China's Wild West

It was impossible to tell her age. Brightly (and warmly) dressed she had the features of a beauty queen, the movements of a model, and the smile of a joyous existence. Yet she was gathering water that weighed approximately 10 pounds on each shoulder. Then she balanced it with practiced skill. Having some distance to transport it back to her home meant any spillage would have been a tremendous loss of time and effort.

I'd always imagined I'd see Morocco, or base camp at Mt. Everest way before I got down my list to China. That list of 100 things to see I compiled years ago has been veered from like a blown out tire at 90 mph. When the list was created I couldn't have factored in my only child, a son, would inherit the adventure bug that's been held captive on my maternal side of the family for generations. I say held captive as no one, even me until recently, has had the pieces of their life fall together such that they were able to do anything about it. Children and husbands, and crops and cattle and well, eating, have taken precedence. Other than seeing the world as a gypsy (my mother was close), exploration has just not been feasible. Nor could I have known I would indulge this child with the opportunities to once and for all put that ache to rest. Indulge is a tricky word here. And so is rest. Let's start with indulge. If you can call instilling in him (over and over and over ad nauseum) the need to have children later in life so he could explore the world, putting him on a plane for some destination with the last money in my checking account (there was no savings account), and spending many an hour talking about Morocco, then you can say I indulged him. And that word, rest. Putting that exploration bug to rest has entailed everything BUT.



Actually China wasn't on my list. But the adventurous son upon graduation from OU, decided to pursue his fledgling Mandarin skills. In China. So when the opportunity arose for him to take a month off from school and my schedule became such that a month was possible for me as well, we began to plan. Bigger backpacks were purchased. Squatter toilet techniques were reviewed. Immunizations. Visa. Chopstick technique. Maps, maps, and more maps. We nixed all the big cities. If I'm going to see something, I want to SEE something. Something is not the interior of a city hotel where everyone speaks English and really, you could close your eyes and sense you were in any city of the U.S. No. What's the point. I'm still young enough (recall the ad nauseum part? the women in my family have all been teenage mothers, including myself) to want to experience the places I go. That means hiking as opposed to a tour van, being exposed to uncomfortable physical conditions and intermingling with the population. I figure I can go back someday when I'm too old for REAL exploration and see Beijing, Shanghai, HongKong. And when I get really, really, really old, I'll shop. Until then, exploration means staying dirty, tired, and hungry, and the most amazingly fantastic, stunningly fabulous pictures imaginable.

Dunhuang is southeast from Urumqui in the province of Gansu, just south of Mongolia. Also on the world's first information superhighway, the Silk Road, Gansu is a treasure trove of Buddhist paintings and sculptures, and the Buddhist grottoes of the Magao Caves.

The arid land and harsh climate has made the land barely inhabitable. As such, the Gansu Province is one of the 5 poorest provinces in China.

Dunhuang may be poor, but when we pulled into downtown in a "taxi", we were instantly transported from weary travelers to starry eyed tourists. The town is alight at night with magical colors and we were gratefully rejuvenated by the sight. The light of day replaced the magic with a sobering reality. Yet even that meant 3 days of adventure we'll never forget.

This picture of grottoes are on the site of the Mogao Caves. There were no cameras or recording devices of any kind allowed inside the gated and heavily guarded caves. Filled with art and sculpture of a quantity and often of sizes that strain our modern brains to comprehend, the caves were exquisite. I've dreamed about what I saw in there several times since arriving home. Impossible to describe, breathless to behold, it was one of my favorite ancient sites.

To quote Lonely Planet "The Mogao Caves are, simply put, one of the greatest repositories of Buddhist art in the world." At its height the site had 18 monasteries, 1400 monks and nuns, and numerous artists, calligraphers, and translators. Generally agreed to have been founded in AD 366, the collapse of trade after the Yuan dynasty left the 1700 meters of grottoes and a millenium of art untouched for centuries as the Gobi desert took hold.

It was only in the 20th century that the massive, priceless troves of art and remnants were rediscovered.

Only in their most recent version did Lonely Planet make any mention of this portion of the Great Wall. The Westernmost section of the Great Wall lies in the Gobi desert, is still VERY discernable, very viewable, and very mind blowing. It's unrestored remnants from 101 B.C. were impressive. My first Great Wall experience is at the section of the wall few people get to see. Out in the middle of the desert I glimpsed it. The magnitude of what I was seeing with my own eyes in the the middle of a wasteland moved me to tears. The joy at sharing this sight with my son will be with me always.

This part of the wall was made from mud and grass. There's no stone work. Only a small portion was fenced off. The rest stretched for a mile or more. We asked around about it and a guy offered to drive us out to it. 4 hours one way outside of Dunhuang. And worth every shockless inch.

* Nan, the most delectable, delicious, fantasy inducing bread I've ever eaten. Cooked in ovens dug in the ground. Or in one case, cooked in a pan on the ground with dried Yak Dung (see picture). Usually, the dough is thrown against the walls of the hot oven and parts of the oven stick to the bottom of the Nan, which you then flick off with a fingernail. The entire process is tactile indulgent.

* Livestock market on Sunday morning (and Nan at the market)

* Id Kuh Mosque

* Nan

* Old Town

* Uigher Musical Instrument Factory (hand crafted Dutars)

* Karakul Lake on the Karakorum Highway

* Nan

* Beef and cilantro (see recipe above)

* Lamb intestine skewers. Not a favorite from the taste good perspective, but something you really must not miss, at least seeing.

* Donkey Meat -- a delicious delicacy

* Magao Grotto Caves

* Yumen Pass/Jade Gate Pass

* Downtown Dunhuong at night

* Silk Carpet Factory at Dunhuong

* Westernmost section of Great Wall (no stonework)