Entering
China via the Torugart Pass is quite a process. After getting thru the Kyrgyz
border post we had to wait at a large gate on top of the 3750m pass until,
eventually, they were opened by the Chinese soldiers and we were allowed thru
to meet a local fixer who would accompany us to the main border.
The
main border post was more than 100km away, at the other end of a long, sinuous
valley, and to get there we had to pass through two more checkpoints where the
truck was searched and passports checked. There were more formalities to
complete at the customs and immigration, but finally we made it through to be
officially stamped into China.
China
is quite different from what we have experienced on the trip so far – the
culture, the language, the sheer size of the country and its population, the
infrastructure, the driving and, of course, the food. It is an endlessly
fascinating and entertaining country and we were lucky enough to have a good
guide, Jessica, to help us through it.
Our
first stop was the Silk Road city of Kashgar. The group had time to explore the
old town while the crew had to go and get Penelope “MOT’d”, get a local licence
plate for her and also get Chinese driving licences.
 |
| Kashgar |
 |
| Map in John's cafe showing some of our route through China |
Due
to various circumstances, our revised China itinerary required us to drive over
7500km in four weeks, having driven just under 10,000km between Istanbul and
Kashgar. Luckily, however, the majority of major roads in China are excellent,
multi-lane highways, so we could cover a lot more distance in a day than we had
been doing across Central Asia so far.
Also,
some long days on the road allowed Jodie time to introduce a ‘Chinese Treat of
the Day’, and we were all able to try random snacks from lotus flower root and
crab flavoured peas to pickled chickens feet and spicy silk worm grubs!
 |
| Chinese roads |
 |
| Jodie introduces some more Chinese "treats" |
 |
| Mark & Juan look strangely pleased with their chicken's feet |
Leaving
Kashgar we drove across Xinjiang province, through the Taklamakan desert. After
a night stop in Korla, we arrived in the city of Turpan, known for its grape
growing and wine production. Some people refer to the Turpan Depression as
‘China’s Death Valley’, it is the 4th lowest exposed point below sea level in
the world and has been recorded as the hottest place in China – however,
typical of the luck we’ve been having with the weather on this trip, it
actually rained while we were there! But before the rain came, people at least
had time to enjoy dinner at the night market.
 |
| The group at Turpan night market |
A
long drive, through rocky mountains and more desert, brought us to the oasis
town of Dunhuang, still on the route of the Silk Road caravans. A couple of
nights here, allowed us time to explore the town, check out the night market,
go to a show and visit the Mogao Grottoes. The grottoes, also known as the
‘Thousand Buddha Caves’, are comprised of almost 500 rock-carved temples containing
some of the finest examples of Buddhist art, created
over a period of 1,000 years. We were also joined in Dunhuang by a new group member,
Steven’s wife, Kim.
 |
| Kim is welcomed to the trip |
 |
| The night market in Dunhuang |
 |
| Local dancers at the night market |
 |
| Steven & Kim at Mogao grottoes |
 |
| Cave 96 contains a Giant Buddha |
 |
| The group touring the caves |
 |
| Reclining Buddha at Mogao Caves |
 |
| Acrobatic show in Dunhuang |
 |
| The sand dunes are just outside the city |
Heading
out of the desert we drove up to Golmud, in Qinghai province and on the edge of
the Tibetan Plateau. We had some time in the town, but the main reason for
coming here was to park up our truck and then to take the train into Tibet
itself.
 |
| Heading out of Dunhuang through the desert |
 |
| Goats on the highway |
 |
| A quick Canada Day celebration on the truck |
 |
| Our limousine awaits to take us to the station |
 |
| Off to Lhasa |
 |
| Waiting at Golmud train station |
The
Qinghai-Tibet line is the world’s highest railway, it crosses a high pass at
over 5000m and more than 80% of the 1142km section that we were travelling to
Lhasa is above 4000m. We travelled overnight in sleeper compartments and it
took about 13 hours to whisk us to Lhasa.
 |
| The group enjoying the train journey |
 |
| Juan & Kathie admire the Tibetan scenery |
 |
| We arrive in Lhasa |
We
arrived to be met by our local Tibetan guide who took us to the Yak Hotel in
the centre of the old town - four nights here gave us plenty of time to explore
this magical city.
Tibet
is an incredible destination and, although we were only spending time in Lhasa, we were able to experience much that it has to offer, visiting
various Buddhist temples (such as the Sera Monastery, where the monks have
sessions of extremely animated debating), touring the spectacular Potala Palace
(former residence of the Dalai Lama), mixing with the locals and the pilgrims
around Barkhor Square, and trying Tibetan cuisine like momos, thukpa soup,
butter tea and …er… yak burgers! We were also blessed with blue skies and
sunshine for most of our stay.
The
return train was during the day so we were able to enjoy more of the Tibetan
scenery as we travelled back over the plateau, we even saw some wildlife
including yaks, antelope and wild asses.
After
another night in Golmud and an en route stop in the town of Ulan, we arrived in
the city of Lanzhou - the capital of Gansu province, on the banks of the Yellow
River. We arrived in heavy traffic and heavy rain, but most of us went out to
try some of the local cuisine on offer at Lanzhou’s well known night food
market.
 |
| En route to Lanzhou |
 |
| Yaks crossing |
 |
| Driving in to Lanzhou |
 |
| Lanzhou night market |
 |
| Lanzhou by night |
Out
next stop was a three night stay in Xi’an. Famous for the 1974 discovery of the
Terracotta Warriors, it also marks the eastern end of the Silk Road.
As
well as visiting the incredible terracotta army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, there
were plenty of other things to see and do around Xi’an – parks and pagodas,
temples, museums, the old city walls, the bell and drum towers, and a good
market for both food and souvenirs.
 |
| Driving in to Xi'an |
 |
| The Bell Tower |
 |
| Xi'an night market |
 |
| Hot potatoes |
 |
| One of several peanut brittle stalls |
 |
| Spicy stuffed pancake |
 |
| Terracotta Warriors |
 |
| Terracotta Archer |
 |
| Terracotta Dave |
 |
| Downtown Xi'an |
 |
| Jonathan & Louise cycle around the city walls |
 |
| The Big Wild Goose Pagoda |
There
were also group outings to the post office to send home some parcels. Since we
were no longer camping and were heading towards warmer climates (not to mention
the fact that we would soon be leaving the truck behind), Xi’an provided a good
opportunity to lighten our loads of things like sleeping bags, cold weather
gear and any souvenirs we’d picked up along the way.
A
full day’s drive brought us to the city of Chengdu, our guide’s home town, and
also home to Giant Pandas! On our arrival Jessica took us out for a traditional
Sichuan hot pot meal, which involved cooking our own food (an interesting
assortment of Chinese ‘delicacies’!) in a bubbling pot of spices and chillies –
delicious!
 |
| Sichuan hot pot night in Chengdu |
 |
| It's a communal activity! |
 |
| Mmmm, duck intestine! |
The
following morning we drove out to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and spent the morning
seeing these beautiful but endangered animals – there are thought to only
around 2000 Giant Pandas left in the wild and most of their natural habitat has
been destroyed, but there has been some success here in breeding them in
captivity.
 |
| Kathie, Vai, Mark & Juan at the Panda base |
 |
| A laid back Giant Panda |
 |
| Feeding time |
 |
| Trying to coax a panda cub out of a tree |
 |
| Red Panda |
Although we weren’t in Beijing we had a great ‘Peking Duck’ lunch and in
the evening we went to a Sichuanese ‘opera’ show, another thing that Chengdu is
famous for (especially the ‘face-changing’ finale).
 |
| A night out at the Sichuan "opera" |
 |
| The famous "changing faces" routine |
After Chengdu we had an en route stop in MiYi with time to celebrate
Lindsay’s birthday with a group meal, a tasting of Chinese wines, and cake!
 |
| MiYi |
 |
| Lindsay's birthday wine tasting |
Heading further south we entered Yunnan province. Our next two stops
were both beautiful, well-preserved (and restored) old Chinese towns. Firstly
the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lijiang, with its narrow streets bisected by
small canals and hung with red lanterns. It’s a great place to just wander
around, or to soak up the atmosphere in some of the waterside bars. It’s also
not too far away from Tiger Leaping Gorge.
 |
| Driving to Lijiang |
 |
| Chinese rice terraces |
 |
| The waterwheels at Lijiang |
 |
| Narrow streets of the old town |
 |
| Waterwheels and lanterns |
 |
| Monkey and Pigsy are manning the grill! |
Next we spent a couple of nights in the equally picturesque town of
Dali. Another nice place for wandering around, it had a few temples and pagodas
to see and we found a British-run bar that served the traditional English meals
of curry and roast dinner along with real beer to give us a break from all the
Chinese food (as tasty as it is, sometimes you need a change)!
In Dali we also introduced the group to Baijiu, the local Chinese spirit
made from grains. We had a tasting session at our guesthouse, trying a few
different types interspersed with some local snacks (some might say to take the
taste away) – it’s certainly an acquired taste!
 |
| Christine, Juan, Angela & Vai aren't sure about the Baijiu tasting |
 |
| 7 bottles of Baijiu between 20 people = more than enough! |
 |
| Cheers! Curry night at Bad Monkey bar |
 |
| Spicy fish on a stick - Jessica & Paul enjoying their kebabs on the way home from the pub! |
 |
| There are lots of "water features" in Dali |
 |
| And lots of umbrellas! |
 |
| Dali pagoda |
 |
| A local temple |
 |
| Penelope at our hotel in Kunming |
We had an afternoon and night in the city of Kunming then continued
towards the border. Juan started
celebrating his 40th Birthday early, but the day itself
unfortunately coincided with a drive day from Dali to Jinghong with an early
start the next morning– however that didn’t stop him from enjoying himself.
There were games and gifts all day on the back of the truck and, when we
arrived, we had a bit of a party in the hotel too.
 |
| Juan celebrates his 40th birthday on the truck |
 |
| ... and gets a lift from the boys! |
 |
| Penelope, Queen of the Desert! |
 |
| The scenery gets more tropical as we head south |
 |
| Jinghong |
 |
| Saying farewell to Jessica |
 |
| Birthday balloon games |
 |
| Crossing the Mekong and heading for the border |
Jinghong itself is on the Mekong River and had more of a Southeast Asian
feel to it than Chinese, it was our last stop in China before we headed to the
border at Mohan and into Laos.
