Wonderful Journey On The Silk Road (絲綢之路) Along The Huang He Western Corridor (河西走廊)
Posted On Thursday, September 17, 2015 at at 2:18 AM by Alvin
It had been such a wonderful journey on this section of The Silk Road (絲綢之路) along the Huang He Western Corridor (河西走廊) these past weeks - we saw the mighty Huang He trundling across the provincial capital Lanzhou (蘭州); we also came across what might have been the fantasy land for a geologist, Zhang Ye (張掖) with its colorful sandstone erosion and mineral deposits; we marveled at the ancient strategic stronghold of Jia Yu Quan (嘉峪關) under the shadows of the Qilian Mountains (祁連山); we came face to face with art works dating from 1,500 years ago in Dunhuang (敦煌 莫高窟) as well as meeting Gordon the desert Gecko (also face to face ... see photo below) at the wonderful oasis spring of 鳴沙山月牙泉 and last but not least, the aerial views of the majestic Qilian (祁連山) Mountain ranges on a bright sunny morning. What a trip !
Dunhuang (敦煌) - The Most Wonderful Buddhist Grottoes (莫高窟) And Oasis Spring (鳴沙山 月牙泉)
Posted On Wednesday, September 16, 2015 at at 1:51 AM by Alvin
Well, some towns sure got lucky and Dunhuang (敦煌) had been blessed with such luck - agreeable dry and sunny climate, fertile soils, plenty of produce, oasis springs fed by the snow-capped mountains from afar and of course the site was picked by a Buddhist monk from around 200 A.D. as the destiny for the most famous, colorful, artistic, contents-rich Buddhist grotto site the world had ever known - Mogao Grottoes (莫高窟). The site prospered across numerous dynasties over a thousand years and top-notched master craftsman were hard at work to create the 700 caves, 2,500 clay larger-than-life statues, 45,000 square meters of wall paintings and 50,000 rolls of Buddhist scriptures and other documentation - a matchless feat of mankind.
Dunhuang did have its sorry tales - the un-matched stylistic grottoes were looked after by an ignorant monk in around 1,900 A.D. and the grottoes were thus easily negotiated (i.e. raided) by the Indiana Jones of yester-years and loads of priceless artifacts were therefore scattered around the world's museums (namely - British, French, Russian, Japanese) as a result. Sad as the tale was, the Chinese Government now rectified this unfortunate mistake and had paid tremendous effort in the preservation in these grottoes. For starters, pre-booked daily entrance would be kept to a maximum of 6,000 visitors and only a few of the caves would be opened to public. We spent a whole day at the site - viewing 2 stunning movies at a 360 degrees theater, visiting the caves themselves, the museum and subsequently chilling out under the well-maintained tree canopy to soak up the unique atmosphere of this renowned site.
Next up was the wonderful moon-shaped oasis spring (月牙泉) of Mingsha Shan (鳴沙山) - the oasis spring sprouted up from the middle of the desert and had never been known to dry up. The setting of the moon-shaped oasis spring was spectacular as it was located in a trough surrounded by giant sand dunes and there were large patches of greenery all over Mingsha Shan as the underground spring water went to work to provide the much needed moisture in the desert. Dunhuang city was only 7KM away from the deserts (巴丹吉林沙漠 and 塔克拉瑪幹沙漠) and incidentally, the name Mingsha Shan came from the fact that when the wind picked up, the sand could be heard to swirl and collide and created the sound of thunder claps. We also spent an extra day in this lovely and clean oasis city by visiting the temple of 雷音寺 as well as taking relaxing strolls along the city river of 黨河, passing many of the famous statues of Flying Fairies (飛天 - 佛教中天帝司樂之神). Ah ... such bliss !
Jia Yu Quan (嘉峪關) - The Great Silk Road Fortress In The Shadows Of The Mighty Qilian (祁連山) Mountains
Posted On Friday, September 11, 2015 at at 2:29 AM by Alvin
A couple of thousand years ago, some clever Chinese Emperors came up with the bright idea (good job guys!) of holding The Huns (匈奴) outside the fertile lands and prosperous trade routes along the Silk Road, by building a majestic fortress that would eventually formed the western end of The Great Wall - Jia Yu Quan (嘉峪關). Jia Yu Quan stood imposingly between the Qilian Mountains (祁連山) on the south and The Black Mountains on the north, that would block, stop and defeat The Huns head-on and the incursions and interruptions by these nomadic tribes were kept down for many years, thus allowing The Silk Road to flourish. Yeh, it took a lot of clever strategy, manpower effort, cannons, bows and arrows to maintain The Silk Road and to make this trade route into a legend !
Fast forward to year 2015 and this mighty fort instead welcomed tourists by the bus loads and the history and dramatic location would re-awaken any jaded travellers. We also visited the pleasant new town and strolled along the city river of 討賴河 which was fed year-round by the snow-capped Qilian Mountains; as a result of the constant fresh spring water trundling down these mountain ranges, Jia Yu Quan had been a productive oasis town and the produce which we saw in town, were plentiful which included melons by the truck loads as well as grapes and vegetables of all variety. Such oasis townships would become a constant fixture along The Silk Road during our itinerary; and thus no wonder this stretch of land on the western part of Huang He (popularly known as The Yellow River Western Corridor - 河西走廊) held such importance to successive dynasties in the past. By the way, as we flew out later on during this journey from Dun Huang (敦煌), we witnessed from our comfy aeroplane window seats, almost the whole Qilian Mountain ranges on a bright sunny morning - it was just WOW ! A few photos below - enjoy !
From The Gansu (甘肅) Provincial Capital Lanzhou (蘭州) To The Impossibly Colorful Lanscape Of Zhang Ye (張掖)
Posted On Monday, September 7, 2015 at at 1:36 AM by Alvin
At first glance, the Gansu (甘肅) capital city of Lanzhou (蘭州) appeared just like another typical provincial capital in China - busy and business-like. But a walk along the mighty Huang He - Yellow River (黄河) and we could feel the special vibrancy of this starting point of our Silk Road journey. The Gansu Museum located right by the river, housed the famous bronze "flying horse on a swiftlet" (飛馬踏燕) statue dating back from the Han Dynasty (漢朝), about 2,200 years ago ! The famed statue had been the symbol of China Tourism for years, as the horse represented the flow of trade and cultural exchanges along the Silk Road. We also visited the Water Wheel Park (蘭州水車園) by the river and took some interest in the alternative river transport - small rafts (which could support 5 to 6 somewhat brave people), buoyed by blown-up sheep skin cylinders (羊皮筏子) - yeh, a photo would do thank you. 
With the efficient Bullet Train racing out of Lanzhou at 200 KM an hour, we reached Zhang Ye (張掖) in less than 3 hours - a far cry from the ancient days when the same journey could take up to 3 months ! Since the days of the Han Dynasty, Zhang Ye had been an important military command station along the ancient Silk Road, guarding the western front of China and we visited the largest wooden Reclining Buddha in Asia (大佛寺 臥佛殿) on our first day. The city had since gained further fame when a gem of a national park was inaugurated about 40 KM out of the city - Zhang Ye Dan Xia National Geo-Park (張掖丹霞國家地質公園). Basically, if you're a Sandstone Erosion/Mineral Deposit enthusiast, then you're in for a major treat - we're talking iron oxide galore, sandstone erosion party, minerals up-to-your-ears ! The national park had been nicknamed the Rainbow Mountain as the minerals and oxides flaunted their numerous colors from rustic red, sun-burnt orange, shy pink, sulphur gold and it was such a feast for the visitors' eyes - we didn't want to leave !
