China is big, really big, we have now been making our way across it for 3 weeks and still
have the best part of 2000km left ahead of us. So why have I used ‘small is beautiful?’ to
describe a country obsessed with being the biggest, best, tallest, fastest? Well as we’ve
travelled along we’ve naturally been trying to make sense of China, where it’s going,
where it’s come from, what it wants, why on Earth the driving is so terrible. What are our
conclusions? Well, after a lot of debate, and China is a country that raises more discussion
than most, we’re still a bit baffled, it’s so big, so varied, so alien, so contradictory it’s
almost impossible to understand. But what China is really good at, where it is at its most
charming, is in the little things, the funny and fascinating sights you see out the truck
window, a man making hand-pulled noodles, a puppy with pink ears, a funny English
translation. Understand these tiny parts and you’ll begin to get a glimpse of the whole.
These tiny details are the human side of China, a country often seen as a faceless,
frightening giant. So I dedicate this blog to the small, the funny, the quirky and the
fascinating - thankyou for bringing China to life for us!
1. Pingyao
Our first stop was pretty Pingyao, the best preserved ancient city in China, built in the
shape of a little turtle. It’s a tourist haven, full of little funny souvenirs like miniature mouth
organs and matchstick guns. Its centre is cut off to traffic which you’d think would make it a
pedestrian friendly zone but you still have to contend with the weird and wonderful small
vehicles that China specialises in.
It is a lovely town to explore and a single ticket will get you in to all 40+ of its attractions
including temples, old government buildings and on to the beautiful old walls that surround
the centre. It is a city of little courtyards and narrow alleys where life takes place out on the
streets which are dotted with pagodas and at night it is lit beautifully by stunning multi-
coloured lights.
2. Lijiashan
Our next stop was the tiny mountain village of Lijiashan, home for many generations to the Li family in houses hewn out of the rock to form very beautiful caves. It has a wonderful feel to it, it’s set in to a valley so from the street outside our homestay we could see in to the ancient courtyards and catch glimpses of the lives going on around us. It’s an ancient city in a country intent on modernisation, its population are leaving for the cities and it’s hard to believe that a small place like this will survive, but we were lucky enough to spend a night here with a local family, staying in traditional beds and eating tasty homemade food, watching the family kitten and dog playing and generally enjoying life’s simple little pleasures.
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| Ken |
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| Electric scooters |
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| Tiny trikes |
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| Delivery vehicles |
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| Prams |
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| The next Jensen Button? |
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| Religious parades |
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| Pingyao's walls |
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| Courtyards |
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| Our hotel |
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| Busy shopping street |
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| Mahjong |
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| The real thing |
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| Tasty food |
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| Tasty beer for Emma, Simon, Peter, Helen & Richard |
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| Important safety notice |
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| Streets by night |
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| China has some of the most impressive lighting in the world! |
Our next stop was the tiny mountain village of Lijiashan, home for many generations to the Li family in houses hewn out of the rock to form very beautiful caves. It has a wonderful feel to it, it’s set in to a valley so from the street outside our homestay we could see in to the ancient courtyards and catch glimpses of the lives going on around us. It’s an ancient city in a country intent on modernisation, its population are leaving for the cities and it’s hard to believe that a small place like this will survive, but we were lucky enough to spend a night here with a local family, staying in traditional beds and eating tasty homemade food, watching the family kitten and dog playing and generally enjoying life’s simple little pleasures.
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| Lijiashan Village |
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| Exploring the village |
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| Beautiful courtyards |
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| Too steep for the truck, Penelope stayed safely down the valley! |
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| Our host family prepare dinner for us |
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| Elizabeth tries out the traditional Kang beds |
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| Simon vs kitten |
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| Dinner |
3. Yan’an
We left our little mountain village and headed on to our next stop of Yan’an, at one time this was a quiet mountain town with cave houses and farmers, that was until the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) arrived here in the 1930s after the Long March to hammer out their ideals and plans which would eventually take root and spread across China. It is home to a museum full of political propaganda and history according to the CCP, it is a fascinating glimpse of the utopian ideals the Communist Party wanted to build and their opinion on the China of today.
There is nothing small about the Communist museum, their plans were big, their ideals were bigger, the changes they brought to China were enormous, and we found it hard to understand much of the history, but it was the vast crowds thronging to the museum that were the most interesting, the pride they had in their history, it would have been fascinating to chat to them about how they saw Chinese history, but China remained as enigmatic as ever and until we learn some more Mandarin we’ll have to remain baffled!
4. Xi’an
Our next stop was Xi’an a major city most famous for The Terracotta Warriors which lie an hour outside town. We headed down there to experience something which, had it been discovered earlier, would arguably be classified as one of the wonders of the world. They were built as part of the Emperor Qin’s mausoleum around 2000 years ago to protect him in the afterlife and were mostly smashed or burnt by enemy troops after his demise and forgotten for nearly 2 millenia before being discovered by a shepherd digging a well in the 1970s.
A vast army of soldiers can hardly be described as ‘small is beautiful’ but what is most
fascinating about these warriors are the tiny details in the figures, each one is completely
unique, based, presumably on a real solider, even the horses appear to have been
modelled on real animals. The other incredible thing is the restoration work, the warriors
were found in pieces, tiny fragments sometimes, and the archeologists are painstakingly
piecing them back together bit by bit to rebuild this vast army, much like China itself the
beauty is in the tiny details that create a magnificent whole.
Xi’an itself has much more to offer than just the Terracotta Warriors. It’s a buzzing city with a Western feel as it gets a fair amount of international tourists, certainly in comparison to the rest of China. That makes it a bit more accessible for us Westerners and we enjoyed a lovely few days exploring the Muslim Quarter with its fantastic night market, cycling the city walls and exploring the beautiful buildings.
We left our little mountain village and headed on to our next stop of Yan’an, at one time this was a quiet mountain town with cave houses and farmers, that was until the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) arrived here in the 1930s after the Long March to hammer out their ideals and plans which would eventually take root and spread across China. It is home to a museum full of political propaganda and history according to the CCP, it is a fascinating glimpse of the utopian ideals the Communist Party wanted to build and their opinion on the China of today.
There is nothing small about the Communist museum, their plans were big, their ideals were bigger, the changes they brought to China were enormous, and we found it hard to understand much of the history, but it was the vast crowds thronging to the museum that were the most interesting, the pride they had in their history, it would have been fascinating to chat to them about how they saw Chinese history, but China remained as enigmatic as ever and until we learn some more Mandarin we’ll have to remain baffled!
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| Mixed reviews of the museum |
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| Chairman Mao watches over Yan'an |
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| By night |
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| Modern Yan'an |
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| Elizabeth makes friends with a local restaurant |
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| Richard attempts to pick up peanuts with chopsticks |
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| Photograph frenzy (of Penelope) |
Our next stop was Xi’an a major city most famous for The Terracotta Warriors which lie an hour outside town. We headed down there to experience something which, had it been discovered earlier, would arguably be classified as one of the wonders of the world. They were built as part of the Emperor Qin’s mausoleum around 2000 years ago to protect him in the afterlife and were mostly smashed or burnt by enemy troops after his demise and forgotten for nearly 2 millenia before being discovered by a shepherd digging a well in the 1970s.
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| Warriors! |
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| Crowds fight for a photo |
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| Our guide tells us the history of the warriors |
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| Simon rebels against the signs - along with everyone else in the hall! |
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| Un-excavated soldiers |
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| Restoration work |
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| Each warrior is completely unique - this was the only one found completely intact |
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| Also found on site were two bronze carriages, the pride of China, and crowds flock to see them |
Xi’an itself has much more to offer than just the Terracotta Warriors. It’s a buzzing city with a Western feel as it gets a fair amount of international tourists, certainly in comparison to the rest of China. That makes it a bit more accessible for us Westerners and we enjoyed a lovely few days exploring the Muslim Quarter with its fantastic night market, cycling the city walls and exploring the beautiful buildings.
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| Every city has a Chinatown... |
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| The fabulous night market |
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| Tiny quail eggs |
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| Dumpling tower |
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| Yummy dumplings |
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| Diane & Elizabeth make friends |
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| Helen enjoys the night market during the day |
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| A lady dances in the street - people's lives are lived out on the street in China, which makes it a fascinating place |
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| Latest puppy fashion |
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| Roundabout chaos |
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| Peter at the Bell Tower |
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| Many of the group head out for an Indian meal |
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| The Bell Tower by night |
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| Xi'ans vast city walls |
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| Helen cycles the wall |
5. Lanzhou
Our next stop was Lanzhou, in itself it was a stopover, a transport hub from which people
access the cities and sights in the surrounding area. The drive from Xi’an was a sight to
behold, the modern Chinese attitude to road building seems to be very much in line with
their ancestors who built the Great Wall, unperturbed by huge mountains or geographical
difficulties they built to impress, on a vast scale and the road we were lucky enough to
travel along ploughed through mountains in enormous tunnels and swept through winding
valleys with huge bridges. Add in the enormous trucks, vast highrise cities appearing
across the landscape and enormous trains criss-crossing the country it was clear that
whilst small may be beautiful, as far as the Chinese government are concerned, big is
better.
Eventually we arrived in Lanzhou and headed out for some street food. China has been
changing around us as we’ve headed West and Lanzhou gave us our first glimpse of what
was ahead with its large Muslim population and impressive mosque. At this mid-point in
China we began to realise that China itself was as complex a mix of cultures, relgions and
languages as anywhere in the world.
6.Xiahe
We made our way out of Lanzhou and off towards Xiahe with a brief stop in a heavily Islamic town called Linxia on the way for a fantastic lunch of tasty “Muslim food” as it’s called here.
From Islamic China to Tibetan China, Xiahe is home to the Lobrang Monastary, a Tibetan
Buddhist community outside The Autonomous Region of Tibet. It’s a little slice of the
Tibetan Plateaux inside China and is a fascinating look into a very traditional and very
religious way of life with a tour of the monastery.
The town is a wonderful place to wander and people watch or hunt through the shops selling traditional handicrafts all centered around the monastery.
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| Richard |
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| It's not just super, it's super major! |
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| Chicken transporter |
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| Super major new city |
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| Jason, our local guide, teaches everyone to play Mahjong to pass the time |
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| Yes, that tunnel is over 12km long! |
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| This is what a 12km tunnel looks like when you're stuck behind a Chinese car transporter... |
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| Street eats |
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| Lanzhou Mosque |
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| The people we see are changing slowly as we make our way west along the Silk Road |
We made our way out of Lanzhou and off towards Xiahe with a brief stop in a heavily Islamic town called Linxia on the way for a fantastic lunch of tasty “Muslim food” as it’s called here.
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| Muslim with a hint of Chinese influence |
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| "Muslim Tea" pick and mix |
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| Tea has never been so much fun! |
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| Monks at prayer |
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| The beautiful Lobrang Monastery |
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| The monastery is surrounded by a 3km walk called the Kora where you spin the prayer wheels as you go |
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| Elizabeth and monks on the Upper Kora |
The town is a wonderful place to wander and people watch or hunt through the shops selling traditional handicrafts all centered around the monastery.
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| Monk boots |
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| Goats rule the roost in Xiahe |
Some of the group also went up to the Gangia Grasslands to explore the beautiful open
plains above Xiahe, it was a glimpse of a very different world from what we had got used to in
China and a breath of fresh air away from the chaos and crowds.
7. Bingling Si
Then it was time for our first camp of the trip, a bushcamp on the edge of the Yellow River reservoir. We headed down to a quiet spot near the water to set up tents and show the ins and outs of how camping works on an Odyssey trip. Soon we were all happily installed for 2 nights and cook group were whipping up a Odyssey feast almost immediately our ‘quiet spot’ turned in to a very Chinese scene of mayhem! Firstly a wedding party turned up to get their wedding photos in this beautiful spot, which was rather surreal, then we were inundated with new friends, local families visiting the reservoir for the day who drove past staring at us as if in a safari park before plucking up the courage to come over. It was fun, it was chaos and it was all thoroughly Chinese and bizarre!
The reason we had come to this lovely spot was to see the Bingling Si caves, a series of
Buddhist Grottoes a boat ride away across the reservoir. They are blissfully devoid of
crowds though a new road is under construction so that may change. Their crowning glory
is the huge Maitreya (future Buddha) statue that looms over the site.
8. Zhangye and Jiayuguan
We headed on for a brief stop in Zhangye, a chance to shower and recharge in a hotel and check out the local sights.
Then it was time to get back under canvas for another Chinese bushcamp! This time we
headed back to The Great Wall at its further point to the West, Jiayuguan.
We visited a local fort, restored to such a point that it now feels more like Disneyland than an ancient relic! But the wall itself was impressive, it doesn’t have the scale or drama of the section we visited near Beijing but this section is hugely significant, especially for us, this marks the end of ancient China, beyond this was the ancient country of Turkestan, and the wall and fort were there to guard China from the world beyond.
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| The Gangia Grasslands - most unlike the rest of China that we have seen! |
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| Life on the grasslands |
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| Locals and monks help to unstick a truck on the muddy roads |
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| Keith & Pauline on ancient city walls up in the grasslands |
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| Diane at the 'Bon Monastary' Kora in Gangia - where you walk anti-clockwise. Traditionally the Kora is always done clockwise and people from Xiahe refuse to go in to this monastery |
7. Bingling Si
Then it was time for our first camp of the trip, a bushcamp on the edge of the Yellow River reservoir. We headed down to a quiet spot near the water to set up tents and show the ins and outs of how camping works on an Odyssey trip. Soon we were all happily installed for 2 nights and cook group were whipping up a Odyssey feast almost immediately our ‘quiet spot’ turned in to a very Chinese scene of mayhem! Firstly a wedding party turned up to get their wedding photos in this beautiful spot, which was rather surreal, then we were inundated with new friends, local families visiting the reservoir for the day who drove past staring at us as if in a safari park before plucking up the courage to come over. It was fun, it was chaos and it was all thoroughly Chinese and bizarre!
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| Don't you just love the serenity? |
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| Kettle on the go |
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| Diane gets cooking |
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| Visitors! |
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| Penelope provides a perfect wedding backdrop |
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| Shepherds arrive to add to the mix |
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| Pauline and Emma get photo-frenzied |
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| Keith presents lunch |
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| Local family down at the water |
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| Dirt bike gets dirty |
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| Boat to the caves |
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| Spectacular scenery |
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| Helen & Peter at the caves |
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| Maitreya |
We headed on for a brief stop in Zhangye, a chance to shower and recharge in a hotel and check out the local sights.
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| Helen, Pauline and Elizabeth clear Penelope's rubbish which we'd help to clear up from our previous bushcamp |
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| Standard Chinese truck |
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| A solar farm - we are coming in to an area with so much renewable energy that China doesn't have the capacity to put it in to the national grid. Another unknown side of China that adds to its complexity |
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| Dafosi Temple in Zhangye |
We visited a local fort, restored to such a point that it now feels more like Disneyland than an ancient relic! But the wall itself was impressive, it doesn’t have the scale or drama of the section we visited near Beijing but this section is hugely significant, especially for us, this marks the end of ancient China, beyond this was the ancient country of Turkestan, and the wall and fort were there to guard China from the world beyond.
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| People make their way up the wall |
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| Richard celebrates getting to the top |
We set up camp for the night right next to the great wall itself, tents were put up, dinner
cooked and Richard even got out a bottle of Chinese fire water to drink the evening away.
Beyond the wall lay a huge power station, a clash of ancient and modern and a perfect
image of China today.
China is a land of big and small, we all know about the big, the huge population, the vast power stations, its immense size. But it’s the small things that bring China to life and help us to find a bit of sense in an often baffling country. With a population of 1.4 billion people everyone you meet is just a tiny stitch in an enormous tapestry, (a silk road trip needs a textile metaphor!) but add them all together - all the noise, colour, gadgets, pink puppies, smiles, goats, monks, chillies, funny signs, photos, dumplings and scooters - what a great tapestry you end up with! Western China lies ahead of us, a land of Mosques, desert and camels, beyond that Central Asia, The Causasus and eventually Istanbul, but that’s far away, for now let’s focus on the little things!
Thanks again to everyone who donated their fabulous photos!
China is a land of big and small, we all know about the big, the huge population, the vast power stations, its immense size. But it’s the small things that bring China to life and help us to find a bit of sense in an often baffling country. With a population of 1.4 billion people everyone you meet is just a tiny stitch in an enormous tapestry, (a silk road trip needs a textile metaphor!) but add them all together - all the noise, colour, gadgets, pink puppies, smiles, goats, monks, chillies, funny signs, photos, dumplings and scooters - what a great tapestry you end up with! Western China lies ahead of us, a land of Mosques, desert and camels, beyond that Central Asia, The Causasus and eventually Istanbul, but that’s far away, for now let’s focus on the little things!
Thanks again to everyone who donated their fabulous photos!
Can you say Hi to Richard, and keep him away from the cook team when he is not on duty. Nick Jones, ex-SAO.
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