great and grand from the outside, similar to the JiaYuGuan Fort (嘉峪关关城). Only after entering did we realized we got duped. Its was a filming location. Many dramas and movies, including from Hongkong, Japan and Korea, had used the set. We just did a quick tour around the place and left. We headed back to town and killed some time, arranging with the driver to picked us up at 1800hrs. As usual, we sat down in an internet café to kill time.
The original driver we arranged with the day before could not pick us up for our day tour. Then the driver who came to pick us up at 1800hrs heading for the train station was another driver since the previous driver went to Liuyuan. With that we ended our adventures in Gansu. We paid the most expensive and cheapest entrance fees in Dunhuang (敦煌), together with the most expensive hotel stay for us. Our train would take us to Lanzhou (兰州) where we would changed to another train to Xining (西宁).
Slightly further away from the underground cave was a filming site. Its was constructed like an ancient army camp. We wondered around the camp with the cold wind freezing us. There was a bridge across the gorge to another filming site which was constructed like an ancient home, with well too. Looked exactly like those in a period drama. Crossing the bridge did gave me the adrenaline rush, with the chilling wind around me and the fast rushing but not huge enough river roaring beneath me. The bridge did swing with each step I took. Its about 100m - 150m across.
With that ended our sightseeing in JiaYuGuan (嘉峪关). We got the driver to send us to the bus station to get our tickets for Dunhuang (敦煌). Along the way, he pointed out there were restaurants that sell fragrance meat (香肉), which was actually dog meat. Sound exotic enough, I would not mind trying that but it was too far from our hotel and I could not remember the there. We ended eating at this famous bun restaurants called Gou Bu Li (狗不理)which literally meant dog dun care. After dinner we headed for the nearby internet cafe, after which we walked to their night market. It was a little boring compared to the bazaar at Xinjiang. The day ended with NO HOT SHOWER! I normally went normal tap water at home but temperature below 20°and ice cold water, bathing in my current condition was a bad idea. We could only made do with kettle boiled water to wipe ourselves.
Thirteenth day started with a mad rush. We headed to the nearby train station to get our Dunhuang (敦煌) to Lanzhou (兰州) train tickets. Due to some miscommunication, I was issued the wrong tickets. Standing there to argue was a bad idea since we needed to get ourselves to the bus station for the trip to Dunhuang (敦煌). So I was directed to the next counter to cancel the tickets and made a new purchase. The line was a little long with certain people having priority queue and computer hiccup. In the end its 10mins rush to the bus station.
The ride was uneventful, taking nearly 6 hours. We reached Dunhuang (敦煌) at about 1500hrs and a lady started hassling us to get a cab for the famous Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). There was no public bus to Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). So in the end we took one of the cabs to city central which was actually only 2 streets away. The hotel we stayed was the most expensive so far. Most spacious but looked a little rundown. The toliet was a little flooded after bathing too. But this was the only one that provided each room with cable TV! I tuned to latest movie channel and I'm looking at a movie I watched more than 10 years back! We took our shower without the hot water since the temperature in Dunhuang (敦煌) was a little warm by the time we reached.
We went to MingSha Mountain ( 鸣沙山) to climb the sand dunes and to view the Moon Crescent Lake (月牙泉). As we expected, the sights in Dunhuang (敦煌) was among the most expensive for this trip. MingSha Mountain (鸣沙山) was a 5A site, like Tianshan Tianchi but more expensive. According to Frommer's China guide, the climb up the dunes was some sweaty work. It was no kidding me. If you dun walk with controlled steps, a lot of energy was wasted. A step up, half a step sinking was going to happen, not to talk about my physique. Perspiring with chilling wind blowing was no fun.
With each step, the same thoughts ran through my mind. Why was I paying to suffer? But as always, the higher you climbed, the better the view got. Along the way, we could see people sitting along the side of the slope catching their breath. Some were playing with the sand, rolling in it. They were very fine sand. 2 ladies on the way down suggested to us to take off our shoes to enjoy the feel of the fine sand. Looking down at my boots, its not a good idea. There were shoes protective cover for rental, covering from kneel down to the floor. Its a good thing we came in our boots with gutters, so no sand could get in unless we sank to our waist.
From the top, I really got an awesome view of the Moon Crescent Lake (月牙泉), man-made lake as well as its surroundings. We hanged at the top for a while, enjoying the chilling breeze and the sweaty effort. One side of a particular dune was named the sliding slope. As the name suggested, tourists paid to sit on a float and slided down the slope. We chose to walk down the slope. Taking 1 last look at the surrounding so not to leave out anything else since I dun wish to climb up again, we made our way down.
We made our way to the Moon Crescent Lake (月牙泉). Its a naturally formed lake in the middle of the desert. A building was constructed next to it in the recent decades. The lake had been around for milleniums. Like the saying beautiful from far, far from beautiful. From far, the lake looked beautiful but close up, it looked disappointing. There were a lot of camels sitting around, waiting for their owners to get tourists to pay for the ride. Riding a camel in a desert looked so fun but my wallet refused to sponsor me. Sigh.
We left the place, taking the public bus back to town central. We then started our ritual walk around the town. We went looking for a place to eat donkey meat. I doubt I could try that in Sillypore. As usual, we ordered too much food again. We asked for small plate of yellow noodles but it looked like extra large in Sillypore term. Reminded me of the entrée spaghetti I had when I was in downunder 5 years back. Temperature dropped pretty fast in Dunhuang (敦煌) by night fall. We finally found our way to the main shopping street, somewhat of the Orchard Road in Sillypore. Went to the internet café to gather information on the train schudule from Lanzhou (兰州) to Xining (西宁). Booked our airticket back to Xining (西宁) to Chengdu (成都) as well. And that ended our thirteenth day.
We woke up early for the fourteenth day. Half a day at the famous Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) was recommended. Our driver arrived earlier than we were ready. Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) was at least a 5A site, costing us 160Y each. If you are holding any China guide, if it is not the current year copy, the pricing in it are mostly outdated. It was a 10mins walk in the early coldness before reaching the entrance. All cameras and big bag had to be deposited at the free deposit counter. A chinese speaking guide was provided for free but it would have to wait a group to be formed. The thing was that each guide might show you a slightly different set of caves though the 3 main caves would always be part of the highlights.
There were 735 caves in Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟), with 492 of those containing paintings and statues, out of which only 30-40 caves were opened to public. Each guide would show 8 - 10 caves, so we shall 10 + 1 caves. After we finished our guided tour, we were allowed to roam the place on our own. We came a group that went into a cave that we din see earlier, so we joined them. If we hanged around the place for a while more, we could see even more caves. But we had a time schedule to adhere to, so we could not stick around the caves all day. Photography were only allowed after stepping through the exit, from behind the fences. So a lot of moolah making opportunity for people outside the fences. They would take a photo of you from behind the fence while you were still inside. Photo to be collected after you exited.
One of the oldest caves we visited was more than 1500 years. At some caves, layered of paintings could be seen, due to different dynastic changes in fashion or repair works. Tang dynasty had done the best art, especially during the peak of the dynasty. The world 3rd largest buddha, but 1st for indoor buddha statue, was found here in cave 96. It rosed in rank because the previous 3rd and 4th was destroyed in... errrr I think Pakistan... by the extremists. That buddha was over 30m in height and 1 of the 3 main caves to see. First built during the Tang dynasty and repaired numerous times over the different dynasties. Inside the caves, one could see the layered floor tiles over the different dynasties.
The other one was the 2nd largest buddha in Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟), which was over 20m, in cave 148. The final highlight was the sleeping buddha in caves 130. The inside of the caves was shaped like a coffin depicting buddha's death at age of 80 years. 72 monk sculptures was added to the back of the buddha, each having a different facial expression depicting their different understanding of the buddha's death.
One of the caves contained a sculpture that was said to be the Mona Lisa of the East. From one angle, when light was shone onto it, it was smiling and from another angle, it had a different smiling expression. And this was more than 1500 years old. In another cave, many of today's fashion design of clothes were found on the wall paintings.
In another cave was a vast treasures of Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟) discovered. The cave was done up by a great monk. After his death, his disciples excavated a smaller cave within the same cave. In it was the statue of great monk which the disciples done to be a memorial place of him. Some 200 years later, the local people that smaller cave to hide all their religious and treasured artifacts. The area was entering a warring time. They then sealed up the smaller cave. Another 800-900 years had passed before a priest discovered the smaller cave while cleaning up the cave. He took some of the artifacts to sell. Slowly news spread about the treasures. Between 1904 - 1911, the germans, americans, russians, japanese and french came and bribed the priest with little moolah for the treasures inside. By the time the government took over the place, only 10000 artifacts were left compared to 50000 when the smallor caves were discovered.
His disciples believed that he had done great contributions to cave since he used the moolah gotten from the sales on artifacts and religious contributions to repair the cave. A plaque in memory of him was took up by the disciples in the but that plaque was now a reminder of his shame and treachery. After we exited from the caves area, we went around taking photos of whatever we could.
On the way back to town for lunch, we detoured to a Northern Wei Tomb (北魏墓) which was nearly 1800 years old. The tomb was discovered in 1981 only after they caught a tomb robber. He was only an accomplice. The main culprit was never caught. Almost everything was cleared out of the tomb, hence the owner of tomb was undeterminable. But based on the structure of the tomb, the owner was likely to be someone high up in the society hierarchy. The design of the tolnb was to make use of gravity to support itself. No cement was used at all. The tomb robber was very professional, knowing how to break into the tomb. Only the 4 corners of the roof was the possible way to break in. Removing a wrong brick would caused the tomb to collapse. It was said the real coffin of owner was to be found behind the wall painting found in the main room but no way to determine it. Removing that wall would caused the tomb to collapse.
After the tomb visit, we went back to town for lunch. Had donkey and lamb dumplings, together with wanton soup. We then headed for the West Thousand Buddha Caves (西千佛洞). Its was deserted with no tourists when we visited. This place paled in comparison to Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). A total of 16 caves with only 6 opened for public. Many sculptures were unfinished. Due to weather and earthquakes, most of the paintings were ruined but works from Northern Wei could be seen. It showed the refinement of the artists' styles and skills over the dynasties.
Our final stop was at the Dunhuang ancient city (敦煌古城). It looked great and grand from the outside, similar to the JiaYuGuan Fort (嘉峪关关城). Only after entering did we realized we got duped. Its was a filming location. Many dramas and movies, including from Hongkong, Japan and Korea, had used the set. We just did a quick tour around the place and left. We headed back to town and killed some time, arranging with the driver to picked us up at 1800hrs. As usual, we sat down in an internet café to kill time.
The original driver we arranged with the day before could not pick us up for our day tour. Then the driver who came to pick us up at 1800hrs heading for the train station was another driver since the previous driver went to Liuyuan. With that we ended our adventures in Gansu. We paid the most expensive and cheapest entrance fees in Dunhuang (敦煌), together with the most expensive hotel stay for us. Our train would take us to Lanzhou (兰州) where we would changed to another train to Xining (西宁).
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