YuYuan Garden in central Shanghai, 31May

Friday, 31 May.  In the gentle rain, we visited the magnificent YuYuan Garden in the heart of Shanghai.  Built about 400 years ago, by a private individual, it was just a glorious spot in the city.

The master's study

A typical "framed" view within the Garden

  

Many beautiful rocks throughout the Garden

Just a typical "street" underfoot in the garden.

A Garden gatepost - magnificent!

Yes, let's meet at Starbucks!

Some of our tour group.

Shanghai Museum, and the Bund, 31May2013

Shanghai Museum
We spent a few hours at the lovely Shanghai Museum.

Lots of young people asked to have photos taken with us.  One young girl latched onto tour member Birgit, and accompanied her for some time, while reading the English language signage to Birgit so that Birgit could help her with her English!

It appeared that they both had fun with this.  
Birgit is in the red top.

I actually purchased here a small, 8x10" painting of a fisherman that I like.  I think it will be a good souvenir hanging in my office at home.

The BUND:
We strolled on the Bund, for just an hour or so, in a gentle rain. The Bund is a waterfront area in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road, which runs along the western bank of the Huangpu river. It is, in addition to a major tourist stop, a center of economic activity in China.

The BUND follows the near side of the Huangpu river
in the center of this photo.

The eastern side of the Huangpu river,
with ALL NEW construction since 1990!
It was all farmland before that time.

We couldn't see the top
of the famous sphere...

My wife Sharon, with umbrella!

This was our view on the foggy, rainy day when we visited.

Oh, yes.  Looking for an ATM!  Shanghai

Fly Urumqi to Shanghai. 30May, Thursday

We had a bit of a schedule mix-up, and late flight change by China South airlines, so there was rather a mad scramble to get through the several layers of security getting out of the Urumqi airport  and on the way to Shanghai.  We made it by the skin of our teeth.  Our Uigyr guide Noor told us that the security in this airport is the tightest in the country, if not the world.  I gathered this is due to the ethnic tensions between this region and the Chinese government, but I'm not sure about this.

Scrambling for boarding passes.

The final security check (of four!).

It's a four hour flight, across the country from west (Urumqi) to east (Shanghai).

Meeting our Shanghai guide, Maggie.

Lodging in the  Xuhui International Executive Suites Shanghai

Xuhui International Executive Suites Shanghai Hotel

Malaysian family that I got to meet and
speak with in the hotel.
They had two sons with them, and
they all spoke some English.

I went for a stroll of several blocks on the street in front of the hotel in the evening, and was so overpowered by the sights and activities along the street, that I walked right by our hotel on my return. I became slightly disoriented, as I hadn't even been smart enough to pause and look at the front of our hotel before I walked away. The entry is actually off the street just a bit, with a low fence separating it from the sidewalk, so it wasn't hard to pass by.  The street was full of shops, of EVERY variety, vendors cooking on charcoal pots, children playing, lovers strolling, bicyclers, vehicles of every size, shape and purpose, etc, etc.

Street food: Shanghai

Street scene: Shanghai

Urumqi. Heavenly Lake. 29May, Wednesday. Traveler's Tummy arrives.

Urumqi.  Heavenly Lake. 29May, Wednesday.  Traveler's Tummy arrives.  

We lodged at the Bing Tuan Grand Hotel in Urumqi, near the grand international bazaar.  We had a fascinating (and difficult) time trying to buy a cold beer in the lobby bar.  Turns out, they had no cold beer, just room temp beer.  And the staff spoke no English (as we spoke no Turkic or Chinese).  Sign language wasn't quite enough.

The Bazaar was overwhelming to me (and I acknowledge that I am not much of a shopper).  Hundreds of booths, and tables, on multiple floors, of multiple buildings, and I didn't begin to see the total bazar.  And at every turn, vendors wanted your attention and wanted to negotiate.  I needed some free space to just browse, and ask my own questions.  And how would I carry this stuff home anyway?  

Heavenly Lake is at about 6,500 feet elevation, and was a 2.5 hour bus ride from Urumqi (on 3 buses - our tour bus, bus #1 inside the park, then bus #2 making the final winding approach to the lake.)

Most of our group (including myself) were dealing with some degree of intestinal distress by this point in the trip.  I ate no food this day.  I gave serious thought to whether I was wise to embark on a long bus ride.  I made it!  Once I got back to the hotel, about 4:30pm, I went to bed, and slept through dinner time.  Wise move.

The impressive entry gate to the bus terminal, enroute to Heavenly Lake.

A bit of the winding road to the lake.

We rode the tour boat around the lake.
About a 30 minute ride.

An example of one of several temples located
 on the hillsides around the lake.

Turpan. Grape Growing home visit - Raisins! 28May, Tuesday Depart for Urumqi. Grand Bazaar.

In Turpan, famous for it's grapes, we were able to visit a grape grower's home, which was a wonderful stop.  About 30% of their grape harvest is made into grapes, and about 60% into white wine.  Turpan supplies the entire country with grapes.  Turpan is rescued from its desert locale, which surrounds it, by the system of Karez (hand-dug water tunnels).

The grape growers garden, with a Karez channel at our feet.

A fine array of raisins, with fresh baked bread
(which was delicious).  Judy, John T, and Birgit.

The opportunity to
buy some raisins
(which many of us did).

A grape drying room (in which raisins are made!).

A typical local "pick up truck".
We saw variations on this vehicle in very city.

Arrive Turpan. Donkey Carts. Monastery. Karez tour. 27May, Monday.

As we landed in the small airport in Turpan (Tulufan Airport), at mid-day, we discovered that we were the only passengers in the terminal. As I understood our guide, there are no flights to the east from Turpan. You can only fly west to Urumqi, 145 miles to the west. I haven't verified this, but it does make one curious about the politics and business of the Uigyr (~wegur) region.

The Tulufan Airport, near Turpan.

We lodged in the Tulufan Huozhou Hotel in Turpan.

Tulufan Houzhou Hotel.
Note that they advertise 24 hour hot water!

Turpan is an old city with a long history. Traces have been found of humans living there, dating as far back as 6,000 years ago. The city was known as Gushi in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD); and in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), it got its name Turpan, which means 'the lowest place' in the Uygur language and 'the fertile land' in Turki. Lying in the Turpan Basin, the elevation of most of the places in the area is below 500 meters (1,640 feet). Turpan is the city with the lowest elevation in China.
Occupying an area of just over 6,000 square miles, Turpan City Prefecture is located to the southeast of Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The city belongs to Turpan Region together with Shanshan County and Tuokexun County. It has a population of 250,000, made up of 21 different nationalities. Among these the Uygurs account for over 70% of the total number.

The city, which is also known as Huo Zhou (a place as hot as fire), is the hottest place in China. The annual average temperature is 14C (57.2F). It is reckoned that there are 152 summer days on average, and 28 really broiling days with the temperature above 40C (104F). Although the high temperature can be oppressive people can also get some benefits from it. The abundant sunshine gives the melons and grapes ideal conditions to grow. The fruit here is widely known for its high sugar content, especially the grapes. The place is praised as the 'Hometown of Grapes' and the Grape Valley is a good place to enjoy the grapes of hundreds of varieties.

Aydingkol Lake, at the bottom of Turpan Basin, is the lowest point in the country of China (and third lowest in the world, after USA's Death Valley and the Dead Sea), and we saw this lake from a modest highway rest stop.

The white strip in the distance is the lake.
This is the tourist view of the salt lake.  The lack of amenities,
and the stack of used tires, paints the tourism scene!

(Some text courtesy of this tourism site.)

Donkey Carts: Apparently the donkey carts that we rode out in the desert as we visited the ancient mosque site are also used as taxis in the city, though I didn't witness this. They seemed quite unsafe to us out on the rough trail in the desert, but perhaps they'd be OK in the city.

The ancient mosque in the desert.

The infamous Donkey Cart.  Now picture this
 on deeply rutted road, with 10 people aboard..

The Karez Canals were a fascinating point on our tour of Turpan.

Karez systems are the crystallization of ancient people's diligence and intelligence. At its peak, this irrigation system exceeded 5,000 km (3,106 miles) and was also referred to as 'the underground Great Wall'. It is among the three ancient major irrigation projects with the other two being Ling Canal and Dujiangyan Irrigation Project.

Karez systems are the life source of Turpan. In a sense, without them, there would be no Turpan culture. According to records, the history of the karez in Xinjiang dates back to 103 B.C. Karezes have been found in Iran, the Sahara, etc., but the ones in Turpan are the most complete. Currently there are still over 400 systems.

Karez are very delicate irrigation systems made up of vertical wells, underground canals, above-ground canals and small reservoirs. Generally, a karez is 3 km (1.9 miles) with the longest being 20 to 30 km (12-19 miles) with several dozen vertical wells. Sometimes the number of vertical wells exceeds 300. Until today, the shortest karez found is only 30 meters (98 feet) long. The vertical wells are for ventilation, digging and maintenance of the karez. The bottoms of all the vertical wells are connected so that water can pass through. The underground canal is about 2 meters (6.5 feet) high and covered with earth to resist the heat. The surface canals, connected to the underground ones, are not more than 1 meter (3.2 feet) wide with trees planted on both sides to prevent evaporation.

Melting snow from the Tianshan Mountain is the water source of the karez. Water is collected by vertical wells and conducted by the underground canals to the oasis, where the water is held in the ground canals for irrigation. The vertical wells near the water source may be 100 meters (328 feet) deep while further downstream they are less than 10 meters (32.8 feet) deep.

Karez System is the  underground irrigation system. People use barrel to take out  water from the Karez. A karez reduces evaporation, avoids getting polluted and needs no other power equipment; it runs from high to low ground owing to gravity alone. Turban is the hottest place in China and the arid climate makes water all the more precious. A karez system helps to ideally solve this problem. The Karez also functions as the natural air conditioner for the locals because they can sit in one while chatting or doing some chores. When exhausted during the scorching weather, sit in a karez, pick some grapes as they hang over the vertical wells and savour their taste, you will be thoroughly refreshed!

The Singing Sand Dunes, Mogao Caves, and catching the Night Train. Dunhuang (26 May, Sunday)

The Singing Sand Dunes
When asked what are my most vivid memories of China, I am surprised to find myself answering "The Sand Dunes".  Did you ever see the 1960's classic movie "Lawrence of Arabia"?   Well, these dunes remind me of that movie.  The dunes are just magnificent to see.  Hundreds of feet high, constantly shifting in the winds, with a magnificent 2,000 year old oasis plopped down in the middle of them.

Another vivid memory, for contrast, is that of the hundreds and hundreds of high-rise condominiums or apartments we saw in every city we visited (with the possible exception of the oasis city of Turpan).  It was just beyond belief.  The NY Times article of June 16, 2013 describing China's plan to move 250,000,000 million people into cities over the next 12 to 15 years helps understand what we were seeing.

And - Yes, my very first camel ride!

John Blevins,  John Thomson and Shudong Chen,
mounted up, and ready to rumble...

They had hundreds of camels saddled up just for us tourists to ride up into the dunes.  Surprisingly, the ride was more comfortable than expected.  And the camels kneel down on their knees for our mounting and dismounting - just like in the movies...


Here's a view of the dunes as you approach from the city of Dunhuang.  If you look close, you can see little specks on the sand ridge just beyond the highway.  For scale, those are people on camels.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sand_dunes_(1).jpg

And here's a photo of the Crescent Lake Oasis.  In the distance you can see the city of Dunhuang, which I presume developed as a result of the oasis, but I haven't done that homework yet..

Photo Courtesy of http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20110817/000cf1a48f870fb5b9b34f.jpg

I purchased a book of photos titled "Entering Xinjiang" at one of the big shops on this day.  It includes a DVD video, but I've discovered I can't view it on my television, but only on our computer.

The Mogao Caves
These ancient tomb caves (over 1,000 of them) are now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Located 25 kM outside Dunhuang.   Access to the sites are now tightly controlled and you must be led by their guide.  The caves are sealed to control humidity and to monitor CO2 levels (as generated by human visitors).  When the CO2 level gets too high, they close that cave to access for some period of time.
Each cave contains elaborate ritual figures and paintings used in reverence.

From wikipedia:

The Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes, also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas form a system of 492 temples 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China. The caves may also be known as the Dunhuang Caves, however, this term is also used to include other Buddhist cave sites in the Dunhuang area, such as the Western Thousand Buddha Caves, and the Yulin Caves farther away. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000 years.[1] The first caves were dug out in 366 CE as places of Buddhist meditation and worship.[2]The Mogao Caves are the best known of the Chinese Buddhist grottoes and, along with Longmen Grottoes andYungang Grottoes, are one of the three famous ancient Buddhist sculptural sites of China.

An important cache of documents was discovered in 1900 in the so-called "Library Cave," which had been walled-up in the 11th century. The content of the library was dispersed around the world, and the largest collections are now found in Beijing, London, Paris and Berlin, and the International Dunhuang Project exists to coordinate and collect scholarly work on the Dunhuang manuscripts and other material. The caves themselves are now a popular tourist destination, with a number open for visiting.

A view of some of the Mogao caves from a distance.
(Wikipedia)

A closeup of the most elaborate of the tomb cave entrances.
(Wikipedia)

Xian to Dunhuang, Rock Formations (Too Mucho Busso), Late to bed. 25May, Saturday

Breakfast Menu, Hotel, Xian, Saturday morning:

• Fried egg (wait in line, cooked one at a time)
• Rice with egg bits
• Steamed bun with meat
• Churro style fried bread, but without Mexican/Spanish sugar coating
• Sponge cake
• Small hard cookie, no topping.
• Noodles with "tread" design on them
• Green veggies with noodles
• Sprouts and other condiment type toppings
• Small radishes? (about 1" long, look like grub worms...but taste like radish)
• Hot water and Hot milk are available for drinking

Departed for Xian airport at 9am, for a 12:35pm flight.  China Eastern airlines, which was just fine.  A fairly modern Airbus, and more comfortable than American.

Arrive Dunhuang about 3pm, after flying over some magnificent snow covered mountains (bigger than the Rocky Mountains I think).

Dunhuang airport arrival.

Lodged at the Dunhuang International hotel.  (The web site is all in Chinese, but Google's translation makes it mostly readable.)  Our schedule didn't allow time to check in before we began our evening travels, so off we went!

Dunhuang INternational hotel lobby.

Then, incredibly, we drive 2.5 hours by bus to see rock formations in the desert.

Just appreciating the desert scenery as
we drive to the Formations.

Here's the final approach to the formations.

Judy and Shudong, in the wind,

at the formations.

The Formations from a quarter mile away.

Sharon at the Formations.

We visit the formations for about an hour and then drive 2.5 hours back to the city and the Dunhuang International Hotel. 
FYI: Too Mucho Busso is my own Chinese dialect for "too much time on the bus"...

Judy and Gerry, after lunch, 

someplace in a desert oasis. 

We finally arrive at the hotel about 11:30pm!  Then, No wifi in hotel, and too little water in the hotel room,  after no water on the bus!  Serious problem...

Bought a beer at dinner for 10 Yuan, and then bottled water at the hotel for 12 Yuan, so we could get some liquid.

Here's a bit of toilet humor that 

I saw hanging over a urinal in the airport. 

And now, for the men only: