Equal Wings

Ajeet November 14th, 2008

Source: http://kaladarshan.arts.ohio-state.edu/ 

Our latest trip was to Gansu and Qinghai provinces (and a bit of Shaanxi) in northwestern China. It was two weeks long and was during the last week of August to the first week of September. While most of southern and eastern china was engulfed in rains or sweltering heat during this period, the area we were traveling to, was blessed with clear blue skies and mild temperatures.

Our route followed most of the Northern Silk Route, and to just to have a touch of authenticity, we decided to be in proximate contact with the ground just like the travelers and merchants over the ages. This meant trains and buses for most part of the journey. Of course, it was cheaper too!

Shanghai to Xi’an(Shaanxi province)

We managed to book a soft sleeper berth on a train from Shanghai to Xi’an. Soft sleeper compartments have 4-bedded sections with doors. The doors help to screen off some of the smoke from the notorious Chinese train smokers (or should I call them ‘chain smokers’). Anyways, it was a comfortable overnight 16 hour journey, arriving in Xi’an, the ancient capital of China, early in the morning.

Xi’an to HuaShan

As we were quite familiar with this city from a previous trip here, we walked straight to the bus bay alongside the train station, and got on a 2-hr bus to Hua Shan, one of the five most sacred – and spectacular – Taoist mountains of China. From a distance, the five distinct peaks of this mountain seem to form the shape of a flower (‘hua’ in Chinese), hence the name. It is famous for its natural vistas of steep and narrow paths, precipitous crags, and a high mountain range.

With at least 10 days of hard traveling ahead of us, we decided against trying to trek up the mountain, and headed straight to the cable car station. The beautiful ride up led to the North Peak. Wading through the swarms of fellow tourists meandering the various trails crisscrossing the various summits, we finally reached the highest point, the South Peak. Descending by cable car again, we caught the last bus back to Xi’an.

Xi’an to Tian Shui (Gansu province)

After a refreshing overnight rest in Xi’an (Xi’an Ibis hotel – nice budget place), we took a 5 hour train ride up to this small town. We scored a First here – our first STANDING tickets, traveling in the lowest class possible! Yes, the train system actually allows a certain number of standing tickets for desperados like us. But we didn’t have to stand for long, thanks to the kindness of our fellow travelers, ordinary Chinese folks who took turns letting us sit on their seats.

Tian Shui is famous for the Buddhist caves at Maiji Shan, and was the main reason for out visit there. This area of Gansu is also known for its variety of fruits and nuts, which are exported to other parts of China and the world. A minibus covers the 45 minute ride from the train station. On the way, we passed by numerous fruit plantations… apples, corn, walnuts, grapes, peaches, etc. Maiji Shan is basically a solitary rock formation, full of niches and statues carved onto its face, all connected by catwalks and steep spiral staircases. Initially carved during the Northern Wei and Zhou dynasties (AD 386-581), it was more spectacular than we’d imagined, and is probably better described by the photographs.

Tian Shui to Lanzhou

After a sumptuous bowl of Lanzhou La mien at the bus station, we got on a 4-hr long distance bus to the capital of Gansu province, Lanzhou. It is a major transport hub, and the beginning of some epic overland journeys into Xinjiang, Sichuan and Tibet. A distinct change in the diversity of the people is observable in the streets here. Hui Chinese, Tibetans, Mongols, Salar, Dong Xiang and Kazakhs are some of them. We were lucky to get overnight train tickets for the next leg of our journey to Dun Huang. By now our diet was mainly mutton, either bbq or hotpot style. If you are ever in Lanzhou and you like ‘Banana bread’, do check out the ‘Promenade Bakery’ on TianShui NanLu for a brick-sized banana bread for just 12 yuan. Its yummy, and recommended by lonely planet too! After spending a night in the city, we took a cable car up to Lan Shan mountain for some spectacular views of the whole city. We tried some treasures tea, and had fun on the Chinese Ludge – basically looks like a slide on bed pan.

Got back down in time for our 12 hour night train to Dun Huang – the last stop on the Silk Route before the desert.

To be continued…

• China , Travel
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