Dunhuang
I had planned to sit in the front seat of our car on the second day, but given that Lillian and I weren’t technically allowed to be in some of those areas, the driver made me sit in the back, and let Lillian, who’s ethnically Han Chinese sit up front so as to avoid more trouble.
Dunhuang, like all cities in China, would also likely have hotels that did and didn’t allow foreigners to stay. Being really just a tourist town it was likely to be rather expensive for foreigners and we wanted to make sure to be in the same hotel as the folks we were sharing the car with. This could be difficult as hotels normally require ID to check out a room. So our friends from Chongqing found the hotel and paid upfront for the two nights in both rooms. And they didn’t tell them we were foreigners. Specifically, they told them that we were four people all together: the two of them, plus two younger girls they’d met in their travels-one from Guangdong, (that would be Lillian, who’s fluent in Cantonese) and one from Urumqi. Uh, that would be me. Most people when they see me assume that I’m a foreigner, but several people have told me I look like the people in Xinjiang. No problems with that ensued at the hotel. Guess I look close enough that they won’t question it if that’s what they’re told.
Dunhuang was alright. The Mogao caves were certainly spectacular. Sorry though, no pictures. Though I have some postcards I can show you all when I get back. The whole place was to damn touristy though. For reasons of preservation, they had closed up the caves and put locking doors at the entrances. I appreciate this effort at preservation, it certainly pays off, but it meant that you could only go look at caves as part of a tour. And the tour was only an hour and a half. So while there’s like 492 caves, and 60 are open to the public, in actuality you only get to look at about 15 of them before they end the tour and you’re left on your own with no keys to the other caves. In retrospect we might have been able to hitch on with another tour which may have gone to a few different caves. So anyways, it was really cool, but for the limited amount of time and sights we got, it almost wasn’t worth the extra trip out there. If the trip itself hadn’t been such an adventure. There’s tons of famous Buddhist cave areas in China, but I figured we’d be set going to what is one of the most famous and biggest. In retrospect a less important one might have actually given us the opportunity to see more, enjoy it more, and spend more time looking.
We also went to another touristy area in Dunhuang. Mingsha Shan-a big sand dune area, and something moon lake, which is a little spring fed lake surrounded by the dunes. This was very pretty, but not much to do other than climb the dune (it was too frikkin hot when we went though) and take pictures. So we got some nice pictures and felt like we’d gotten a little cheated since it was so expensive. But here’s the pictures. They are, in fact, very nice.
Dunhuang also had some nice fresh fruit. These tasty little orange fruits that tasted like a mix between an apricot and something else, but without the fuzz, and smelled very perfumy. I ate so many…
Well, that’s all for now folks. I leave the day after tomorrow to head back to the US. I’ll spend the fourth hanging out with some friends I made at ACC, having sushi for lunch with at least one friend out by ACC, and dinner having Indian food with at least one friend out by Qinghua. No big celebrations planned, as they have classes the next day. Anyways, I’d rather spend the last day here, and a holiday at that, with friends doing calm things, than with strangers having a wild party.
Though perhaps after dinner I might hit Tiananmen on the way home and see if any Americans happen to be partying there, or at least to spend the evening in a lively square of people. Though the square at Tianqiao is pretty hip at night too. Dance class, fan dance class accompanied by drums, kids playing, people chillin’, roller-skating in front of the theater, etc.
Dunhuang, like all cities in China, would also likely have hotels that did and didn’t allow foreigners to stay. Being really just a tourist town it was likely to be rather expensive for foreigners and we wanted to make sure to be in the same hotel as the folks we were sharing the car with. This could be difficult as hotels normally require ID to check out a room. So our friends from Chongqing found the hotel and paid upfront for the two nights in both rooms. And they didn’t tell them we were foreigners. Specifically, they told them that we were four people all together: the two of them, plus two younger girls they’d met in their travels-one from Guangdong, (that would be Lillian, who’s fluent in Cantonese) and one from Urumqi. Uh, that would be me. Most people when they see me assume that I’m a foreigner, but several people have told me I look like the people in Xinjiang. No problems with that ensued at the hotel. Guess I look close enough that they won’t question it if that’s what they’re told.
Dunhuang was alright. The Mogao caves were certainly spectacular. Sorry though, no pictures. Though I have some postcards I can show you all when I get back. The whole place was to damn touristy though. For reasons of preservation, they had closed up the caves and put locking doors at the entrances. I appreciate this effort at preservation, it certainly pays off, but it meant that you could only go look at caves as part of a tour. And the tour was only an hour and a half. So while there’s like 492 caves, and 60 are open to the public, in actuality you only get to look at about 15 of them before they end the tour and you’re left on your own with no keys to the other caves. In retrospect we might have been able to hitch on with another tour which may have gone to a few different caves. So anyways, it was really cool, but for the limited amount of time and sights we got, it almost wasn’t worth the extra trip out there. If the trip itself hadn’t been such an adventure. There’s tons of famous Buddhist cave areas in China, but I figured we’d be set going to what is one of the most famous and biggest. In retrospect a less important one might have actually given us the opportunity to see more, enjoy it more, and spend more time looking.
We also went to another touristy area in Dunhuang. Mingsha Shan-a big sand dune area, and something moon lake, which is a little spring fed lake surrounded by the dunes. This was very pretty, but not much to do other than climb the dune (it was too frikkin hot when we went though) and take pictures. So we got some nice pictures and felt like we’d gotten a little cheated since it was so expensive. But here’s the pictures. They are, in fact, very nice.
Dunhuang also had some nice fresh fruit. These tasty little orange fruits that tasted like a mix between an apricot and something else, but without the fuzz, and smelled very perfumy. I ate so many…
Well, that’s all for now folks. I leave the day after tomorrow to head back to the US. I’ll spend the fourth hanging out with some friends I made at ACC, having sushi for lunch with at least one friend out by ACC, and dinner having Indian food with at least one friend out by Qinghua. No big celebrations planned, as they have classes the next day. Anyways, I’d rather spend the last day here, and a holiday at that, with friends doing calm things, than with strangers having a wild party.
Though perhaps after dinner I might hit Tiananmen on the way home and see if any Americans happen to be partying there, or at least to spend the evening in a lively square of people. Though the square at Tianqiao is pretty hip at night too. Dance class, fan dance class accompanied by drums, kids playing, people chillin’, roller-skating in front of the theater, etc.