Xi’an today is the capital of Shaanxi Province and was the first ancient imperial capital of China, having been the seat of more than 13 feudal dynasties, including the Western Zhou, Qin, Western Han, and Tang. Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, and the founder of the Qin Dynasty, conceived and built the Terracotta Army as part of his mausoleum that we had just seen a portion of. The Shaanxi History Museum was constructed in 1983 and opened to the public in 1991. It contains a massive collection of 370,000 precious relics. Located near the Terracotta Warrior site, (see blog 14), it is one of the first huge state museums with modern facilities in China and one of the largest. Of course we had to see it.

Where is your great-granny’s Tang Dynasty vase?

A cool looking golden dragon.

Now unless you are looking for a replica of your great-great-grandmother’s thousand-year-old Tang dynasty vase that you broke, or you happen to be an archaeologist searching for some bit of information or a relic that was created 2000 years ago, many parts of a museum like this can be seen quickly. I don’t mean to underplay the importance of this amazing collection, but quite honestly once you’ve seen 15 beautiful ancient pots, the next 30 are not nearly as interesting. On the other hand, you never know what you’re going to find that might strike your interest, so we walked the aisles and read the placards, many of which were in English.

Pottery unicorn, Northern Wei Dynasty

For your interest and your education, we offer you here a random selection of some of the amazing items that caught our attention, some more amazing than others. After all, it was here that the historical Silk Road began before it wound its way across China and into Europe and India, crossing the seemingly impassable Taklamakan and Gobi deserts and the treacherous mountains of Tajikistan, a tortuous route that we had just spent a year and a half following.

Start of the Silk Road

Gilded statue of Maitreya, Ming Dynasty

The Silk Road derives its name from the lucrative trade in silk carried along its length in the beginning of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE). Though silk was the major trade item exported from China, many other luxury goods like tea, jade, fur, lacquerware and porcelain traveled towards Europe while  gold, silver, ivory, gems, glass, spices, pomegranates, carrots and “heavenly” horses (from Kyrgyzstan) were brought from the West. Most caravans only traveled short distances and then returned to the starting point. In addition to economic trade, the Silk Road was a route for cultural exchanges among the civilizations along its network and included religions, philosophies, technologies and unfortunately diseases, most notably the plague. It played a significant role in the development of the civilizations of China, Korea, Japan, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Europe.

Cambulac, the new capital of Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan’s grandson

White glazed porcelain pillow with a dark design of a beauty, Jin Period

Ever since 1220, the Mongols, led by Genghis Khan, had considered Karakorum on the Mongolian Steppe to be their capital. His grandson, Kublai Khan, later decided to move his capital from Karakorum to a new location further south, deep in conquered Chinese territory. In the multilingual Mongol Empire, this new fortified city had several names. The Chinese called it Ta-tu, Marco Polo refered to it as Cambulac. Today, the city is called Beijing! It became the new eastern terminus of the Silk Road.

Camel, painted pottery, Tang Dynasty

As a young man, Marco Polo accompanied his father Niccolò and uncle Maffeo, both merchants from Venice, Italy all the way to Cambulac (Beijing). In a travelogue from stories told by Marco Polo, Rustichello da Pisa describes Polo’s travels between 1271 and 1295 through Central Asia to Asia including his many years at the court of Kublai Khan and in the end, his return via a sea route to accompany a princess to the Middle East. 

The Travels of Marco Polo

The Travels of Marco Polo became a hugely successful book and undoubtedly inspired future explorers, maybe even Christopher Columbus. The Silk Road’s name was actually coined by German geographer Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1877.

The details of the sculptors’ artistry were amazing.

In the late 15th century, the discovery of a safer sea route from Europe to Asia dealt a damaging blow to the overland Silk Road trade. With less cost, harassment and danger, many goods and materials that the Silk Road could not transfer were conveyed through the sea route. Today, the dusty trails once followed by long strings of camels and horses are mostly paved and the caravansaries where traveling merchants could take refuge from the weather and bandits have now been converted to hotels or lie in various states of restoration or ruin. Oases towns like Khiva, Samarkand, Bukhara and Kashgar, once important stops on the Silk Road, are now major cities.

Reaching Xi’an was a bookmark in our goal to follow the Silk Road, but our second objective was to drive, wheels on the ground, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. The shores of the Yellow Sea were still a few adventures away. We will continue to followed a revised Silk Road, heading north to the city of Pingyao.

The Terracotta Warrior Army in the ancient city of Xi’an, China is sometimes called the Eighth Wonder of the World. We have all heard about it, maybe have seen pictures or read about it, but in fact, standing in front of it is totally astounding and amazing and nearly beyond imagination. We were looking down at what was an underground mausoleum with as many as 8,000 individual soldiers, horses, chariots, musicians, dancers, acrobats, and anyone who might have been of service or comfort to Emperor Qin Shi Huang in his life after death. Why?

Qin Shi Huang, First Emperor of China
(259 BC to 210 BC)

An estimate of 8000 soldiers are lined up in military formation.

3,000 years ago the Chinese commonly believed that there was life after death (Buddhists believe in reincarnation). Hey, maybe there is, since no one has died and come back to tell us about it. It could be a comforting feeling. Often wives, soldiers and personal servants were buried with a ruler or other important dignitaries to serve him or her in life after death. They were either killed or committed suicide. While it was considered an honor to be buried with the deceased, there was growing objection to the brutal loss of human life. Understandably, some people particularly didn’t want to be buried with their dead ruler. Slowly the custom changed to bury the dead with small clay figurines and later, a larger life-size replica as a substitute for the living. Emperor Qin Shi Huang took the custom a step further.

Life after Death

With his life after death in mind, Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the creation of his mausoleum and the surrounding areas that included the Terracotta Warrior Army to serve him.

According to forensic face recognition technology no two warriors are the same.

The project took 36 years and consumed the conscripted labor of over 700,000 men and women.

Qin Shi Huang lived from 259 BC to 210 BC. At thirteen, he became King of Qin and later, at age 38, China’s first Emperor after conquering the Warring States to unify all of China. He was the founder of the Qin Dynasty. During his reign, he also started a weights and numbering system, a monetary system, built roads and ordered the first stage of The Great Wall to be constructed.

Now you have to imagine that his “army” was buried completely out of sight. Three deep pits, some over 62 m, (200 ft.) long, were excavated to a depth of 5 m, (16 ft.). The floors of these pits were made of compacted earth and paved with bricks. The Terracotta Warriors and other figures were placed in perfect order on these paved hallways. All were facing east toward the China that the Emperor had created.

The Terracotta Warrior Army

Thick walls separated individual hallways and were designed to hold massive beams that were then covered with heavy fiber woven mats, followed by layers of earth and soil, and planted to totally disguise that there was ever anything beneath them. As soon as the Terracotta Assembly was finished, compete with horses, chariots and attending servants, the sloped roads leading into the pits were closed and sealed forever. While there are records about the mausoleum and its construction, no records have been found about the Warrior Army. It was not until 1974 when farmers digging a well discovered the first well-preserved terra-cotta head and called authorities.

Did the artists model these soldiers from real people or was it their artistic ability to create so many different looking statues?

It is difficult to even imagine the work that has gone on to unearth and reconstruct these amazing figures, often from just broken pieces. Some of the brilliant colors including reds and greens, blues and pinks remained quite visible. Each warrior weighed about 600 to 650 lbs. and stood over 6 ft tall. Face cognition experts have determined that no two faces are identical. Some were armed with bronze weapons including spears, axes, daggers and curved knives. Others held crossbows and quivers of arrows. All weapons were deadly sharp, a demonstration of an advanced level of metallurgy.

The following images of what we saw can in no way encompass the immensity of this discovery. According to China Daily, over 500 million visitors traveled to the ancient capital city of Xi’an over the past five years. This leads us to make a point: If you want to see the Terracotta Army, fly there and take a tour—-don’t drive there! As an option, check out Secrets of the Dead – China’s Terracotta Warriors on YouTube. 

Arriving on the outskirts of Xi’an, home of the famous Terracotta Warriors and the official eastern end of The Silk Road, we should not have been surprised to find a sprawling city of snarling traffic and bustling crowds. Finding a hotel for Green with safe parking for us was a challenge, but Green had received some possibilities with phone numbers from Lisa Li at the main NAVO office in Chengdu. It was raining, which made maneuvering in rush hour madness all the more exciting—was it always rush hour in Chinese cities? Our twin Fiamm air horns came in handy. Loud horns are an international language.

Giant Wild Goose Pagoda’s Dancing Fountains 

At the large park behind the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda, fountains were dancing to music.

Safely parked, we grabbed our umbrellas and headed for town. First stop was the Giant Wild Goose Pagoda that was built in 652 by Buddhist Xuanzang, a translator and traveler. It has become an important landmark in Xi’an. On the other side of the Pagoda, we came to a beautiful park with spectacular fountains choreographed to music. The rain was ignored.

The Nanshaomen Night Market was tempting us

Cute little baby squid on a barbecued skewer. Had to try one!

Dinner was on our mind, so we headed over to one of the many popular night markets, I think it was the Nanshaomen Night Market.

Being at the start of the original Silk Road and near the center of Eastern China, Xi’an has been a melting pot for many of the great Chinese cuisines ranging from Cantonese to spicy Sichuan styles. The choice was a bit overwhelming; from kabobs, noodles to sweet breads, steamed dumplings and pigs’ feet if you wanted to chew on something. If you have never been to a Chinese night market, please check out the photos. We have tried to include captions, but some of the foods were hard to identify. To list the dishes available would be pointless. If you can’t find what you imagined, you will probably find something even better.

Having eaten more that we should have, we strolled back to our parking lot-home, wondering what else this historic city had to offer. Yes, tomorrow we would see the amazing Terracotta Warriors.

A “Phantom City” across the Yellow River.

Leaving Xiahe and the Labrang Tibetan Monastery, the scenery varied from terraced fields to more of those massive apartment buildings that appeared to be unoccupied. Road signs were a continuous amusement. Outside of Pingliang we were reminded that if there was any flat place bigger than half a basketball court, someone had planted something. By luck we managed to exit the toll road and found our way into a small rural village where we pulled off into a wide spot alongside the road for night. Quiet but raining, so poor Green opted to sleep in the cab again.

Odd Chinese Habit

Locals came out to inspect our vehicle and immediately wanted to clamber into the camper while we were eating dinner. Quickly, we pulled up the electric step. By now even Green was tired of explaining that this was our private home and we were not comfortable having so many visitors inside the camper. We were still amazed that this was apparently perfectly normal to do. One old woman was very upset “about our rudeness” and for quite some time, lamented loudly before retreating into the pouring rain. 

Bin County Cave Temple

As we mentioned in our last Blog, we had not marked the Bin County Cave Temple on our maps, but when you have a guide as knowledgeable as Green, you listen to her advice. (Maybe she just wanted to see it!?) It turned out that the Bin County Cave Temple was an important stop on the Silk Road we were following. Started in the 5^th century and completed in the 7^th to the 10^th centuries, it is located in the town of Chengguan, near Chang’an, the capital of Tang Dynasty, and contains the largest clay sculptured Buddhist figure in the area. Buddhism was introduced into China from India, possibly along the Silk Road.

The big clay sculptured Buddhist figure is the largest in the region.

In total there were 116 caves constructed on the sandstone cliffs that rose above the Jing River Valley. The caves were divided into five groups: Great Buddha Cave, Thousand-Buddha Cave, Arhat Cave, Monk’s Quarter Cave and Zhangba Buddha Cave, with a total of 466 niches and over 1,980 statues. Many of the caves were reached only by precarious foot holds carved in the sheer cliff. No, we did not see those!

Honestly, we were getting a little “Buddhaed-Out. We did find a reasonable hotel for Green, which she deserved, and there was good parking of us. It was Green’s turn to cook, she loved our kitchen, and that poor chicken we bought a few days ago met its final end. Green believed that eating the head would make you smart, so we gladly obliged her and the feet were apparently a delicacy in China as well. Our next destination was the much anticipated city of Xi’an, home of the famous Terracotta Warriors and the official end of The Silk Road.

After our exciting drive, following muddy switchbacks down the mountain in the dark to Xiahe, we were just happy that Green knew a pleasant hotel, the Tara Guesthouse, she had stayed at before and it had a quiet courtyard for us to park and camp. In the morning, we were a 5-minute walk to the entrance of the Labrang Monastery.

Labrang Tibetan Buddhist Monastery

While founded in 1709 and expanded greatly in the following centuries, much of the Labrang monastery was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution but then rebuilt from the 1980’s onward.

Monks live off donations.

Founded in 1709, Labrang is one of Tibetan Buddhism’s most important monasteries outside the Tibetan Autonomous Region. The formal name is Genden Shédrup Dargyé Trashi Gyésu khyilwé Ling or in Tibetan དགེ་ལྡན་བཤད་སྒྲུབ་དར་རྒྱས་བཀྲ་ཤིས་གྱས་སུ་འཁྱིལ་བའི་གླིང༌།. As a popular choice for many Tibetan monks to study at this influential Buddhist monastic university, the monastery has attracted monks from all over the Tibetan plateau. Labrang Monastery is also an important gathering place for many annual religious festivals. Believers on a pilgrimage visit in an effort for rewards in the next life (they believe in reincarnation) and to pray for their health, which could explain why we saw many older Tibetans walking with canes.

Yellow Hat Sect or Gelug School

The Yellow Hat Sect of Tibetan Buddhism, also called the Gelug School, has its own history and background. His Holiness, The Dalai Lama, belongs to this school. The yellow hats refer to the elaborate crescent-shaped hats worn by monks during ceremonies.

This monk definitely knew about modern technology.

Children enter the monastery at a very young age.

Our guide, Green, had studied Tibetan Buddhism and was a wealth of information, but for us, it is an extremely complicated religion. I could imagine it would seem equally baffling if a Tibetan Buddhist visited the Vatican in Rome. We could only appreciate the architecture and the general feeling of the Monastery, with its beautifully carved entrances, pagodas, temples and the amazing art work inside the temples. In a way, we felt we were actually in Tibet.

While we would have liked to linger longer in this peaceful town, being on a strict timetable, we soon had to continue towards our next destination. We headed toward the Bin County Cave Temple. It was not on our “Must see in China” list, but Green insisted we had stop there.

After our fresh noodle dinner we spent a quiet night in the hotel parking lot. In the morning we met Green in her room and did some email before heading towards our next stop, Xiahe in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. It is famous for its Labrang monastery, the largest edifice of the Yellow Hat sect of Tibetan Buddhism and home to the largest number of monks outside the Tibet Autonomous Region.

Yellow River and Phantom Cities

What an intriguing face.

There was a long way around on a major highway, but our GPSs suggested a shorter more interesting route which still lay within the Chinese government allowed travel itinerary variance (or so we assumed). Relatively flat in the beginning, we could see some of the “phantom cities” covered by 60 Minutes on television. Huge multi-story apartment buildings sprouting immense cranes on top but no one around to live in them. In the small towns we could see what appeared to be perfectly good buildings being demolished, maybe to make room for another “phantom” apartment building? We stopped to buy some fresh chicken and cheese, and having seen yaks in the fields, Gary was hoping for some delicious yak butter like the type we enjoyed in Tuva (Russia) along the Mongolian border. As usual, people were fascinated by our truck and Green kept them from climbing in. They were all very friendly, but just didn’t realize that The Turtle V was our private home. 

Salar Moslem and Tibetan Buddhist Villages

Old Tibetan Women were mending a bell pull rope at their village temple.

After crossing the Yellow River, we came to a small village where people were busy thrashing and winnowing two types of grains we could not identify. We stopped to take some photos and convinced Green that we really needed to walk around in a couple of villages and see how rural Chinese lived. It was a great experience. Salar Moslem (who speak a Turkic language) and Tibetan Buddhist live in separate villages. Homes were very simple, at least from the outside. Several walls were used for drying hand-patted cow dung that must be used for fuel. One group of older Tibetan women was busy mending a pull rope for a beautiful giant bell in their temple. They all had a smile for us.

We passed a large hall lined with dozens of prayer wheels that people would spin as they walked by. Tibetan prayer wheels (called Mani wheels by the Tibetans) are devices for spreading spiritual blessings and well-being. Rolls of thin paper, imprinted with many, many copies of the mantra (prayer) “Om Mani Padme Hum”, printed in an ancient Indian script or in Tibetan script, are wound around an axle in a protective container and spun around and around. Typically, larger decorative versions of the syllables of the mantra are also carved on the outside cover of the wheel. Tibetan Buddhists believe that saying this mantra, out loud or silently to oneself, invokes the powerful benevolent attention and blessings of Chenrezig, the embodiment of compassion. Green had led tours in Tibet, and being a serious Buddhist, was happy to explain all of this to us.

Rural Roads are much more interesting than Super Highways

The whole process of threshing and winnowing is very labor intensive.

This was a part of China we really wanted to see, but most of the time we had been trapped on the super highways like rats in a tunnel. Climbing into the mountains, we were entertained by the road signs. Images of Buddhas had been painted on rock faces. Lots of Tibetan prayer flags told us we were getting close to the 3,643 m pass, (11,952 ft). Herds of sheep grazed in the tundra-like valley with many white yurts just visible in the background. The “short-cut” suggested by both our Garmin GPSs was very much under construction, like dirt, gravel and mud. We had just aired the tires down when we came to a total stop. An overloaded truck carrying a mountain of bricks was bogged and a line of cars was stopped behind it. We could smell the clutch of the stuck truck burning up, wheels spinning in the mud.

An overloaded truck gets stuck in the mud

We pulled out an overloaded truck full of bricks that got stuck in the mud.

Of course we could help with all our chains, tow straps and winch, but before we dug all that out and got it all muddy, the first thing we asked was, “Do you have a tow strap”. If they had one, and they did, then next step was for them to hook it on to their vehicle, wherever they choose. The next and easiest step was to attach it to one of our tow loops. They figured this out and to the relief of them and the line of cars waiting behind them, we drug them out of the bog. Their bumper came off in the process but they were happy.

With this delay it was dark as we made it down a long series of switchbacks to the town of Xiahe and pulled into the parking lot of a cute hotel Green had stayed at once before. It was her turn to cook, and she meticulously prepared a delicious meal introducing us to lotus root. It was nice to have a kitchen big enough for two people to work in at the same time, and I got to relax after our interesting drive over the mountains. In the morning we could walk into the Labrang monastery.

Getting a late start from the end of the Great Wall of China, we were back on the monotonous highway. Looking for a place to camp, we saw a side road and followed it to a field with hundreds of bags of just-harvested onions, but no one around. We guessed that trucks would be coming in the morning to start loading but it was big and flat, and it had not started to rain yet. We were home. Not our favorite camp, but a memorable (smelly) one. Yes, we snatched a couple of onions laying loose on the ground.

Biking around China for Peace

In the next town we saw a car wash and asked if we could get some water. The only faucet was inside

A parting shot with the Chinese biker promoting Peace.

the garage so it was bucket-time again. Turning off on Hwy 227, the scenery got more interesting as we headed into the Quilian Mountain Range. It seemed strange to come upon a large parking area right next to the road, and even stranger to see a huge billboard advertising motorhomes. We had not seen a single travel trailer or motorhome since entering China. It was a perfect place to stop for lunch. That’s when this friendly and adventurous looking guy peddled up on his overloaded mountain bike. Through our resident translator, Green, we learned that he was riding across all of China to promote peace. He carried a long cloth scroll on which he asked everyone he was happy to meet to write something. Of course we did. He was a real “Overlander”.

Playing Chicken on National Highways

Climbing over a 3,685 m pass, (12,089 ft), we passed through a couple of small towns. Traffic was hilarious or insane. The game is: “Yes I see you. Yes, I know I am in the wrong lane, but I know you are expecting me to come anyway.” It was a relief to arrive at the Olive Branch hotel in Xining. There was good off-street parking for us and a great noodle restaurant just down the street. There was also a KFC outlet, but handmade fresh noodles will win out every time. I was actually getting the hang of chop sticks.

It was late when we wound our way through the dark streets of Jiayuguan (Gansu Province) to find the official end of The Great Wall of China. A really full moon, the biggest and roundest of the year called Harvest Moon, lit the way as we arrived at an empty parking lot with a sign to the Great Wall entrance, a perfect place for Green to set up her tent. A little store was just about to close but we managed to grab a couple of cold beers. In the morning, a few vegetable and fruit vendors had set out their offerings.

The Great Wall of China

No matter how many photos you have seen, standing on the Great Wall of China is an original experience.

The Great Wall was an elaborate military defense system, including forts, platforms and watchtowers. Started in the 7^th century, it eventually stretched 21,196 kilometers, (13,170 miles), across 15 modernnprovinces of today’s China. It has lasted over 2,000 years and is considered one of the greatest cultural and architectural miracles in the history of world civilization. Building materials varied according to topography and what was available. Wood, brick, stone and sometimes just willow twigs were inserted into layers of coarse clay. Natural cliffs were incorporated. Of course, one of the principal functions of the Wall was to protect the Western border of the Chinese Empire and the caravans traveling along the Silk Road.

The view was getting better with every step. Just cut through the smog!

As we started up the Wall to the top, we were counting steps. I think I lost count after about 500. From the watchtowers it would be easy to see invaders many miles away especially in ancient times without smog. At the very end of this restored section, actually a rock ridge, peak-bagger Monika climbed to the top. Lovers sealed their vows with a small padlock on the chain handrail and presumably threw the keys into the canyon below. There was thankfully an easier way down, following a long winding flagstone path.

Military fortress at Jiayu Pass

Leaving the West Gate entrance, the caravans headed for the treacherous Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts.

The large fortress protecting Jiayu Pass was built near Jiayuguan, a small town that became a prosperous center for the production of silk. At the large parking lot at the entrance of these historic grounds we quickly learned to always bring our passports as the folks at ticket counters and later security guards inspected them. First we visited the informative museum before walking up more stairs to the actual fortress. It encompasses 40’100 square yards (33,529 m2) and had a complex defensive system with an inner city with two gates, a central area with many buildings including pretty temples with fierce looking monster guardians, an outer city with two more gates, and finally a moat. Along the walls were watchtowers, turrets and cannons.

Last Outpost before the treacherous Gobi and Taklamakan Deserts

We would see the Great Wall of China two more times before our wheels touched the Yellow Sea of the Pacific Ocean.

Caravans coming from all four directions stopped here to trade. The General’s Fortress (as it is sometimes called) was the last outpost of the Chinese Empire for anyone heading west along the treacherous Gobi and Taklamakan deserts of the Silk Road. What trepidations they must have had leaving this haven! And what a relief others must have felt arriving safely after months of hardship and worries. Just having driven through those two treacherous deserts in a modern expedition truck with air conditioning we were in awe as we walked through the thick tunnel wall to see nothing but waterless wasteland. Camels were waiting for (tourist) cargo. One could only imagine the sounds and smells of the masses of men and animals in the mist of bartering and exchange of goods, news and ideas.

Leaving the oasis of Turpan, we were back on the seemingly endless and quite boring toll highway along the northern edge of the Taklamakan desert. It felt like driving across Nevada. By late afternoon I was falling asleep. Then we saw it, an actual break in the fences and guardrails into the black rock desert of the southern Gashun Gobi Desert. An area, 1,295,000 km^2, (500,000 mi²), it is the fifth-largest desert in the world, stretching over 1,600 km (1,000 mi) from southwest to northeast and 800 km (500 mi) from north to south. Once an ancient inland sea, water now is almost nonexistent. Most of the topsoil has been blown away by the prevailing northwestern winds, leaving rocky mountains and stony plains devoid of vegetation.

Gashun Gobi Desert

This part of the treacherous Gashun Gobi Desert was one of our most memorable camps in China. Photo by Zhang Zhi Qiong aka Green

Seeing this break in the fence, we switched from highway to “off road” and drove about half a mile onto a flat plain of clean black gravel. We could see the curvature of the earth. Wild camping doesn’t get any better than this. It was magical. Green set up her cozy MSR tent and we prepared a great dinner. No sound of any kind and no light except for the stars and nearly a full Harvest moon. Green broke out some very special “moon cakes” to celebrate the beginning of the Chinese Moon Festival.

With an early start in the morning—we really could have stayed longer—we headed back on the endless highway and made a quick fuel stop. There were no “four star tourist toilets”, so we were introduced to the normal road stop commodes, always a bit shocking; basically filthy pits and holes in a cement floor if travelers made it that far. Even Green was a little disgusted.

Dunhuang, Gansu Province

By evening we had maneuvered into the pretty oasis city of Dunhuang, for centuries an important commercial center along the Silk Road and today, famous for its night market. After getting Green settled in a hotel where we could park for the night, we headed for the market which had a great food court. The market itself, geared mostly to Chinese tourists, was fun to wander through and we couldn’t resist buying a tiny souvenir.

Mogao Caves – Caves of the Thousand Buddhas

The main temple of the Mogao caves was beautifully restored and a great photo op.

In the morning, we slipped out of the city to visited the famous Mogao Caves, also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. Carved into the cliffs above the Dachuan River, they comprise the largest, most richly endowed, and longest used treasure house of Buddhist art in the world. They were first constructed in 366 AD and represent the greatest achievement of Buddhist art from the 4th to the 14th century. Situated at a strategic point along the Silk Route, at the crossroads of trade as well as religious, cultural and intellectual influences, the 492 cells and cave sanctuaries in Mogao are famous for their statues and wall paintings, spanning 1,000 years of Buddhist art. They have become one of the three most famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China.

Taoist Abbot Wang Yuanlu discovered the Library Cave at the Mogao Caves Buddhist Center.
Photo 1900 (open source)

In 1900, the Taoist Abbot Wang Yuyanlu discovered a sealed cave (11^th century) with up to 50,000 manuscripts in several ancient languages, now known as the Library Cave. The contents of the library were subsequently dispersed around the world and the largest collections are now found in Beijing, London, Paris and Berlin, and the International Dunhuang Project. It is one of the greatest treasure troves of ancient documents ever found. While early 20th century European explorers acquired many manuscripts, wall murals and other treasures for researchers, collectors and museums much to the chagrin of today’s China government but thanks to them, these precious historical documents were also saved as at that time, China showed no interest. Luckily, Mogao escaped any damage during the Cultural Revolution.

Not being Buddhist ourselves, we could only marvel at the caves and sculptures and the massive effort it has taken to restore them. Now we were looking forward to our next stop, the western end of The Great Wall of China.

After a short drive from the Gaochang ruins we arrived in the pleasant city of Turpan. Turpan is China’s “Death Valley”. Part of the Turpan basin is 154m, (505 feet), below sea level, making it the second lowest depression on earth, just after the Dead Sea. It is the hottest spot in China. In July and August, temperatures soar above 40°C and even 50°C, (120°F), forcing the local population to sleep on their roofs.

We arrived in the heat of a summer afternoon to visit the Turpan Museum, a wonderful collection of over 7,000 exhibits including cultural relics with examples of pottery, bronze copper and textiles dating back to the Silk Road civilizations of the Greek-Roman, Ancient China, Persian-Arabian, and the Nomadic peoples of the Eurasian Steppe.

To give cooling shade during the intense summers, many streets in the nearby villages are covered with grapevine trellises. Despite the heat, the ground water and fertile soil of the Turpan depression has made this a veritable oasis in the desert. An amazing sophisticated irrigation system known as the Karez brings irrigation water from the surrounding mountain ranges from the annual melting of the snow. The Karez System consists of wells, underground channels, ground canals, and small reservoirs, which use the natural slope of the terrain to sustain the water flow and guide the water right to the plants while minimizing evaporation. California could learn something here. Just under 1,000 canals with a total length of about 5,000 km (3,100 mi), the system is considered one of the three great ancient projects in China along with the Great Wall and the Grand Canal.

These unique buildings are where grapes and other fruit are dried, out of the direct sunlight.

Farming in the Turpan Basin is particularly famous for its fruit production, especially grapes. Because of the dry and hot conditions, the fruits grown in the depression have very high concentrations of sugar. They are traditionally processed by drying in open drying barns. The cultivated fruit include mulberry, peach, apricot, apple, pomegranate, pears, fig, and more than 100 varieties of grapes.

Green, (our trusted guide), was good at keeping us away from tourist traps, but the Grape Valley Amusement Park and the annual Grape Festival in a nearby village sounded interesting. Indeed, we arrived just in time to watch a talented group of musicians and folk dancers. Monika was invited to join them while I was busy taking photos. There were small shops selling souvenirs and special musical instruments. We really had to laugh at all the signs, especially those about the bathrooms. You must read them! (see photos).

This friendly farmer suggested we should buy a particular raisin because they were particularly healthy for “old” folks. Hm.

Walking back to our truck, which was probably parked illegally, we were admiring the beautiful art on the doors of homes when a man approached us and insisted we come in for tea. We accepted and he humbly explained to our guide that he, (obviously Muslim because of the area), just wanted to tell us and show us he and his family were not terrorists. He gave us an interesting tour of his home, including his vineyard, his stable of goats, and his irrigation channel that was most likely part of the Karez System. We met his mother and his wife and were treated to some appreciated tea and fruit. It was a refreshing experience and we thanked him many times.

Back on the main promenade there were many stands selling the fresh and dried fruits of the area, including piles of sweet raisins and grapes. The first place we stopped, the owner, a gregarious guy, also invited us in to see how the grapes are hung and naturally air dried, a very interesting process. He explained that one kind of particularly big and wonderful tasting raisins would be most beneficial to us and when questioned why, he smiled and said that variety was good for “old” folks. Hm. We were good customers and stocked up on several raisin varieties for the rest of the trip and gifts, knowing that we would never see any better.