Shanghai

Shanghai, a set on Flickr.

Shanxi Cave Dwellings

In Shanxi province people have been living in caves for 5,000 years. It is believed, so the Lonely Planet China, that once a quarter of the population lived underground. Today, Shanxi's countryside is still full of cave dwellings. Although these days most of them are abandoned, incredibly, 3 millions still live in caves. They are cheap and easy to make, better insulated, are nowadays connected to the national grid and even have internet connection. However, there is no running water or sewerage. 

We went to the remote 550 year old village Lijiashan, where most of the people are named Li, to see ourselves. The village is on a hillside next to the Yellow River. To get there from Pingyao you have take a bus to Lishi bus station (117km, 2.5 hours by bus) and from there to Qikou. (The latter is about 47km apart or 3 hours by bus to go there and, curiously, 1 hour to go back the same way.) 

From Qikou you have to cross the river, walk alongside for about half an hour and turn left at the blue sign 李家山 (If you are going there, note that it is the second sign written only in Chinese characters.). From there it is another 20 minutes uphill. There are hundreds of cave dwellings scaling nine storeys high. Indeed most of them are abandoned as is the school now. It is reported in the same above mentioned travel guide that the local school used to have four pupils. 

It is lovely to wander around the terraced village, watch the remaining villagers and have a peak into the abandoned caves. We also met Sean there, an Australian who has been teaching English in Shanghai for the last year and was so happy to meet two other tourists in the village. :-) 

The photos from Lijianshan with the caves, the school and our cave "hotel" room with the Li family can be found in the "Shanxi" set on Flickr. The first image is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/xhardy/6028014311/in/set-72157627410141816.

And, before closing, thanks Google for providing Google Translate. This helped to explain our host that we had to get up at 4:30 am to catch the 6 o'clock bus from Qikou and that we will not have breakfast. Well, finally we agreed that it was not the best idea but Mr. Li would arrange a taxi to collect us at quarter to six. So, in the end there was a back road to the "remote" village and we were glad that we did not have to hike through pitch dark mountain trails the next morning. 

Shanxi

Shanxi, a set on Flickr.

From Datong to Xi'an

798 Art District - 798艺术区

Not quite in chronological order, but I need to fill some gaps about previous travel experiences now. 

My favourite place in Beijing (Dashanzi area)! - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/798_Art_Zone 798 is full of art galleries, exhibitions and street art. It is located on a site of state-owned factories including Factory 798, which originally produced electronics. (Note: Most galleries are closed on Mondays.)

TimeOut says, "Shopping is undoubtedly on the rise in 798." http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/features/Shopping__Style/12572/Shopping-in-798.html and has details on some exhibitions like Tatsuo Miyajima's new show " Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust" http://www.timeoutbeijing.com/features/Art/12554/Tatsuo-Miyajima.html at the UCCA (Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, http://www.ucca.org.cn/).

798 Space http://www.798space.com is the biggest space. It was designed by the East German's architects in the Bauhaus style in the early 1950's. Currently, the gallery is housing an exhibition with a series of portraits taken of a Chinese sex worker over one day. 

Photos are in my "Art" photo set on Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/xhardy/sets/72157627044929727/

Not in the Lonely Planet - Mianshan Mountains

It is quite possibly the best-preserved ancient walled city in the whole of the country, with a seemingly endless collection of government offices, residences and temples to visit, but it's also a place where people still live.", says the Lonely Planet description about Pingyao. The city is one of only two Chinese cities listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was built in 1370 and was the most important trading and financial center in China in the late Ming and Qing dynasties where China's first commercial banks were established. More facts and why the city's nickname is "Turtle City" can be found on the website of Jing's Residence (http://jingsresidence.com/10Reasons.htm), a boutique hotel (We did stay, though, in the guesthouse.) and restaurant in the old city (Fantastic fusion kitchen. We went there twice.). The pavillions and courtyard in authentic architectural style of northern China have been fabulously restored with a modern touch. 

Around Pingyao there are several sites to see: Wang's Courtyard, Underground Castle and surrounding village and the Mianshan mountains with its temples. 

Our attention was drawn to Mianshan through several notes written by travellers on the walls of the Harmony Guesthouse in Pingyao where we stayed. It is not in the Lonely Planet. So, we hired a car and a driver for a day and went there. Most likely the best part of the day was the hike up the winding Qixian Canyon on small wodden ladders and suspension bridges with its waterfalls. There are several impressive temples in the mountains (which we, unfortunately, could not see because of the fog) like the Dragon Head Temple, the 13-storey Dailuo Palace and the 1,700 year old Cloud Peak Temple built into a huge cave. More information about Mianshan can be found on http://mianshan.tripdv.com/. A map of the area is here http://www.cnsanjia.com/images/guidemap1.jpg. - Maybe worthwhile to be added to the Lonely Planet travel guide...

Superstars in Datong

What do you do on a Saturday night in Datong, a small coal mining town (population 1.1M based on Lonely Planet and 3.1M based on Wikipedia) in the province Shanxi? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datong - You go to hang-out on Hongqi Square in the centre and play ball, kick the shuttle cock with your foot or you jump the rope listening to loud techno music. A 100 metres further down the road you find the (public) karaoke stage surrounded by food stalls, clothes sellers and other street vendors. 

We weren't watching Chinese (mostly men) sing not familiar Chinese songs for very long until we were asked by the elegantly (shiny black and white leather shoes and a pink shirt) dressed presenter to come on stage and dance for everyone. We must have ended on nearly everyone's phone photo gallery that evening. (Well, and everyday thereafter people came to ask if they can take a photo with us.)

People in Datong have been very friendly. We have met a girl leaning out of a taxi's window shouting "Hello! Welcome to Datong!", waitresses advising us to order less because it is going to be too much and the taxi driver buying us ice cream on the way back into town. 

Coincidently we have discovered one of the finest restaurants in Datong called "Feeling" (near Huayan Temple). We have enjoyed two evening meals there with crispy chicken (served with its head), dumplings (a local specialty) and "Sugar Fire" pie (a sweet pie with dried fruits and nuts; my absolute favourite). - I suggest to have this added to the Lonely Planet guide. 

The city is growing rapidly. The Hutong-style city center is being re-build from scratch and lots of new apartment blocks are raising - probably for the next one million inhabitants. There seem to be very few cars on the wide avenues. But 2-3 lanes in each direction will be able to accomodate more cars for the middle class in the future. - Driving is "Southern Italian"-style. Red traffic lights are ignored, arbitrarily changing lanes is common, cars, scooters, bicycles mix with buses and pedestrians. 

Oh, and yes, we have visited the Hanging Monastery and the Yungang Caves. The latter is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with rock-cut architecture and Buddhist scultures. (Really nice!) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yungang_Grottoes

Wagon 3, Seat 83 - Train K43 BeiJing to DaTong

At 10:55 on Saturday morning we were leaving from Beijing Railway Station to our next destination, Datong. Getting into the station building through the security screening and to the platform passing the ticket check went surprisingly smooth given the thousands of Chinese travellers heading the same way. 

Apart from two other foreigners, our wagon is cramped with Chinese travellers, sitting in rows of 5 seats, often double occupied by mothers with their children or standing in the aisle. There is at least 150 of them - rounded up guess, given the sign above the door showing a capacity of 118 people in the wagon. 

The tables are full of food and the overhead compartments of large size luggages. When not eating, most Chinese sleep or just sit patiently without saying anything. Some fiddle around with their phones, play cards or smoke at the end of the corridor near the exit. Regularly a vendor is passing through with a narrow cart carefully navigating around people's legs and selling packaged, cooked food, fruits, snacks or soft drinks. (Seeing the ice cream, I am reminded that I have learnt yesterday from reading a book review in The Beijinger magazine: Chinese like to eat everything on sticks. Yes, it seems to be true. Even sausage on a stick.) 

It would be good to know at what time we arrive at our destination. (Unfortunately, we did not ask when purchasing the ticket. I guess we were so surprised about the super cheap price of 54 RMB per ticket.) The train schedule on the wall, where only the word "time table" in the header is translated into English, shows the route of 20-25 trains. Though knowing the train number and comparing the Chinese characters of our destination on the ticket, helps to identify that the arrival is planned for 17:09. 

Finally, arrived. On time. 

Beijing

Beijing, a set on Flickr.

Central Mongolia and Gobi Desert

Leaving the Eastern European style capital, we have glimpsed some of the vast and open lands of Central Mongolia and the Gobi Desert. The overwhelming impression was of space, scarcity and nomadic life. The latter, I  think, being the most unique feature of the country. 

Over 10 days, driving mostly on bumpy dirt roads with a Russian minivan (but without the usually unevitable break down) and averaging 30-50 km/h, good progress given the road conditions, we were driving about 1,900 km. We went from green landscapes towards browner and dustier lands. 

Life is rough outside the capital and especially in the desert. It requires experience to manage around so much land, livestock and sky and so few people, water and infrastructure. 

Each day, our routine was breakfast, driving, lunch, driving, visiting a site, arrive at ger camp and have dinner. On our tour we have visited Nomad families, monasteries, spectacular landscapes and small, soviet-built towns. We also rode a horse, a camel and climbed the highest sand dune in Mongolia (200 m).

Staying with Nomad families in their gers, we have had the chance to experience a little of their life:

• Watching the nomadic life around us
• Drinking  fermented horse or camel milk (airag) and salty milk tea
• Tasting dried yoghurt and soft or dried cheese
• Baking fresh bread in a pot
• Passing around the sniff box in the welcome ritual and drinking vodka
• Milking the goats
• Dividing a slaughtered goat and family dinner
• Building a ger
• Calling the owner of the petrol station to have him open it up

And then, we drove and drove, bounced around the van's back, until we arrived back in UB.