The masses of tourists in Dunhuang also meant that I almost missed my morning train as there was a gigantic line at the security check to enter the station. I literally jumped into the train, just before it left (as always so far super on time). Jiayuguan is only a short stop for one night as it is famous for one thing: it marks the symbolic end of the Great Wall, the western gateway of China proper and, for imperial Chinese, the beginning of nowhere. As this was one of the defining points of the Silk Road, a Ming-dynasty fort was erected here in 1372 and Jiāyùguān came to be colloquially known as the ‘mouth’ of China. So, during the single afternoon I had here, I visited the fort and the remains of the Great Wall, both of which have been largely rebuilt in recent years, as you will see on the photos. And the small family-run guesthouse, in a traditional courtyard-house at the north-gate of the fort, which was so nicely described in my German guidebook and to which I was looking forward, was one of the victims of yet another "rehabilitation" / radical transformation of a historic site. Together with other traditional houses, it probably "disturbed" and has just been destroyed and there is now a "nice" little park with a little lake, just like everywhere.... While the fort is yet again one of these typical Chinese tourist experiences, I still thought it was impressive, as was the wall, which was actually quite a steep climb. The views over the lunar-like landscape around were quite nice.
Photos of Jiayuguan at: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A652plgjGyuxfd
The next day, i took a train to Zhangye. While this mid-size Silk Road town is mostly a jumping-off base for the unique cliff temples at nearby Mǎtí Sì, it is actually worth spending an afternoon there, as the Lonely Planet recommends and - as a a good obedient tourist - I followed, as there is one of China’s best preserved wooden temples that deserves an extended visit. And all this despite of the fact that the nearby city of Yumen was closed-off as a guy had died a few days before of the plague ("Pest" in German), transmitted by a tick through a marmot (Murmeltier). I would not even had heard of this if my friend Armelle had not sent me a message with a newspaper article attached and with the ironic remark "hope you are not going there", but actually I was... While I was first a bit shocked by this, after I had read more, I was much less: it was the "bubonic" pest, which is not transmitted through contacts between humans but via ticks, so there was actually no chance of getting infected in a busy train or bus and also, a simple antibiotic - of which my doctor had prescribed me many for my medical urgency kit - is enough to treat it, in case I would experience any of the symptoms.
But let's come back to that temple... Originally dating to 1098, it contains an astonishing 35m-long sleeping Buddha – China’s largest of this variety – surrounded by painted clay statues representing "arhats" (Buddhists who have achieved enlightenment) and Qing-dynasty murals. It seems that until the 1960s, small children would climb into the huge Buddha and play around inside his tummy. Today, you are not even allowed to take photos.. (Not even without a flash). Apart from the Buddha-statue, there is also a beautiful main hall with nice woodwork, including the doors and the structure holding the roof. This is one of the few wooden structures from this era still standing in China. In the centre, there is also a nice multi-floor wooden pagoda, initially from AD 528, but the present structure is a thorough reconstruction from 1926. As a nice surprise, I witnessed a performance of a group of older male musicians, who met in front of the temple just to play traditional music together just for the fun of it. And spontaneously it seemed, some women joined and stars singing to it. I sat down for ago half an hour and listened... Really nice.... And they really enjoyed the attention of this foreigner, but also of the many Chinese who started to gather around, some of them joining in the signing (all of them seemed to know melody and lyrics...)
In the afternoon, I hired a private taxi to visit the famous cliff temples / caves of Mati Se. While it is quite a long drive (1,5 hours) and already one third of the distance to my next destination Xining, it was not possible to visit it on the way for various (annoying) logistical reasons. I haggled with at least 5 drivers, who all wanted to charge incredible amounts, until I found a reasonable one. He profited from the occasion of this country-side outing to take along a lady he fancies (that seemed to be very clear and soon I realised from the way she spoke to him that she actually liked him as well...). When I stopped him, he was probably about to see her for a chat (I presume), because the shop she was working in was right in front. He shouted something inside and - after some negotiation with her boss (a family member? Who else would let an employee leave in the middle of the day..?), she joined us. And during the entire drive they were chitchatting. These constant voices that I did not understand actually made me very sleepy, but I could not really fall asleep as the road was far too bumpy. Mǎtí Sì translates as Horse Hoof Monastery, a reference to a legendary event in which a heavenly horse left a hoof imprint in one of the grottos. Between the 5th and 14th centuries a series of caves were almost as miraculously built in these sandstone cliffs and filled with carvings, temples and meditation rooms. The caves are reached via twisting staircases, wooden balconies, narrow passages and platforms that were really impressive. The grottos are spread over many sections and despite initial hesitations, the driver would not wait at the entry gate and let me walk around the area, but negotiated with the lady at the entrance and then drove me in. Strangely enough, hat was actually the rule, as inside the area, there were plenty of taxis driving around with visitors. Sometimes, it was quite difficult to climb up / down to the caves as the ladders / stairs carved in stone were steep and narrow and the Chinese visitors did not seem to realise that it makes lots of sense to first let people come down before going up and so people permanently got stuck from high sides in the middle of the ladders/stairs... The monks at the caves were all very well-equipped with iPhones and had as much fun taking pictures as I had. Quite unexpected.. ;-) I took quite a bit of time to discover the various caves and thus left the two lovebirds plenty of time to flirt. Once, I was ready with my visit but saw them walking in the nearby hills, so I took a bit more time to visit hat the driver would not feel obliged to immediately come back to the car. ;-) On the way back, the lady, who spoke a few words of English, started a very basic conversation and, thanks to my English-Chinese student dictionary, which I bought the night before for 2 Euros (!!), we managed to understand each other. We even stopped for a small roadside picknick to eat the watermelon the driver had bought before. In the the end, it was a very nice day and - hopefully - the two lovebirds will soon get married and will live happily ever after (sorry, I am a desperate romantic...) :-)
Photos of Zhangye / Mati Se at: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A65NI45MGXHrUE
Photos of Jiayuguan at: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A652plgjGyuxfd
The next day, i took a train to Zhangye. While this mid-size Silk Road town is mostly a jumping-off base for the unique cliff temples at nearby Mǎtí Sì, it is actually worth spending an afternoon there, as the Lonely Planet recommends and - as a a good obedient tourist - I followed, as there is one of China’s best preserved wooden temples that deserves an extended visit. And all this despite of the fact that the nearby city of Yumen was closed-off as a guy had died a few days before of the plague ("Pest" in German), transmitted by a tick through a marmot (Murmeltier). I would not even had heard of this if my friend Armelle had not sent me a message with a newspaper article attached and with the ironic remark "hope you are not going there", but actually I was... While I was first a bit shocked by this, after I had read more, I was much less: it was the "bubonic" pest, which is not transmitted through contacts between humans but via ticks, so there was actually no chance of getting infected in a busy train or bus and also, a simple antibiotic - of which my doctor had prescribed me many for my medical urgency kit - is enough to treat it, in case I would experience any of the symptoms.
But let's come back to that temple... Originally dating to 1098, it contains an astonishing 35m-long sleeping Buddha – China’s largest of this variety – surrounded by painted clay statues representing "arhats" (Buddhists who have achieved enlightenment) and Qing-dynasty murals. It seems that until the 1960s, small children would climb into the huge Buddha and play around inside his tummy. Today, you are not even allowed to take photos.. (Not even without a flash). Apart from the Buddha-statue, there is also a beautiful main hall with nice woodwork, including the doors and the structure holding the roof. This is one of the few wooden structures from this era still standing in China. In the centre, there is also a nice multi-floor wooden pagoda, initially from AD 528, but the present structure is a thorough reconstruction from 1926. As a nice surprise, I witnessed a performance of a group of older male musicians, who met in front of the temple just to play traditional music together just for the fun of it. And spontaneously it seemed, some women joined and stars singing to it. I sat down for ago half an hour and listened... Really nice.... And they really enjoyed the attention of this foreigner, but also of the many Chinese who started to gather around, some of them joining in the signing (all of them seemed to know melody and lyrics...)
In the afternoon, I hired a private taxi to visit the famous cliff temples / caves of Mati Se. While it is quite a long drive (1,5 hours) and already one third of the distance to my next destination Xining, it was not possible to visit it on the way for various (annoying) logistical reasons. I haggled with at least 5 drivers, who all wanted to charge incredible amounts, until I found a reasonable one. He profited from the occasion of this country-side outing to take along a lady he fancies (that seemed to be very clear and soon I realised from the way she spoke to him that she actually liked him as well...). When I stopped him, he was probably about to see her for a chat (I presume), because the shop she was working in was right in front. He shouted something inside and - after some negotiation with her boss (a family member? Who else would let an employee leave in the middle of the day..?), she joined us. And during the entire drive they were chitchatting. These constant voices that I did not understand actually made me very sleepy, but I could not really fall asleep as the road was far too bumpy. Mǎtí Sì translates as Horse Hoof Monastery, a reference to a legendary event in which a heavenly horse left a hoof imprint in one of the grottos. Between the 5th and 14th centuries a series of caves were almost as miraculously built in these sandstone cliffs and filled with carvings, temples and meditation rooms. The caves are reached via twisting staircases, wooden balconies, narrow passages and platforms that were really impressive. The grottos are spread over many sections and despite initial hesitations, the driver would not wait at the entry gate and let me walk around the area, but negotiated with the lady at the entrance and then drove me in. Strangely enough, hat was actually the rule, as inside the area, there were plenty of taxis driving around with visitors. Sometimes, it was quite difficult to climb up / down to the caves as the ladders / stairs carved in stone were steep and narrow and the Chinese visitors did not seem to realise that it makes lots of sense to first let people come down before going up and so people permanently got stuck from high sides in the middle of the ladders/stairs... The monks at the caves were all very well-equipped with iPhones and had as much fun taking pictures as I had. Quite unexpected.. ;-) I took quite a bit of time to discover the various caves and thus left the two lovebirds plenty of time to flirt. Once, I was ready with my visit but saw them walking in the nearby hills, so I took a bit more time to visit hat the driver would not feel obliged to immediately come back to the car. ;-) On the way back, the lady, who spoke a few words of English, started a very basic conversation and, thanks to my English-Chinese student dictionary, which I bought the night before for 2 Euros (!!), we managed to understand each other. We even stopped for a small roadside picknick to eat the watermelon the driver had bought before. In the the end, it was a very nice day and - hopefully - the two lovebirds will soon get married and will live happily ever after (sorry, I am a desperate romantic...) :-)
Photos of Zhangye / Mati Se at: https://www.icloud.com/photostream/#A65NI45MGXHrUE
No comments:
Post a Comment