Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Beijing 2008
Trains and Planes
As we neared Beijing on our train in the early morning, there was a thick fog enveloping the city. I mentioned something to Richard and he rightly pointed out that no, it wasn't fog...it was smog - a thick pollution hovering over the ground, not high in the air. Getting off of the train it was difficult to breathe and the coughing and sneezing began almost instantly. In a word, it was disgusting. The train station was clogged with people and traffic. With our bags and almost no idea where we were going, my very first impression of Beijing was not the greatest.
We finally navigated to the 365 Inn, where we thankfully had booked a room. With a home base and no bags to hamper us, Beijing instantly became a friendlier place.
Da Zhi Lan Hutong
The 365 Inn and associated Sakura Cafe were in the Da Zhi Lan hutong in the Qianmen area. It was a very homey sort of street with great food and small vendors throughout. We were only a short walk from the infamous Tienanmen Square.
In our neighborhood were multiple gift shops, a Peking Duck place, a hot-pot restaurant, and two other hostels, as well as access to the Qianmen transport hub, which had buses and metro to most any location in the city.
...
Beijing is a city of contradictions. New yet old; fake and sometimes real; dirty and sometimes clean; crowded with pockets of respite.
Weather/Pollution
One illustration is the weather. One our first day in Beijing, you could barely see the building two blocks away. The smog was all encompassing and obviously part of the air. As the sun set, you could stare at is fiery orange disk as is descended through the brown sky. The second day, quite a different sky appeared. The sky was distinctly overcast, and below the blanket of cloud, the air was noticeably clearer. In the afternoon a brief yet heavy rain swept through the city as if to wash away the dust and dirt. For in the morning, as I sipped my coffee, I noticed shadows on the ground outside. I rushed outside and looked up to see a sky as clear as those I had seen in the mountains of Yunnan. I suddenly felt like climbing Jingshan Park again, looking over the Forbidden city, and going to the embassy district to see the skyscrapers, but as we were headed to the Great Wall that day, I had to settle with a brief redo of Tienanmen Square. The next two days, and even that afternoon, the city descend back into smog, and even as we were driving to the airport through another afternoon rain, I could see the city fighting its polluted with a cycle of cleansing rains.
[Lonely Planet factoid - some research states that breathing Beijing air is likened to smoking 70 cigarettes a day]
Tienanmen Square
Tienanmen Square was less grandiose than I expected, but I wanted to note that there were security checks at all the enterance points to the square. The Chinese police were checking bags, but as I neared the checkpoint, I was ignored. Looking back I realized that all foreigners were un-checked and that only Chinese people were being checked...
Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Lama Temple
(And how we escaped Chinese Tourism in the hutongs, Embassy District, and the Ancient Observatory)
Another illustration of the contrasts of Beijing is the patterns in the local tourism trade. Visiting the listed sights, internationally known symbols for Beijing, was much like visiting Disneyland. Obviously dolled up, with queues and souvenir shops, obviously renovated in preparation for the Olympics, with little really history or function left. Sure, they were must sees, and each sight was quite impressive in their own right. Yet hidden beneath a new coat of paint and drowning in a sea of foreign and domestic tourists, they were no more fun or exciting than a trip to a remake at Disneyworld's Epcot center.
Despite this, Beijing is still the heart of China, and just around the corner sits little pockets of reality. The walk from Qianmen to Temple of Heaven, passed through a surviving hutong region, full of little shops and laughing locals. Furthermore, in the ancient observatory in a small stone tower near the embassy district amongst towering skyscrapers, we were not pushed or pressured to rush from exhibit to exhibit or digging through crowds to get to the rooftop collection of Jesuit era astronomical tools.
The Great Wall
The great wall at Simatai lived up to its expectations. From the top of the 12th watchtower looking west over the remainder of Simatai and across to the 24 towers of Jinshanling, we had view of nearly 10km of contiguous wall, with views of solitary towers on distant hills stretching out of sight. The area around the wall was surprisingly undeveloped and not entirely easily accessible, two and a half hours from Beijing. The hills were green and we frequently found ourselves alone (save our two self-appointed guides and souvenir salesmen).
Silk Street/Pan Jia Yuan Market
There exists a few shopping meccas in Beijing. We ventured to two. First the silk market for all sorts of clothing, that could often be had at 10% of the asking price. As for the Pan Jia Yuan market, it was full of souvenirs, or what I call crap. It was more diverse, but less touristic.
Olympic Center
We managed to walk around the Olympic center. The main complex looked relatively complete, with entrance tents set up with guards around the perimeter, and the only construction still visible was on the massive Bird's Nest. It seems like most construction is taking place on infrastructure and beautification projects in and around the city.
Four Faiths attempt
We attempted to photograph buildings from the major religions present in Beijing. (St Josephs Church (Christian), Temple of Heaven (Taoist), Lama Temple (Buddhist), Cow Street Mosque (Islamic). Sadly, we never got to Cow Street Mosque, but hopefully we can post pictures soon.
After my initial shock upon arriving in Beijing and despite the pollution and the plasticity of some tourist sights, I quickly warmed up and look upon the city fondly.
As we neared Beijing on our train in the early morning, there was a thick fog enveloping the city. I mentioned something to Richard and he rightly pointed out that no, it wasn't fog...it was smog - a thick pollution hovering over the ground, not high in the air. Getting off of the train it was difficult to breathe and the coughing and sneezing began almost instantly. In a word, it was disgusting. The train station was clogged with people and traffic. With our bags and almost no idea where we were going, my very first impression of Beijing was not the greatest.
We finally navigated to the 365 Inn, where we thankfully had booked a room. With a home base and no bags to hamper us, Beijing instantly became a friendlier place.
Da Zhi Lan Hutong
The 365 Inn and associated Sakura Cafe were in the Da Zhi Lan hutong in the Qianmen area. It was a very homey sort of street with great food and small vendors throughout. We were only a short walk from the infamous Tienanmen Square.
In our neighborhood were multiple gift shops, a Peking Duck place, a hot-pot restaurant, and two other hostels, as well as access to the Qianmen transport hub, which had buses and metro to most any location in the city.
...
Beijing is a city of contradictions. New yet old; fake and sometimes real; dirty and sometimes clean; crowded with pockets of respite.
Weather/Pollution
One illustration is the weather. One our first day in Beijing, you could barely see the building two blocks away. The smog was all encompassing and obviously part of the air. As the sun set, you could stare at is fiery orange disk as is descended through the brown sky. The second day, quite a different sky appeared. The sky was distinctly overcast, and below the blanket of cloud, the air was noticeably clearer. In the afternoon a brief yet heavy rain swept through the city as if to wash away the dust and dirt. For in the morning, as I sipped my coffee, I noticed shadows on the ground outside. I rushed outside and looked up to see a sky as clear as those I had seen in the mountains of Yunnan. I suddenly felt like climbing Jingshan Park again, looking over the Forbidden city, and going to the embassy district to see the skyscrapers, but as we were headed to the Great Wall that day, I had to settle with a brief redo of Tienanmen Square. The next two days, and even that afternoon, the city descend back into smog, and even as we were driving to the airport through another afternoon rain, I could see the city fighting its polluted with a cycle of cleansing rains.
[Lonely Planet factoid - some research states that breathing Beijing air is likened to smoking 70 cigarettes a day]
Tienanmen Square
Tienanmen Square was less grandiose than I expected, but I wanted to note that there were security checks at all the enterance points to the square. The Chinese police were checking bags, but as I neared the checkpoint, I was ignored. Looking back I realized that all foreigners were un-checked and that only Chinese people were being checked...
Temple of Heaven, Forbidden City, Summer Palace, and Lama Temple
(And how we escaped Chinese Tourism in the hutongs, Embassy District, and the Ancient Observatory)
Another illustration of the contrasts of Beijing is the patterns in the local tourism trade. Visiting the listed sights, internationally known symbols for Beijing, was much like visiting Disneyland. Obviously dolled up, with queues and souvenir shops, obviously renovated in preparation for the Olympics, with little really history or function left. Sure, they were must sees, and each sight was quite impressive in their own right. Yet hidden beneath a new coat of paint and drowning in a sea of foreign and domestic tourists, they were no more fun or exciting than a trip to a remake at Disneyworld's Epcot center.
Despite this, Beijing is still the heart of China, and just around the corner sits little pockets of reality. The walk from Qianmen to Temple of Heaven, passed through a surviving hutong region, full of little shops and laughing locals. Furthermore, in the ancient observatory in a small stone tower near the embassy district amongst towering skyscrapers, we were not pushed or pressured to rush from exhibit to exhibit or digging through crowds to get to the rooftop collection of Jesuit era astronomical tools.
The Great Wall
The great wall at Simatai lived up to its expectations. From the top of the 12th watchtower looking west over the remainder of Simatai and across to the 24 towers of Jinshanling, we had view of nearly 10km of contiguous wall, with views of solitary towers on distant hills stretching out of sight. The area around the wall was surprisingly undeveloped and not entirely easily accessible, two and a half hours from Beijing. The hills were green and we frequently found ourselves alone (save our two self-appointed guides and souvenir salesmen).
Silk Street/Pan Jia Yuan Market
There exists a few shopping meccas in Beijing. We ventured to two. First the silk market for all sorts of clothing, that could often be had at 10% of the asking price. As for the Pan Jia Yuan market, it was full of souvenirs, or what I call crap. It was more diverse, but less touristic.
Olympic Center
We managed to walk around the Olympic center. The main complex looked relatively complete, with entrance tents set up with guards around the perimeter, and the only construction still visible was on the massive Bird's Nest. It seems like most construction is taking place on infrastructure and beautification projects in and around the city.
Four Faiths attempt
We attempted to photograph buildings from the major religions present in Beijing. (St Josephs Church (Christian), Temple of Heaven (Taoist), Lama Temple (Buddhist), Cow Street Mosque (Islamic). Sadly, we never got to Cow Street Mosque, but hopefully we can post pictures soon.
After my initial shock upon arriving in Beijing and despite the pollution and the plasticity of some tourist sights, I quickly warmed up and look upon the city fondly.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Pre Beijing Update
Rich is over my shoulder, so this blog is more from the both of us than just me. We know! We haven't updated in a while, but we've been busy! :P And it was kind of nice being off the radar.
Let's see...last time I wrote we were in Hangzhou at a very nice little hostel. It is there that I received my bag - a great relief! We walked around the famous West Lake and visited the Ling Yin buddhist monastary. It was my first view of buddhist grotto-style carvings. We have some really cool pictures but haven't gotten a CD made, yet. We also saw some monks...talking on their cell phones! I thought that was pretty funny. From Hangzhou we bussed to Huang Shan.
"Shan" means "mountain." We stayed in a little town at the base and met the near-famous Mr. Cheng, a tiny little man with a strange accent to his self-taught English. He helped us plan our trip up the mountain and got us a hookup at a 3-star hotel for only $17. The mountain was gorgeous, and it better be because we climbed thousands of steps. It was a clear day and the scenes were truly breathtaking. Even though hoards of tourists ruined the ambiance at times, I'm glad that we went. I wimped out at the end, though, and we took a cable car part way down :] From Huang Shan we took 12 hours of busses to Suzhou.
We had a bus transfer at Nanjing and were very close to being ripped off. A mini bus driver offered to take us to a different, better bus station to finish our trip to Suzhou for 148 yuan. When we arrived and were ON the bus, he said the 148 was for ONE person, though we made it very clear that the price was for two. Luckily, we only keep small bills in Richard's wallet and the larger bills in our money belt so after much yelling and trying to get off the bus Rich was able to open it up and say "Hey, I don't HAVE the money!" We ended up paying 180.
In Suzhou we stayed in a hostel not in Lonely Planet but the same chain as our previous hostels. It was my favorite room and one of my favorite cities. The hostel would have been perfect had the bar/cafe not been under construction. We were in a very authentic old style neighborhood - people walked around in their PJs in the morning and little kids ran around...they even had a red light "district"...just one "hairdresser" sitting by the window of her shop watching TV in a nighty, turning her red light on at dusk. One day we rented bikes and rode to the Silk Museum. Apparently Suzhou is known for its silk. Afterwards we rode to the Humble Administrator's Garden, one of the best known and well kept Chinese gardens. They were beautiful despite how packed they were. Again, I wish I had the photo CD made to show you! We also took a day trip to Tongli.
Tongli is really only known for its old town which you have to pay to enter! It was a bit touristy, but very nice. The products for sale were surprisingly not as inflated as we would have thought for such a tourist attraction. There is the famous sex museum and gardens.
Our last evening in Suzhou before the night train we ate at Papa Johns. In China it's an awesome sit-down restaurant. We had an island pizza that was superb. Shortly after we boarded a hard sleeper train for a 14 hour ride to Beijing.
Let's see...last time I wrote we were in Hangzhou at a very nice little hostel. It is there that I received my bag - a great relief! We walked around the famous West Lake and visited the Ling Yin buddhist monastary. It was my first view of buddhist grotto-style carvings. We have some really cool pictures but haven't gotten a CD made, yet. We also saw some monks...talking on their cell phones! I thought that was pretty funny. From Hangzhou we bussed to Huang Shan.
"Shan" means "mountain." We stayed in a little town at the base and met the near-famous Mr. Cheng, a tiny little man with a strange accent to his self-taught English. He helped us plan our trip up the mountain and got us a hookup at a 3-star hotel for only $17. The mountain was gorgeous, and it better be because we climbed thousands of steps. It was a clear day and the scenes were truly breathtaking. Even though hoards of tourists ruined the ambiance at times, I'm glad that we went. I wimped out at the end, though, and we took a cable car part way down :] From Huang Shan we took 12 hours of busses to Suzhou.
We had a bus transfer at Nanjing and were very close to being ripped off. A mini bus driver offered to take us to a different, better bus station to finish our trip to Suzhou for 148 yuan. When we arrived and were ON the bus, he said the 148 was for ONE person, though we made it very clear that the price was for two. Luckily, we only keep small bills in Richard's wallet and the larger bills in our money belt so after much yelling and trying to get off the bus Rich was able to open it up and say "Hey, I don't HAVE the money!" We ended up paying 180.
In Suzhou we stayed in a hostel not in Lonely Planet but the same chain as our previous hostels. It was my favorite room and one of my favorite cities. The hostel would have been perfect had the bar/cafe not been under construction. We were in a very authentic old style neighborhood - people walked around in their PJs in the morning and little kids ran around...they even had a red light "district"...just one "hairdresser" sitting by the window of her shop watching TV in a nighty, turning her red light on at dusk. One day we rented bikes and rode to the Silk Museum. Apparently Suzhou is known for its silk. Afterwards we rode to the Humble Administrator's Garden, one of the best known and well kept Chinese gardens. They were beautiful despite how packed they were. Again, I wish I had the photo CD made to show you! We also took a day trip to Tongli.
Tongli is really only known for its old town which you have to pay to enter! It was a bit touristy, but very nice. The products for sale were surprisingly not as inflated as we would have thought for such a tourist attraction. There is the famous sex museum and gardens.
Our last evening in Suzhou before the night train we ate at Papa Johns. In China it's an awesome sit-down restaurant. We had an island pizza that was superb. Shortly after we boarded a hard sleeper train for a 14 hour ride to Beijing.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Hangzhou
Hellooooo,
I still have no bag, but I'll tell you what I do have: our very own ROOM with a Western toilet and shower and everything! The room is tiny...I'll take a picture. It just fits a bed and small desk. There's a little electric tea pot and set, and a small bathroom. The room also comes with his and hers house shoes. Rich said he's seen them many times before. What I love is the window that I can open to sit out on the ledge. A really cool thing is that you insert your room card into a little slot when you arrive that activates the power, so none is wasted while your gone.
We're in Hangzhou. Our hostel is right by it's famous West Lake...I think West Lake. Maybe Western... Anyway, we walked around it last night, and it was very pretty with the fountain and the lights across and everything. Today we're doing a few things that I'll write about later. Hopefully we'll find a pet store. There are and squirrels and chipmunks lucky crickets supposedly. Awesome. I'm going to get a cricket :P
I hope my bag comes today! Until then, I'm in my new skirt and a pair of boxer shorts, hahaha.
I still have no bag, but I'll tell you what I do have: our very own ROOM with a Western toilet and shower and everything! The room is tiny...I'll take a picture. It just fits a bed and small desk. There's a little electric tea pot and set, and a small bathroom. The room also comes with his and hers house shoes. Rich said he's seen them many times before. What I love is the window that I can open to sit out on the ledge. A really cool thing is that you insert your room card into a little slot when you arrive that activates the power, so none is wasted while your gone.
We're in Hangzhou. Our hostel is right by it's famous West Lake...I think West Lake. Maybe Western... Anyway, we walked around it last night, and it was very pretty with the fountain and the lights across and everything. Today we're doing a few things that I'll write about later. Hopefully we'll find a pet store. There are and squirrels and chipmunks lucky crickets supposedly. Awesome. I'm going to get a cricket :P
I hope my bag comes today! Until then, I'm in my new skirt and a pair of boxer shorts, hahaha.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Liuyuan and JFK
I spent much of the 27th typing emails to Tibet, and unsuccessfully
attempting to re-scale the fence around the sand dunes near the
hostel, at a time unlike the night before, when the sand would fry an
egg. I boarded a bus to Liuyuan (or Lu you arrr, if you are from
Dunhuang)... well more like a big mini-van, with a fat driver who was
wearing a wife beater and slacks. The road north to Liuyuan brought
much desolation as trees turned to shrubs, turned to sand, and varied
colors of green turned to a monochromatic shade of tan. The road was
straight, no obstacles to detour it, and the landscape was devoid of
features, save a lone dust devil that hovered in the distance over the
one discerable mud brick dwelling in sight. For China we were going
quite fast, atleast 80kph, because we covered 130km in nigh two hours.
As we were gathering customers in Dunhuang, the driver got into an
argument with a taxi driver over two potential clients. We left town
before they did, but half an hour later, the taxi sped by, blaring its
horns mockily as it past. I half hoped to find the taxi broken down
in the scorching sun, but alas it wasn't so, and at the end of two
hours, we pulled into the coal covered, town of two dozen buildings
and a train station called Liuyuan. I attempted to check into the
hotel, but after being shown and paying 40 for a rather nice single
with a bathroom, I was shifted to a not so nice slab of wood, without
a bathroom, sharing a communal bathroom without a shower, and without
running water in the sinks. I went down stairs to see what it would
take to get a shower, and apparently the room I was shown cost 100.
After being offered 80, and then 60 (as I was packing my bags to
leave), I finally declined and opted for a night on a softer matress
(my sleeping pad) on the marble floor of the train station.
The train brought change as well. When I awoke at 3AM, it was
raining, and according to the trains thermometer, the temperature was
12C. Later that day as the sun was setting around 9PM (it had set past
10 in Liuyuan) the temperature had read 37C. There was not a single
"waiguoren" (foreigner) on the train, and with my limited vocabulary
and the help of a man from Wuxi who spoke broken English, I tought at
first two kids how to play "Go fish", but as the popularity among
their parents and later other kids, half the car was playing when I
awoke this morning. As for JFK, the man from Wuxi told me that the
parents of the children (who had dragged me out of bed to play go
fish) said I was like Kennedy or Yao Ming. He likened me to Superman
for travelling in China alone. I think that is quite an
overstatement, and as the night went on I talked about how much fun
China has been in the past month and all I have learned. I talked
about life in America, and he was very excited to hear (as most
Chinese are) about the prosperity of America. And I ended, saying
that on the eave of Brittany's entry to China, I hope that in 2 weeks
time, she can learn to love China as much as I have.
With that note, she leaves tomorrow (or the day after, depending on
where you are) and arrives less than 3 days from now in Shanghai. I
cannot wait, but as she will be here, my/our contact with the
blogosphere will be severed until we have left China. So until after
crossing the Tibetan plateau into Kathmandu Valley (about the 23rd of
July) good bye and good luck.
P.S. This is my first time to post, sorry for the lack of links (I'm Able to view the blog for the first time from Shanghai... sorry for the weird capitalization as well, Chinese characters keep popping up on the screen.
attempting to re-scale the fence around the sand dunes near the
hostel, at a time unlike the night before, when the sand would fry an
egg. I boarded a bus to Liuyuan (or Lu you arrr, if you are from
Dunhuang)... well more like a big mini-van, with a fat driver who was
wearing a wife beater and slacks. The road north to Liuyuan brought
much desolation as trees turned to shrubs, turned to sand, and varied
colors of green turned to a monochromatic shade of tan. The road was
straight, no obstacles to detour it, and the landscape was devoid of
features, save a lone dust devil that hovered in the distance over the
one discerable mud brick dwelling in sight. For China we were going
quite fast, atleast 80kph, because we covered 130km in nigh two hours.
As we were gathering customers in Dunhuang, the driver got into an
argument with a taxi driver over two potential clients. We left town
before they did, but half an hour later, the taxi sped by, blaring its
horns mockily as it past. I half hoped to find the taxi broken down
in the scorching sun, but alas it wasn't so, and at the end of two
hours, we pulled into the coal covered, town of two dozen buildings
and a train station called Liuyuan. I attempted to check into the
hotel, but after being shown and paying 40 for a rather nice single
with a bathroom, I was shifted to a not so nice slab of wood, without
a bathroom, sharing a communal bathroom without a shower, and without
running water in the sinks. I went down stairs to see what it would
take to get a shower, and apparently the room I was shown cost 100.
After being offered 80, and then 60 (as I was packing my bags to
leave), I finally declined and opted for a night on a softer matress
(my sleeping pad) on the marble floor of the train station.
The train brought change as well. When I awoke at 3AM, it was
raining, and according to the trains thermometer, the temperature was
12C. Later that day as the sun was setting around 9PM (it had set past
10 in Liuyuan) the temperature had read 37C. There was not a single
"waiguoren" (foreigner) on the train, and with my limited vocabulary
and the help of a man from Wuxi who spoke broken English, I tought at
first two kids how to play "Go fish", but as the popularity among
their parents and later other kids, half the car was playing when I
awoke this morning. As for JFK, the man from Wuxi told me that the
parents of the children (who had dragged me out of bed to play go
fish) said I was like Kennedy or Yao Ming. He likened me to Superman
for travelling in China alone. I think that is quite an
overstatement, and as the night went on I talked about how much fun
China has been in the past month and all I have learned. I talked
about life in America, and he was very excited to hear (as most
Chinese are) about the prosperity of America. And I ended, saying
that on the eave of Brittany's entry to China, I hope that in 2 weeks
time, she can learn to love China as much as I have.
With that note, she leaves tomorrow (or the day after, depending on
where you are) and arrives less than 3 days from now in Shanghai. I
cannot wait, but as she will be here, my/our contact with the
blogosphere will be severed until we have left China. So until after
crossing the Tibetan plateau into Kathmandu Valley (about the 23rd of
July) good bye and good luck.
P.S. This is my first time to post, sorry for the lack of links (I'm Able to view the blog for the first time from Shanghai... sorry for the weird capitalization as well, Chinese characters keep popping up on the screen.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Greetings from the Silk Road
After climbing Emei Shan mountain and battling Tibetan Macaques, I saw the Dafo (Great Buddha) at Leshan. I spent two days in Chengdu, eating hotpot and gongbao jiding (Kung Pao Chicken), and sipping tea at Renmin (People's) Park. In Xi'an I browsed the Muslim quarter, met up with an old friend from Yangshuo, and got my camera snatched off my person near the Big Goose Pagoda. Saw the Terra Cotta Warriors, biked around the Ming Dynasty City Walls, and ate for the first time at McDonalds. Big Macs apparently taste the same globally.
After a 24train eating instant noodles and reading David Copperfield, I arrived this morning to Dunhuang, a stop on the Silk Road. Dunhuang is home to the Mogao Caves, reputed to be the most intact collection of Buddhist art in China, and famous for its cold donkey meat with onions and peppers (of which I partook for dinner). Surrounding Mogao is endless flat sand and rock desert, and not 500m from my guesthouse sits a 200m tall sand dune, behind which sits Moon Crescent Lake, which for the lowly price of 120Y (18USD) I can look at it. Maybe tomorrow I will go there, but perhaps I will jump the fence and climb the dune, bypassing the ridiculous fee.
Tomorrow night, I head north to a town on the remote Urumqi-Lanzhou Line that runs to distant Xinjiang Province, where I have to prepare for my 4:10AM departure for the marathon 32hr train ride to Nanjing, which after a quick tour there and in Shanghai, I ride the Maglev to meet Brittany at Shanghai Pudong Airport.
After a 24train eating instant noodles and reading David Copperfield, I arrived this morning to Dunhuang, a stop on the Silk Road. Dunhuang is home to the Mogao Caves, reputed to be the most intact collection of Buddhist art in China, and famous for its cold donkey meat with onions and peppers (of which I partook for dinner). Surrounding Mogao is endless flat sand and rock desert, and not 500m from my guesthouse sits a 200m tall sand dune, behind which sits Moon Crescent Lake, which for the lowly price of 120Y (18USD) I can look at it. Maybe tomorrow I will go there, but perhaps I will jump the fence and climb the dune, bypassing the ridiculous fee.
Tomorrow night, I head north to a town on the remote Urumqi-Lanzhou Line that runs to distant Xinjiang Province, where I have to prepare for my 4:10AM departure for the marathon 32hr train ride to Nanjing, which after a quick tour there and in Shanghai, I ride the Maglev to meet Brittany at Shanghai Pudong Airport.
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