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China's Silk Road

October 2017
A 14-day adventure by The Vacationist Read more
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  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 1

    Xi'an

    October 14, 2017 in China ⋅ 🌫 13 °C

    We landed in Xi'an airport at midnight. We were tired so we took a taxi and went straight to our hostel. It was called 7 Sages Youth Hostel. After freshening up I slept at about 3am only to be up again by 6am. We went to the bus statiom nearby and took bus no. 5 (306) at around 8am to see the Terracotta warriors.

    So this is sort of an mausoleum consisting of 3 archeological pits founded in 1974 and their excavation is still in progress. These statues are life sized and are very detailed. Of course, alot of them were already damaged when they were found. To me, it seems like an ancient king wanted to make a time capsule, and he had too much time and money on his hands. Still amazing nevertheless.

    After that we headed to the Muslim Culture Street. So much food here we just couldn't stop eating. The pomegranate juice was to die for. It is pomegranate season right now, so they're everywhere. We had some Osmanthus cake and beef and shrimp dumplings as well as some frozen yoghurt, and lastly smoked squid.

    As we continued walking, we stumbled upon a souvenir shop alley. Tshirts, key chains and magnets, but what I liked the most was the artwork. Planning to get that when I come back to Xi'an towards the end of the trip.

    Then we came across the Great Mosque of Xi'an. Beautiful courtyard and intricate architecture. This place was built on 742AD during the Tang dynasty making it 1300 years old.

    After that we headed back to our hostel, made our way to Xi'an North train station via the metro and subsequently boarded a train to Lanzhou West. The journey took us 3 hours so we reached at 11.30pm and then got lost in finding our hostel so we finally reached at midnight again.

    Had to be up by 6am as our train to Zhangye West was at 7.20am. We couldn't get a direct train from Xi'an to Zhangye so we had to break it up for bit. On the bright side, I got a bed to sleep on.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 2

    Zhangye, China

    October 15, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Today we woke up at 6am and left on a train to Zhangye West by 7.30am. We reached 3 hours later and we had trouble storing our luggage at the train station because apparently they don't have a luggage storage room. Luckily there was a convenience store nearby that offered that. How very convenient for us. We then hired a day taxi (friend of the store owner) and he brought us to eat as well as to visit some tourist spots. He charged us ¥500 but it seemed reasonable for 3 people and a long journey to and fro.

    Of course, the reason we went to Zhangye was to see the colourful mountains of Zhangye National Geopark but that is almost an hour from town, so we decided to visit the Zhangye Buddhist Temple first. Now, the interesting thing about the temple is that it is home to the largest clay sleeping Buddha statue with a wooden core in Asia. However, taking pictures of it was not allowed so I took pictures of the building and surrounding instead. We spent about an hour there and then we left to see the Danxia colourful hills.

    The entrance fee to this park is ¥75. Good thing is that is offers buses to the different platforms, as it was a rather sunny day. These hills are a result of years of geological activity causing it to erode and appear to have a myriad of colours. From what I heard, its even more colourful if it rains the day before, which was not the case for us. But anyway, still a magnificent sight. A fun fact: the 2015 Hollywood film "Great Wall of China" was partly filmed here, amongst some others.

    We were supposed to watch the sunset at the last platform which was platform 4, but it was getting more crowded towards 6pm and so we decided to leave in view of the fear of being crushed by chinese tourist.

    We boarded our train to Jiayuguan at 10pm from our earlier train station and reached an hour later, having trouble finding our hostel as it was in some shady part of town. Surprisingly though, the inside of Pearl Hostel did not match the outside, and soon I found myself snuggled under the covers of the comfortable bunk bed.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 3

    Jiayuguan City

    October 16, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    The Great Wall of China. Today was solely about that. This city is home to the western part of the wall. First up, we visited the first beacon tower of the great wall in Jiayuguan. It is also called the Tao Lai tower as it is located next to the Tao Lai river. This beacon tower had an important role by acting as a vanguard in warning by beacon. Unfortunately its rubble now.

    Next, we visited the Overhanging Great Wall. It is also called Badaling of the West. It was built on the eastern slope of the Black Mountain and it overlooks the Gobi Desert. This was constructed in order to protect not only the country but the traders along the Silk Road. It was quite a workout climbing up here but totally worth the struggle. On the way down, people have put padlocks on the railing and it represents their wishes/prayers. I suppose they believe it will come true if they do this.

    There is a place called the Jiayuguan Pass. This is a complex city connected to the Overhanging Great Wall. To say it simply, it appears to be a military base with an inner and outer city with multiple buildings and towers of different functions to organize and strategize the ancient military force. Not forgetting its surrounding moat. So if enemies do get through that 4.2 metre wall, they are going to have a tough time penetrating this city of multiple walls and doors.

    To get to Jiayuguan Pass, you can either walk from the main entrance or rent a bicycle for ¥10 (which was what we did). We did a loop around the lake and took some pretty good pictures of the scenery. I hadn't rode a bike for sometime so this was refreshing.

    There is a lot of history here. Even the little bit that I gathered today was too much to write. It made me realize that I need to hit the history books.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 4

    Dunhuang

    October 17, 2017 in China ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    It took us a 5 hour bus ride from Jiayuguan to get here. We reached at 9pm yesterday. After a well deserved rest, we started our day by visiting Mingsha Mountain Crescent Spring Scenic Area. The entrance fee was ¥120 per person. This is actually the Gobi desert beyond the Great Wall. The mountain is also known as the Sand Echoing Mountain because at times when the winds are strong, you can hear howling. It has an oasis with a crescent-shaped lake, hence the name.

    There are multiple tourist activities here such as camel riding, hiring a helicopter and renting a glider. I didn't do that as I didn't find it all that interesting. I'd rather move on foot and save money as I have another 11 days of China to go.

    We first visited the oasis, where there was a pagoda like structure called the Yuequan Pavilion. Too many tourists wandering here so I decided to skip the picture taking and climb up one of the dunes instead. To me, the climb was physically challenging as well as shoe filling (with sand). I only climbed up the first dune as I had the physical stamina of an 80 year old with a heart condition. Once up there, I just sat there for a bit admiring the view as well as observing the colourful chinese tourist with their high enthusiasm for posing during photo taking.

    We were done with this place by 1pm. We headed off to Mogao Grottoes as we had tickets for 2pm. The fee for this place was ¥220 and it covered everything from the videos, to the english speaking guide as well as a 2 way bus ride to the grottoes. Lucky for us, the staff let us in by 1.30pm (because we mentioned we had a train to catch at night). We watched 2 videos on the history of the place, one of which was 3D and was simply amazing as the screen covered the entire dome. Then we took a shuttle bus to the actual Mogao Grottoes. It wasn't exactly what I expected as it has been touched up in view of its old and crumbling structure. The cave entrances now have doors with numbers on it.

    Built 1000 years ago by a wandering monk who once had a vision to teach peace to the world via Buddhism. Slowly through the course of time, more and more caves were built with statues and murals representing the Buddhist religion. There are about 735 caves here, of which 492 had Buddhist statues in them. Out of those, around 300 were built during the Tang dysnasty. Other dysnasties that contributed were mainly the Sui and Ching. From what I gathered, the people from the Ching dynasty simply loved the rebuild and repaint the statues and cave walls.

    They also had a library with thousands of manuscripts and paintings, most of which have been taken/bought (I would say stolen) by foreigners from France, America, Japan, etc. One genius even took an entire Bodhisattva statue and sold it to the Harvard Museum. Like why would you take away history from its original resting place. Greed obviously.

    There is a Buddhist statue 35.5 metres tall here, which is the third tallest Buddhist statue in China. It was huge! I saw it but I couldn't take pictures inside any of the caves. The 2nd tallest one in Mogao Grottoes had a height of 26 metres but I couldn't see that one as it was undergoing reconstruction.

    Besides meditating caves, there were over 200 caves on the Northern end for travellers and merchants on the Silk Road to rest and also for protection against bandits.

    So much history here but I only gathered a glimpse of it today. Before this, I never even knew a place called Mogao Grottoes existed. Yet another reason for me to hit the history books.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 5

    Turpan

    October 18, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    We took the overnight train from Liuyuan (a town 2 hours via taxi from Dunhuang) at 12.10am and reached early this morning at 7am. You would think that 7am is pretty bright already but 7am here is actually 5am. We only say 7am because the whole of China follows Beijing time.

    It was cold and dark when we got here. We where welcomed by a huge friendly golden retriever when we checked into Dap Youth Hostel. The hostel staff speak good English. With an American accent might I add. We had a warm shower and had breakfast and then left to explore the place. A private car was provided for us by the hostel with a price of ¥450. A day taxi would have been cheaper by it is not as easily available here. Good thing about it is, our driver, Anuar, also spoke excellent English so we didn't have to use sign language like we did in all the cities before this.

    He brought us to see the Flaming Mountains. They are named so not because its an active volcanoe, but because of its colour and pattern. We were planning to head for Astana Tomb, but it was closed for some reason, so we headed down the road through Gaochang Village and saw the ruins along the way. The people here look more like those of Central Asia. Fair skinned, light coloured eyes, almost Arabic or Nepalese. Also, security checkpoints are almost everywhere, some of which require us to show our passport. It is because of the territorial dispute around these parts. If you look around, you see barb wires on houses. Feels like I'm in a war zone. It doesn't really scare me. Instead I'm dying to know more about this place and its people.

    Sweaters and jackets were rendered useless once the sun came up. The weather was so hot it was like as if I was back in Malaysia. I supposed being in the Gobi dessert gives it the extreme temperatures. Temperatures touch 40°C at times. The Turpan Depression is also known as the Death Valley as it is the lowest point in China and the 2nd lowest point in the world at 154 metres below sea level after the Dead Sea.

    Tuyuk Village was our next stop. This village has a history of 2600 years. Currently there are about 65 households with over 370 people, all of which are Uyghurs. Their main source of income are grapes, raisins, mulberries and melons. Most of these products are sold dry and are very affordable. We bought a bag of raisins, walnuts ans dried melons for ¥30. The buildings here are made of rammed earth so they have a brownish-reddish colour. There is also an old mosque in this village and its quite a sight.

    We had our lunch here before leaving. It consisted of bread and tea, raisins, laghman noodles (consist of lamb and vegetables), dumplings and lastly, freshly cut melons. All for ¥25 per person.

    We were stuffed and snoozing in the car after lunch. Before we knew it, we arrived at Emin Minaret or Sugong Tower. This place has a beautiful rose garden in front. The minaret was built in 1777 in honour of a Turpan general named Emin Khoja. It is 44 meters high making it the tallest ancient Islamic tower in Xinjiang. It has a mosque below which is still in use today.

    We dropped by the Turpan Museum in town for about an hour. Good news: Its free. Bad news: No photography at some exhibits. There was alot on dinosaurs and mummies here as alot of remains were found in China itself.

    Lastly, we visited Jiaohe Ruins. These is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is one the oldest and largest ruins in the world. As it has been well preserved for over 2000 years, it has been given the title World's Perfect Ruins. Why did it become ruins? Well, Jiaohe City was built during the 2nd til 5th century BC but because of continuous wars from 9th til 14th century, it was abandoned and subsequently became ruins.

    After all that adventure, we headed back to our hostel by 8pm after having dinner. Decided to hit the sack early as our train to Urumqi tomorrow is at 8.45am.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 6

    Urumqi

    October 19, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    We arrived in Urumqi at 10.30am via train. We had a bit of transportation problem as a guy outside the station exit claimed he was a taxi driver and told us to come with him. We did but we soon realized he was bringing us to his car in the parking lot and we asked him how much and he said ¥80. We decided against it eventhough he was very persistent. So we got into a taxi and got dropped of at our hostel and guess what? It was only ¥23. Do be careful of these creeps.

    We checked into Ziyou Hostel and started doing our laundry as we had quite a bit to wash and there was a washing machine available. Also because we are going to be here for 2 nights instead of our usual 1 prior to this, so thats enough time for our clothes to dry.

    We started wandering around nearby. The Nuts and Dry Fruit Market was around the corner but we didn't buy anything as we already had raisins and walnuts from Turpan. We bought a traditional Uyghur nan bread from a store nearby and then we walked to the Urumqi Museum. Took us around 20 minutes. Museum entrance was free so Yay for saving money! There were alot of exhibits on the paleolitic and bronze era as well as the ice age. What I found interesting was that they even had ancient cake on display. There was also an exhibit on the multiple ethnicities in Urumqi and the history behind it.

    After that we took a 20 minute taxi ride to Hongshan Park. Our main reason for going there was the Red Hill Pagoda but we also enjoyed the sight of the colourful temples and the wind blowing the autumn leaves around. There is a pond there where people were fishing and we witnessed some successful attempts.

    Once we were out of there, we walked over to People's Park. This is a beautiful park with its autumn colours at full glory. Old retired folks walking about, exercising, and chatting on the benches. It was rather enchanting. We were done by 6pm and we decided to leave as it was getting cold and we weren't sure if the night market was open tonight. We thought we better ask the hostel staff. Turns out, no night market. Its been banned recently due to some unwanted circumstances.

    And so, we headed out for dinner at an Uyghur place nearby. We had cold noodles and some meat we could not identify. We think its chicken. Atypical chicken. On our way back we bought some nan bread from a roadside vendor. That would be for our journey tomorrow.

    Good thing about today: Attractions were all free! Not for tomorrow though.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 7

    Heavenly Lake Tianchi

    October 20, 2017 in China ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    Off we went to a land 68 miles east of Urumqi city, to a place where nature welcomed us with a chilly breeze. Lake Tianchi, truly heavenly as the name states.

    To get here, we took a bus from Urumqi to Fukang worth ¥15. It took about an hour. Once in Fukang, be careful you must as there are alot of people overcharging for rides to Lake Tianchi as they include tours. What you must find is the shuttle bus. You can ask the staff at the bus station. This shuttle bus costs ¥5. What I found highly annoying during this journey is the multiple security checks along the way. I've scanned my bag so many times I fear it might mutate soon.

    Once at the entrance of Lake Tianchi, you must pay ¥215 (¥125 for ticket and ¥90 for the bus ride to the lake and back).

    We got there at 10.30am and the cold wind just slapped me in the face. However, it started to get warmer as the sun started to rise higher. But anyway, the view was awesome! There was snow and the mountains were covered with it. It wasn't like that yesterday so we were super lucky to have picked today to visit Lake Tianchi. A fun fact: the lake gets its water from the melted snow from the mountains.

    We brought bread, raisins, apples and biscuits to eat for lunch as they aren't any shops or restaurants nearby. The whole trail around the lake takes about 3 hours, but we just went halfway and turned back.

    We headed back by 4pm the same method we came and we reached by 7pm.

    At night we were invited to dinner by a friend of a friend who is a local here. We ate at a hotel restaurant called Herembag. The food was amazing. We were served local Uyghur delicacies. Lots of mutton, noodles, dumplings, even chicken (that's super rare here). We had mint tea with honey to wash it all down. My favourite was the walnut dumpling. There was also mutton stuffed bun, which we could not finish because we were stuffed, so we took it to go.

    Overall, I had a great day experiencing nature and eating to my heart's content. I wonder what adventure awaits me in the week to come.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 8

    Xinjiang International Grand Bazaar

    October 21, 2017 in Malaysia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We woke up later than usual today on purpose. Today's plan was just to visit the Grand Bazaar and do some souvenir shopping. One of our travelmate has to catch a flight back today so we decided this was the best thing to do. It gives us all a chance to do some shopping as other days mostly involve alot of sightseeing.

    We left the hostel at around 10am. It took around 20 minutes by taxi from our hostel and costed us about ¥15 to this place. Once there, we were subjected to security checks (again) before entering.

    You would think this bazaar is an important part of the Silk Road, but no, it was only built in 2003. It is the biggest bazaar in the world apparently. Smack in the middle of it is a 80 metre sightseeing tower. There is also a mosque within the vicinity.

    The bazaar has goods consisting mainly of dried fruit, figurines, jewellery, carpets and scarves. We wandered around for a bit before meeting an English speaking Uyghur shop owner who sold dried fruit. We asked him where to eat around the bazaar area and instead of just telling us, he brought us to the shop and even helped us in ordering food. The restaurant was called Alim Characteristic Polo (Yea I know, doesn't sound like a restaurant). We had polo, also known as pilaf (rice cooked in seasoned broth and had dried fruit, meat and spices) which is an Uyghur traditional dish. We also ordered barbequed mutton ribs coated in some local spices.

    After lunch, we headed back to the hostel as our travelmate needed to get packing and head to the airport. And then there was only two of us continuing the journey upto Tashkurgan. We also had overnight train to catch at 8.20pm today, so we left our hostel at around 7pm. That was a bad idea because when we got to Urumqi South station, there was a huge crowd undergoing security checks. After a series of security checks, we made it to our waiting hall at 8pm only to realize our train was delayed to 8.55pm. Since we didn't have time for dinner, we bought instant noodles and ate them in the train.

    The soft sleeper bunk beds are really comfortable and we shared it with a Japanese couple who were quiet the whole night. We will be reaching Kuqa (Kuche) at 6.33am tomorrow. Can't wait!    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 9

    Kuqa

    October 22, 2017 in China ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We headed to our Airbnb as soon as we reached and we passed out on the hard bed. Felt more like a table lined by thick cloth. Fun fact: There is only one Airbnb in this town.

    This is a small town with its very own old city where the architecture is pretty much ancient. Hence, we decided to go there first. We went to the Kuqa Mosque where a few kids were playing in front. One hungry kid was even eyeing the samsa (Uyghur fried dumpling) I was holding so it quickly became his. Entrance to this mosque is ¥15. Turns out this place was bulit in 1559 and was renovated and repaired multiple times thereafter due to multiple disasters like fires and earthquakes. It still stands strong till today and locals still go there to pray. It has earned the title of 2nd largest mosque in Xinjiang after the mosque in Kashgar.

    Since we were running short of time as we have a train to Kashgar to catch tonight, we decided to hire a taxi to take us to Tianshan "Mysterious" Grand Canyon. We managed to get a taxi to take us to and fro for ¥400, which is pretty affordable in my opinion as the place was 2 hours away.

    After multiple security checks along the highway, we finally reached our destination, and let me tell you, it was worth it. The huge rock formations stand like giants all around us. The light from the sun makes it look like the canyon is gleaming. We spent around almost 2 hours here walking to the end of the canyon and taking pictures from multiple angles.

    We reached back to Kuqa at around 7pm and our driver brought us to a fancy dining place where the waiters fill up your glass even after you have just taken one sip. It wasn't our ideal as we wanted to eat at the old city but due to communication breakdown we thought we just give in and eat whatever we could get our hands on. Besides, we were quite famished as we been eating biscuits and grapes the whole day.

    We headed back to our Airbnb and packed up and left for the train station by 10pm. Don't want to get caught up in all the security checks and end up being late. Surprisingly we were done by 10.30pm and so we just sat there waiting for 2 hours.

    We got a hard sleeper and I fell sound asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. We were bound to reach Kasgar @ Kashi at 9am tomorrow.    Read more

  • The VacationistChina's Silk Road
    Day 10

    Kashgar

    October 23, 2017 in China ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    This is the westernmost city in China, where the north and south Silk Roads met and created a trading frenzy. Alot of history here but a lot of it also has been demolished.

    It has an old city, which consist of houses built using rammed earth, but the Chinese government has started a program called Dangerous House Reform back in 2009 and it is still ongoing until about 85% of this city has been modernized. The rest of it will turn into a museum-like town. Honestly, I'm not too happy about this "new" old city but maybe it is better for the locals to have more sturdy houses.

    There is a mosque here by the name of Id Kah Mosque. It was built was back in 1442. Somehow the more west I travel, the older the structures are. This mosque is the largest in the Xinjiang province.

    We also visited a tomb here. Abakh Hoja Tomb, established in 1640 by the king of the Hoja regime, is known to have the largest dome in Xinjiang. 72 people from 5 generations of the Abakh Hoja family was buried in the coffin chamber here.

    We stayed Kashgar Old Town Youth Hostel, which was in the "new" old city, so we pretty much spent our day walking around this part of town. At night my travelmate went to the night bazaar but it quickly closed at 9pm as the police were upto something. I didn't go though. It was cold and I'd rather sip warm tea in my hostel room.

    And that concludes my written tour of Kashgar. Tomorrow, Karakoram Highway awaits!    Read more

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