In 1577, a monestary was built at the birthplace of Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelugpa sect of Buddhism. It was called Kumbum Jampa Ling, which means “supreme Buddhist temple with one hundred thousand lions’ roar Buddhist images”.
These stupas greet you at the entrance of the monestary.
In its hay day, this temple was home to 3600 monks. Rulers during the Qing dynasty donated Buddhist art, stupas, statues and many other treasures. Even today, Kumbum is home to more than 100,000 relics. In other words, it is a very important location for Buddhism, and also for history.
Judging by this photo courtesy of Wikipedia, the monestary looked like more of a village than a monestary. The place was huge!!
Now, around 400 monks still live at the monestary, and even though it isn’t the same as it once was, it is still a very impressive place to visit. We spent 3 hours roaming around the monestary, admiring the architecture, Buddha’s, art, and the scenic environment.
Photography is forbidden in the temples, so most of my photos are of the outside of the buildings.
What impressed me most about Kumbum temple was the architecture. I’ve never seen so many colours (except maybe in India!). Every building has elaborate designs and the most vibrant colors! There were a few rooms that allowed photos, so I was able to get some examples for you.
We saw worshippers praying, enormous prayer wheels and so many impressive Buddha’s. So much of the most beautiful things in the temple couldn’t be photographed, of course, but I was very happy that there were a few places where it was permitted.
There were quite a few tourists and pilgrims at the monestary. Kumbum is considered one of the most important temples in the Tibetan Plateau. Many people were there to pray, light candles, and worship in various ways. It always upsets me when I see people taking photos of pilgrims or items of religious importance. When we first walked in, several monks were telling off some Chinese tourists for photographing them as they were walking around the Stupas. I had actually been photographing the Stupas at that time and I made sure those pilgrims knew that I had my camera up and focusing on the structures, and not on them.
There are plenty of interesting things to take photos of without disrespecting the people there worshipping.
One other thing that really made me feel good about monestary was the wildlife. There were also many friendly felines roaming the monestary. They seemed well fed and friendly. A good sign that the people living there treat them well.
I certainly recommend this monestary for anyone visiting Qinghai. Located about a 1 hour Didi ride from Xining, Kumbum is a beautiful place to visit and with an entrance fee of less than 100rmb ($20), it’s an affordable place to see.
Love the Tibetan style windows!!
We’re just getting started on this trip! Check back soon for more!!
Over the last few days, I’ve had several people send me messages, assuming that we are in Tibet. Although we ARE surrounded by Tibetan Culture, we are actually not in the province of Tibet. We were planning to go to Lhasa and mount Everest initially, but our plans were thwarted due to permit issues. I understand that this part of China can be a little confusing, so let me begin by explaining more clearly.
Cultural Tibet
Red = Tibetan Autonomous Region Grey, Green & Purple = Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Autonomous Region is a special area of China. If you’ve paid attention to global news over the last few decades, you’ve surely heard about the conflict there. Tibet has long wanted its independence, but of course, China does not want this. So, instead, they’ve given them a special ‘autonomous region’s status.
Potala Palace and Mount Everest are both found in the TAR, so we weren’t able to see them this year, because…
You need a special permit to be able to enter the TAR. Hypothetically speaking, this shouldn’t have been a problem. We had everything in order long before the trip. Until recently, Tibet WAS closed to tourism for foreigners, but in May, the ban was lifted. Still, the government isn’t actually issuing any permits, so even if we can technically should be able to go to TAR now, without that piece of paper, we wouldn’t be allowed to enter.
Luckily, Tibet is more than just the TAR. You can get a great feel for Tibetan culture and life by visiting the rest of the plateau, and this is exactly what we decided to do.
Tibetan Buddhism
Just as there are different forms of Christianity (Protestant, Catholic, Mormons…), there are also different forms of Buddhism. Although they are all similar, there are key differences in the different sects of Buddhism. I won’t go into much detail here because I’m no an expert on this stuff, but what I will say is that most Buddhism falls under one of the following categories: Theravada Vinaya (located in south east Asia mostly), Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (mostly found in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan) and Mulasarvastivada Vinaya (practiced on the Tibetan Plateau as well as in Mongolia and northern India). There are many sub sects within each of these categories, of course. Buddhism is a very old and complex faith. You can learn more about the finer details of Buddhism here
Golden statues of Buddha are found among most of the major Buddhist sects.
Up until recently, Dave and I had only ever experienced the first 2 categories of Buddhism. We’ve seen many temples in south east Asia, of course. So many that we have actually started skipping many of those temples when we travel. Tibetan temples though, have been a completely new experience for us.
This is a newly renovated Buddhist temple that we visited last year in Lijiang, China.
We saw this temple on our trip to Laos a few years back. A lot of the south east Asian temples have a lot of gold featured.
From the outside, the Tibetan temples look a lot like the Chinese ones, but once you go inside….
The colours are colors are vivid and beautiful
The different types of Buddhist temples
Prayer Flags
Another thing that sets Tibetan Buddhism apart from many other sects is their use of Prayer Flags. I learned about these since arriving here and I’ve gotta say, they’re kind of a nice idea.
Each color of the flag represents different elements of the earth (wind, water, fire, etc.), and each flag has an Om written on it. The idea is that the wind will carry the good wishes of the Om through the wind that makes the flags flap. That’s why these flags are only found in windy places like Nepal and the Tibetan plateau.
The sounds they make while flapping in the wind is actually beautiful and LOUD!
These Buddhist prayer flags are found everywhere we’ve gone so far on this trip. One other interesting thing I discovered while learning about them is that the older the flags get, the more auspicious they are considered. If you see a prayer flag with faded colors, it means that it’s done it’s job, and spread compassion, ethics, patience, diligence, wisdom and other values out into the world. Nice tradition, I think!
I always knew these flags were meaningful, but after seeing (and hearing) them up close, I appreciate them that much more.
Did I mention how big they are??
We visited Kumbum monestary yesterday, near Xining. It was a beautiful visit and I’ll have more on that soon!
As COVID continues to affect the world, we continue to be unable to go home. Although Canada did recently lift the mandatory 2 week quarantine for vaccinated people coming into Canada, they are not recognizing the Chinese vaccines, so we were forced to stay here for the second summer in a row.
Dave and I are now fully vaccinated, but we still need COVID tests to travel through China, and most other countries don’t recognize China’s vaccine, although it has been proven to offer quite a lot of protection and reduced symptoms if you do happen to catch the virus.
Of course, staying in Suzhou didn’t really appeal to us, so we decided to plan an epic 5 week trip across 10 provinces and a huge range of places in China. Our first stop: Qinghai Province
Qinghai, where the average elevation is over 3000 meters above sea level!
Our original plan was to go to Tibet and see Everest and Lhasa, but those plans were thwarted due to permit issues. Even with a valid Chinese visa, you can’t actually visit TAR (Tibetan Autonomous Region) without a special permit issued by the government. And although Tibet opened again for international tourists in May, permits still aren’t actually being issued. So, we decided to see other areas of the Tibetan Plateau instead.
TAR is Tibet as you know it (the part that is furthest west), but the Tibetan Plateau also includes a much larger space, where you will still see Tibetan culture.
This morning, we flew to Xining, which is the capital of Qinghai Province. Although the Province is huge, there are only a handful of really popular tourist spots in the area. Xining itself is a pretty city, with much cleaner air than we have on the east coast. I prefer it to Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu, where we spent our October Holiday. People here are friendlier and the city is more modern.
The flight in was on a tiny plane, and we were lucky enough to have a bunch of kids sitting directly behind us, screaming the entire way…
We spent today exploring the area with the friends we are spending the next week with: Ian and Andy. A couple of Andy’s friends have joined as well, and the 6 of us enjoyed a chill day of sight seeing and COVID tests.
We got the throat AND nose swabs this time. I feel like they are always so excessive with them. Why do you have to swipe at the back of my throat 6 times? Isn’t 3 enough!?
We found 2 beautiful mosques today. They were quite different from one another. The first seemed a lot older, but with several modern (and culturally Chinese) elements added.
A beautiful spot. The carvings were especially nice
The second mosque seemed newer and was definitely more grand. There was a secondary area near the back, where the walls were brown (the rest of the mosque was white). The whole area was very peaceful and beautiful.
Quite detailed and somehow peaceful, although in the middle of a city. The main building was huge, as you can see from the photo I took of Dave for scale
Our last stop for the day was at the old city wall. We were there after dark and got to see part of it all lit up and beautiful!! Definitely one of my favorite things about China is the way they use lights to keep things intriguing, even in the dark.
Our first day in Xining was lovely! Looking forward to tomorrow, when we head out to Qinghai Lake!!!
We’ve been to Hot Springs all over the world. It all began with a impromptu trip to some hidden springs near Jasper back in 2014, right before we moved to China.
I lost all my photos from this part of our trip. Luckily, I found a couple of photos online. Now I wish I was back there! Miette Hot springs are still the most beautiful I’ve ever seen
Andorra was also a beautiful hot spring destination, located up in the cool mountains. The venue there was very well-maintained and I’d strongly encourage people to make a visit if they’re in this tiny country, doing some skiing or shopping.
I don’t tend to take my camera into pools, so this photo of Andorra will have to suffice to give you an idea of how beautiful the scenery was in the outdoor springs. This is a photo of what the inside of the Andorra springs look like
In Vietnam, we visited the hot springs near Danang. They were also well maintained. They had mud baths, saunas, and different temperatures of pools. We made a day of it and a year later, it’s still one of my favorite memories of our Danang trip.
These springs were also very nice, but quite different than the north American and European ones we visited
China also has plenty of hot springs. There are a few near Suzhou, though we still haven’t visited them. We did visit hot springs up in northern Guizhou province. Aside from the food poisoning we all got from the hotel on that trip, it was a nice experience.
There was a performance to enjoy from the comfort of the hot springs in Zunyi.
In Sanya, once more, we sought out the pools of naturally heated water, along with all their health benefits (there are actually plenty).
They’re also a beautiful place to spend the day!
Now…we did plan to visit a well-rated place that we found online called “Pearl River Nantian Hot springs Resort”. It is supposed to be quite nice and better maintained than others in the area. Unfortunately for us, they were closed for repairs during our visit. Luckily, there was another facility nearby.
And I mean… Signs never lie, right???
Like in Vietnam and Guizhou, these hot springs were made to look quite natural, and were made up of many pools. Most pools we’ve seen in China have ‘flavours’ including “red wine”, “coffee” and “tumeric”. I actually found the tumeric one really nice and it made my lower back feel a lot better (I’ve been dealing with sciatic pain for the last year or so). Still, some of the baths had some pretty questionable descriptions…
When visiting hot springs, we tend to go for the day, and make the most of it. We did eat a bit of breakfast, but not much. If you’re planning to visit these particular springs, you should be warned that their restaurant is closed for most of the day, and that the food available outside of the restaurant includes steamed taro, steamed corn, and sweet Chinese sausages.
Yumm…. Steamed taro….
They did have fruit… But I’m not sure how long it had been sitting in that fridge.
In the end, we ordered delivery
They advertise “hot spring eggs” and at first we were fooled into thinking that they might actually be cooking the eggs that way. It turns out they’re fake.
And we never found out what the ‘gold berries’ were supposed to be…
These springs have another gimmick to pull in tourists: fish that will eat your dead skin. I’ve done this a few times in little foot baths, but this was my first time submerging into a pool of these little creatures. It tickles to no end and kinda hurts if they grab a mole or a patch of sensitive skin. Still, it’s good for a laugh!
We were all fighting the urge not to laugh here because it tickled so much!
I wouldn’t say these were the best springs we’ve been to, but when you’ve been lucky enough to soak in Jasper and Andorra’s hot springs… You’ve been kinda spoiled.
And I mean… We’ve seen much nicer springs in China too. These ones weren’t all very well maintained. It’s like they decided to only keep up a certain number of the pools and then others were left to dry up…
The easiest way to get to these springs (and the way we chose) was by Didi. There are buses that can get you there too, but in terms of time and money saved, we opted to pay a bit more a enjoy more time soaking.
I also made a cat friend at the springs. Well worth the trip!
I still have more to write about for Hainan! Stay tuned!
This feature image may not look like much. You can see green trees, but what you don’t know, is that this is actually a photo of a massive volcanic caldera, right in Haikou!
The Haikou VolcanicCluster Global Geopark (long name!) is a main tourist attraction in Haikou. It only takes about 30 minutes to get to the park from downtown, and it’s easily accessible via Didi or taxi.
There are about 40 volcanoes in this volcanic field, but don’t worry, none of them have erupted seriously in about 16,000 years. The area is a popular tourist attraction and a nice way to spend a couple of hours.
Thanks to past volcanic activity, the park itself is very lush and green. There are areas where the earth is almost alien, and made up of dried lava flow, ash and volcanic rocks.
It looks like a patch of muddy land, but lava once flowed here.
There’s an educational element to the park as well. I really liked the info about how people lived in this region long ago. Volcanic soil is great for agriculture, and people learned how to live from the land.
A house traditional historical house
Walls made of volcanic stone
Tools for processing grains. As the populations grew in this area, they needed to innovate ways to make food.
It’s a dry region, so rain water needed to be collected in stone basins.
There was plenty of info on volcanoes as well, with photos of volcanoes from all around the world.
Different kinds of volcanic rock.
Of course, the best part of our trip to the volcano park was seeing the big volcano itself. A lot of stairs are involved, but that’s almost always true in China, so we were prepared. Our walk around the top of the caldera was beautiful.
It was a warm day!
And you can even climb down to a cave inside as well. It was equally beautiful and wonderfully cool!
Most of the inside of the cave covered with moss and ferns.
There was plenty to see in the park, including some very nice cactuses, wood carvings and places where you can worship the volcano gods. There were some unexpected wood carvings too. I’m still not sure how they were connected to this geo park…
A beautiful way to spend the afternoon!
If you’re in Haikou, a trip to the Volcano Park is a must!! Stay tuned for more about our Hainan Roadtrip!!
Although now China is considered a secular country, there has been Buddhism here for many years. Back in October, we were lucky enough to visit the Mogao Grottos in Gansu. While in Sanya, we saw a more modern monument celebrating this 2500 year old religion: The Nanshan Temple.
The Mogao grottos were incredible. You can read about our trip to see them here
The area is also known as the Nanshan Buddhism Cultural Zone, and contains Tang dynasty relics, temples in and pagodas, and the 12th largest statue in the world: The Guanyin of Nanshan.
This Buddha is taller than the statue of Liberty, which is actually only the 48th tallest statue in the world.
Towering at 78 meters (108 Meters if you include the pedestal and building at the base), this Buddha is even taller than the Leshan Buddha we saw this summer, when we were in Sichuan!
Although only 71 meters tall, I would still argue that the Leshan Buddha is more incredible than the modern one in Sanya. After all, this stone beauty is more than 1300 years old! You can read more about it here
The park was quite far from Dadong Hai, where we were staying, so a good part of our day was spent traveling to and from the park. There are plenty of ways to get there, including Didi (China’s Uber), but we decided to do public transportation instead. It cost 1/10th of what a Didi would, and I kinda like taking buses because I always see more of the city that way.
Still, we are in a pandemic, so we geared up for the transit ride there. Everyone is required to wear masks when taking public transportation like buses, trains or airplanes. I’m fully on board with that rule.
We stopped for a fabulous lunch at the entrance of the park and paid our entrance fees into the park. It costs about 130rmb per person (roughly $25 Canadian), which was a bit steep in my opinion, given what we quickly realized upon entering the park…
My delicious plate of Jiaozi (Chinese dumplings). The restaurant we went to outside the park was reasonably priced and very tasty! We get the feeling that most people who come to Sanya can’t speak much Chinese though, because they always seem very surprised when we know what things are called.
The park is kept very clean and well maintained. There wasn’t any garbage laying around and everything is still quite new. What disappointed us though, was that the whole area felt more like a shopping mall than a religious or cultural site. Everywhere you look, there is jewelery, golden Buddhas, trinkets and souvenirs for sale. To get to the little road that leads to the Guanyin’s statue, you need to pass through a strategically designed maze of shops. Your way back takes you through yet another maze.
We were glad that the shop keepers weren’t very aggressive, but it still felt more commercial than cultural.
Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s worth going. The statue itself is very impressive. It has 3 ‘faces’, and took 6 years to construct. Its whiteness makes it appear to glow against the ocean background. Although it wasn’t sunny when we visited, it was still a beautiful site to see.
From near or far you can appreciate this monument.
I found it pretty ironic that no photography is allowed once you’re in the base of the Buddha, given how commercial the area is, but still, we respected the rules and kept our cameras in our bags. There are several beautiful carvings and startues within the buildings, and the walls are lined with small Buddha statues that show donor’s names engraved on little plaques. There are still plenty of empty cases, so it appears you can still donate towards the building’s maintenance. Once more, this felt a little too commercial for my liking. Still, we were impressed by the art that surrounded us.
The large Buddha at the entrance
One of many golden statues. Behind, you can see the donor statues with the little name plates
All those little squares are filled with donor buddhas
Although I couldn’t take photos, there are always special events where reporters can. Here are some of theirs.
Once inside, you can climb up to the base of the statue as well, and see all 3 of Guanyin’s faces. It’s about 7 floors up, but there are some breaks as you walk around corridors so it isn’t too bad
Once more, I’ve borrowed from the internet. You can actually see the tiny print standing on top of the golden section of the statue. That’s how tall this statue is!
There’s a gorgeous breeze up there. You can walk around the base and see all 3 facets of the statue. 2 face the ocean and only one can be fully viewed from the land, so it’s definitely worth the 7 flights of stairs. Buddhists pray at the Guanyin’s feet, and tourists are allowed to take photos once more.
The view right before you go into the base of the statue.
Of course, getting photos this close up to the statue isn’t the easiest with a regular camera.
There is actually more to see in this Cultural Zone, but we got there a bit late and didn’t have time to visit the pagoda or temples. The grounds we did see were lovely though.
I’m glad we visited the Nanshan Buddhism Cultural Zone. The grounds were beautiful and it’s quite amazing to see the monument. Don’t be expecting a whole lot of culture there, but if you’re in the market for a gold Buddha or some jewelry, this’ll be the place for you!!
We’ve seen more of China this year than I ever really expected to see. Although the rest of the world is still in lockdown and trying to stop the spread of COVID, China has remained quite safe since March. They’ve closed boarders, done mass testing, required people to wear masks in public places, done massive contact tracing and kept the public very aware of any pop ups of the virus. It’s kept us safe and has allowed us to travel this Christmas.
We are kept up to date on every case that arrives in China and every person who has been quarantined for the virus. They tell us where the person was exposed (if they were able to trace it) and what measures were taken to stop it from spreading.
We waited until the beginning of December to really make our travel plans, and even then, the plans remained tentative. We initially wanted to go to Hainan for 10 days, and then spend 2-3 up north in Harbin, where there is a large ice festival every year. To our dismay, a few new cases showed up in cities close to Harbin, so to play it safe, we cancelled that portion of our trip.
The cities that have COVID cases are on the boarder of Russia. The likelihood of ending up with the virus in Harbin is slim to none, but if any positive cases were discovered in Harbin, I’d be quarantined until my tests came back negative. It is an ordeal I’d rather avoid, so we cancelled that part of our trip.
In fact, we nearly wound up needing to cancel our time in Hainan as well, but all ended well and no positive cases were ever actually in the province, so on December 20th we head southward to the beautiful sub tropic island of Hainan!
Airport breakfasts are the worst, but hey…. At least we could go to an airport!!!
Hainan island is China’s southernmost province. It’s been called “the Hawaii of China” and tourists flock here to enjoy the beaches of Sanya. But there is more to the island than just sand and ocean. There is a rainforest here and large geoparks. Because this island was once volcanic, there are hot springs to enjoy as well as plenty of geological diversity. It’s a great place to see with a tonne of stuff to do.
Haikou is the province’s capital. Currently we’re on the southern tip of the island, but we’ll be heading up to Haikou for Christmas.
It seems that the island is very popular with Russian tourists, because there is Russian on most signs and menus. This year, the island is quite empty, and most of the tourists are teachers like me, who just wanted to get out of the big city and enjoy some fresh air.
There are many places on the island you can stay. Yalong Bay is on the pricier side, and Clear Water Bay is great if you’re looking to be cut off from the world. Dave and I decided on Dadonghai Beach. We are right by the ocean, which is very nice, and there are plenty of restaurants, shops and ways to get around in this area of Sanya. There are some nice hotels, but with reasonable price tags. We are paying about $80 a night to stay at a hotel 5 minutes away from the beach. Our gorgeous balcony and comfy bed are worth paying a bit extra for, although there were certainly plenty of options cheaper than Sanya South China Hotel.
We did have some trouble checking in (they didn’t have our booking in their system) but they upgraded us as a result so that was nice!!Our nice balconyOcean is right behind us
One thing we’ve found about Hainan so far is that not many bloggers have written about all the things there are to do here (and how to do them). We’re figuring stuff out as we go, and are very glad we already have some basic Chinese and know how to order Didis (Chinese Uber) and use public transport.
This is my public transport face. Staying safe in Sanya!
Check back soon! I’ve already got lots of write about!
1600 years ago, the Silk Road was in full use. China was exporting silk, gunpowder and other goods, and bringing back with them spices, glass and culture. This is how Buddhism came to China.
Buddhism mostly came from India at the time
One particular monk saw a certain mountain side and decided to create a cave and a place where he could meditate. Soon, others started joining him, and over the next 1000 years, more than 1000 caves were dug out. Some were for meditation, some were elaborately painted and sculpted with Buddist mythology. More than 1000 Buddhas were carved in this mountain side.
One of the Buddhas is actually behind this wall. He’s massive and must have taken years to complete
These incredible caves are known as the Mogao Grottos. They are a treasure trove of history, culture and art. Tourists flock there today to see the caves that are open to the public. There are about 500 remaining now, and many are still in their original form, untouched.
Behind each of those doors is an elaborately decorated cave
We spent the last day of our holiday visiting these Grottos and learning the history of this site. We visited 8 caves in total, including the library, which was once home to more than 50,000 cultural and historical artifacts. Unfortunately, French and British archeologists took a lot of these artifacts themselves and left only 13,000 or so in China.
The library was actually hidden for hundreds of years. Within years of its discovery, it was robbed of many of its secrets.
The walls of each cave are covered in art (much of it is original), and every inch of the caves we saw were elaborately decorated with colour, sculptures and reliefs. Glass separates tourists, protecting the art from the hands of selfish tourists who don’t understand how to respect the culture and religions of others.
Glass is up all around each cave. If it weren’t, I’m sure people would be trying to take pieces of Buddhas or scraping the walls to get some 1700 year old paint
Because this is a sacred Buddhist site, photography isn’t allowed in the caves, so I don’t have my own photos of the interior. Luckily, there are several official websites that have authorized photos of some of the caves that I can share with you!
It took a lot of time, money and manpower to create even just one of these caves (never mind about 500 that are painted and full of sculptures like this one). Wealthy families paid to have these caves built because monks alone couldn’t fund the expensive pigments and materials used in this art. A lot of these colors, sculptures and paintings are originalThe reclining Buddha
It’s fine to take photos on the grounds of the Grottos, so we did plenty of that as well.
So much to see!
There is a museum on sight as well that explains how the caves were designed and now the art was created. I found it to be very educational. I have no artistic talent at all, so it is nice having it explained to me!
Up close photos of the ceiling panels
How the Buddahs were constructed step by step
How the walls were smoothed, polished and painted
The different natural pigments that are still holding up 1700 years later!
History regarding the construction of the grottos
As you leave the grottos, there are some beautiful stupas to admire as well. They were created to show respect the monks who were key in creating the Grottos and the way they stand out against the desert and mountains is really beautiful.
If you’re going to the Mogao Grottos, be sure to book your tickets at least a day in advance. Foreigners need to do this in person. The tour isn’t cheap (more than 250rmb per person), but it includes 2 educational videos about the site, as well as an English speaking tour guide, AND entrance into 8 caves (there is a cheaper option, but all in Chinese and you only get access to 4 caves). Lonely Planet has some good instructions on where to get the tickets.
The way the blues have held up over the centuries is really amazing! The Mogao Grottos are certainly something to see!!
That wraps up our trip to Gansu province. Now, it’s time for me to catch up on some of those posts I promised but never completed!!!
We arrived in Dunhuang quite late at night and didn’t have many options for food. The options we did have weren’t the cleanest, and by the following afternoon, Dave wasn’t feeling great, so I headed off to the Echoing Sand Mountain by my lonesome.
Our hotel was actually basically in the desert in an area dubbed ‘sleepless town’. This is accurate. We haven’t slept much. They forgot to put mattresses on the beds, so we’re basically sleeping on box springs……
We could see the masive sand dunes from our hotel, so we set off on my own and made the 20 minute walk to Mingsha (Echoing Sand) Mountain. Entrance to the site is 110rmb as of 2020. There are all sorts of activities you can do, including camel riding, ATVing and sliding down the dunes. I was more interested in hanging out with the camels than I was with riding them, but that wasn’t an option, so I walked the boardwalk path around the dunes and took in the sights.
I followed the red path to the oasis & temple.
There were easily over 200 camels at the Echoing Sound Dunes and they’re always making their way around in groups of 4, led by guides. I’ve been on a camel twice (in Rajasthan and Inner Mongolia) and the thing you don’t realize is how TALL camels are!!
Easily in my list of top 5 favorite animals!
The views were very nice along the boardwalk. It wasn’t terribly crowded either, which was very nice. I watched adults and kids alike slide down the dunes to hear them ‘sing’. The Echoing Sound Dunes make neat sounds in the wind. I did this in Inner Mongolia back in 2005, and I can’t say I heard any singing, but it was fun!
But if you’re not careful, you might lose your cell phone half way down!!
Slide down the dunes!
Security office
A little path that is mostly used for selfies
There are photographers on site that will take your photo. You can claim it on the way out
The dunes tower over you
Lots to see!
The highlight, of course, was Crescent Spring and the surrounding scenery.
It’s hard to capture from the ground, but this spring looks like a crescent moon. It’s been there, in the desert, for thousands of years, and there are records of it being a tourist attraction since 200ce! It’s a beautiful place to take a break, enjoy some ice cream and snap some pictures.
Beautiful structures sit alongside the crescent spring
The only selfie I took in the desert
Unlike this woman who took selfies at every nice point in the area… In several different poses… To the point where everyone else gave up waiting for their own shots…
The towering sand dune behind it was my favorite because it wasn’t covered in people
I stood there for close to 15 minutes to get this shot
This is what it looked like the rest of those 15 minutes
If you’d like to visit the dunes, and want to have some fun in the sand, there are lots of places where you can get proper desert-appropriate attire. Such these super cool boots, so that you don’t get sand in your shoes.
They’re sold everywhere, including at the entranceIf you don’t, you might get a whole lot of sand in your shoes, like these guys, who were literally pouring it out, like you’d see in a cartoon.
Or, if you are more interested in keeping your skin safe from the sun’s rays, you can also purchase full ‘desert princess gear’, like so many tourists do.
I saw at least 50 women dressed this way.
When you’re done with the desert, and ready for some dinner, head down to the night market in Dunhuang. There are tons of food choices and it’s sort of cafeteria style, so you can get a bit of everything at all the different restaurants. This was honestly the best meal we’ve had on this trip.
Naan!
Tasty bbq fish
China’s version of potato skins. SO good!!!
Bbq pork belly
The night market where we ate
Deep fried yogurt
Lamb Skewers!!!!!
Skewer pile
So…much…good…food!!!!
I have one more post planned for this trip! Our last day was spent visiting one of the most important and famous religious sites in the world! Stay tuned!
Our next stop was in a small(ish) city called Jiayuguan. Although an important area historically, Jiayuguan is quite small, with a population of less than half a million people.
It almost looks like Winnipeg. You can see so much sky!!
There isn’t a lot to see here, but we still reserved a day of our trip for a quick visit, because although this isn’t a big city, it’s home to the western end of the Great Wall of China!
A very well restored wall, anyway!
Historically, Jiayuguan was very important. Not only was it the end of the wall, protecting China from ‘the outside’ but Jiayuguan was also an important part of the silk road (which allowed China to trade with ‘the outside’ and gain power with a strengthened economy). It was also a place of poetry and deep sadness; at least for anyone who was exiled, because this is where that usually happened.
Exiled into the vast Gobi desert
The Great Wall was built differently in different areas of the country. Near Beijing, we saw bricks and plaster made from rice and dirt. Here in Jiayuguan, sand and compressed dirt were used. The wall blends in beautifully with its surroundings.
Sand below, sand behind, sand all around!
I really liked the crumbly and ancient feel of Gubeiku Great Wall, and I was complaining that Jiuyuguan Pass was too ‘inauthentic’, but Dave pointed out one advantage of having it so well-restored: you’re able to see how the wall functioned.
City center
Jiayuguan Pass wasn’t just protecting open country side, as was in the case of other sections of the wall; it was also protecting a city. The way it was reconstructed allowed us to see what some of the important buildings looked like 700 years ago when the wall was still functional. That aspect of it was pretty cool.
Lots of history hereSeveral reconstructed buildings are also on siteGuard towers and lookouts where soldiers could see invaders coming from miles away, across the Gobi Desert.
All in all, I’m happy we went. I think if I had known a bit more, I would have skipped this portion of our trip and spent a bit more time hiking around Mati Si, but still… It was pretty cool to see the western end of the Great Wall of China!!
There were lots of camels there too, so that was a bonus!!!
Next, we went to Dunhuang, home of singing sand dunes and lots of Buddha’s! More on that next time!!
