Jiayuguan (10-26)

Thursday was travel to Jiayuguan day. Since I knew it’s a two-hour trip, I had a relaxing morning at the hostel before heading to the train station. I had to wait two hours for the train, which was OK. Since it was a lovely day, I decided to stay outside. I walked around a little and found a long-sleeved shirt at one of the vendors. I thought about buying one that said “Smile,” but I decided on the one that says “Disneps” because seeing that brings a smile to my face. It’s a Calvin Klein shirt, according to the name on the back, that was 30 yuan/$5.

When I arrived at the hotel, the taxi driver suggested that she take me to one of the sites in a brochure she gave me. Since I was ready to see new things, I agreed to return in half an hour. When I registered, it was really nice that one of the women speaks English. I do OK without that, but it is nice to be able to speak to the people. I dropped off my bags in the room and returned to the taxi. I thought she was taking me to the site and back to the hotel, which is how these things usually work. But, when we arrived, she pointed out the entrance and asked for her money. Then she drove off. A man waiting there with his taxi said a few things to her. Then he told me that there are no buses back to the city. He also told me that the site takes two hours, and it was already 4:00. So he suggested that he drive me to the Overhanging Great Wall, which takes only one hour. We agreed that for 50 yuan/$8.30 he would drive me there, wait, and drive me back to the hotel. We also discussed his being my driver on Friday. He speaks broken English, but we communicated OK, and I liked him. Sometimes I enjoy chatting with people who speak broken English but want to learn.

The Overhanging Great Wall is one of the earliest sections that was built. It was built in the 16^th century, but what is now there is pretty much a replica. It was given its name because it looks like it is suspended on the narrow mountaintop. It is also called the “invisible wall” because it cannot be seen from two sides; so approaching enemies were surprised when they got to the top of the mountain and there was the wall. 

The wall goes up the mountain with views on both sides—the high mountains and flat desert on one side and the desert plain on the other. 

From the end, the path down goes along the ridges with no barriers. There are several signs warning people to walk carefully. I did.

At the bottom of the mountain, there are statues of a camel caravan. 

There are also sculptures of men on horses and camels. In addition to the Wall and mountains, I enjoyed the brilliant, yellow-leafed trees. 

There is another section of the wall that starts in a different location and goes the other direction. (See photo above)

When I exited the site, the two people ahead of me were getting into a taxi. I walked toward it, thinking it was my driver and he had agreed to take those people back to the city, but the guard stopped me and told me I couldn’t go with them because they had paid the driver. I realized that it wasn’t my driver and that my driver and his taxi weren’t there. I was too stunned and couldn’t think of what to say as the taxi drove away and I was left standing there. No other cars were there for me to wait to see if those people would drive me back. So I figured I'd walk to the main street (a bit of a distance) and see if I could get a ride. Fortunately, after a few minutes a bus came from the other direction. I pointed back toward the city and asked if he was going there, and the driver motioned for me to get in and motioned that he would turn go back after finishing the route. When we got to the city, he called the hotel for directions. Then he drew a map with water on the console to show me where it is and where he was going and indicated that he'd take me to the hotel after going to his destination. He parked the bus and we got into his car and he drove me to the hotel. He wouldn't accept any money.

I walked into the hotel and then decided to look for a shop where I could buy water. When I walked out, there was my taxi driver, saying “Sorry.” I wasn’t interested in dealing with his broken English and hearing his story. So I just told him in Chinese that he wasn't there, turned around, and walked back into the hotel. The security man must have been watching because he was inside the door and walked me to the elevator. He was probably watching for me since the man had called for directions. Fortunately, I hadn't paid the taxi driver, as you pay upon returning, not arriving. Needless to say, he lost his customer for the next day.

Friday morning I went to the hotel desk and another woman was there who speaks English well. When I told her where I wanted to go, she told me that there is a bus and told me where to get on it. It was really easy.

The destination of the day was Jiayuguan Pass, a fortress along the Great Wall. On the way into the site, there is a rock garden with sculptures made from rocks with petroglyphs. They were fascinating, especially because I have always been fascinated with petroglyphs. I suppose they are original, but maybe not. Later I saw petroglyphs mentioned—with a picture—in a magazine article about things to see in Jiayuguan. And I have read that there are/were original petroglyphs from the 3^rd to 14^th centuries on a cliff near that area.

Another sculpture area has scenes from daily life carved on the rocks. 

A third area has sculptures of famous people on the rocks. I really enjoyed this rock garden. And it was free.

The fortress is huge. I took the long way around to the entrance. 

The walk around the lake wasn’t very interesting other than that the views of the snow-capped mountains were good. 

And I enjoyed the yellow-leafed trees.

Outside the fortress there is an exhibit of the Great Wall Then and Now. It has photos of various sections of the wall in the early 20^th century and then again in recent years. Descriptions are in English as well as Chinese. I enjoyed and reading about these.

Most of the fortress is a reconstruction. It has a number of watch towers, a temple, a stage, and the general’s house. 

You can walk on the top of the walls. The ramps going up were riding paths. Now they have stairs on one half.
























An interesting feature of the buildings is the “evil eyes” under the roofs. I always think of this name, as that's what they are called in Turkey and they reminded me of that symbol to ward off evil.

From the fortress the Great Wall goes out into the desert to the First Pier and First Beacon of the Great Wall.

In addition to the fortress, the entrance ticket includes the Great Wall Museum. There I learned that Jiayuguan was established in the 1960s; so it’s a very new city. I also learned that the first parts of the Great Wall to be built in 200 BC were in Gansu.

Saturday I headed to the Wei-Jin Brick Mural Tomb, which is also known as the Underground Art Gallery. With its 1400 tombs, it is the largest underground art gallery in the world. They were built between the 3^rd and 5^th centuries. Only one tomb is open to the public. 

Since I knew that no photos are allowed in the tomb, I took many in the museum. 

As soon as I saw the painted bricks, they reminded me of the ones I purchased when I was in China before. I don’t remember why I purchased them other than that I liked them, as we did not go to a tomb on that trip. The paintings depict scenes from life. The tomb has three rooms. One features paintings of daily life in the home, and one has paintings of people working—mostly in the fields. 

The third room has only one wall with painted bricks. The site is out of town in the desert, which made me wonder how so many of the subterranean tombs were discovered.

In the afternoon I went to the Eastern Lake Ecology Scenic Park. It’s huge and has many paths through lovely planted areas as well as two huge lakes. 

The central feature is the meteorology tower that is shaped like a dolphin. The dolphin’s ball is like the “soccer ball” I saw on the building on Huangshan. There was a picture of it on a wall with photos of various meteorology towers. So I guess that’s what it is, not a planetarium as another woman thought and told me. There is an elevator to the top two floors from which there are great views of the park and city. You can easily see how new it is. After visiting the tower, I did my walk and read, walking around one of the lakes and stopping to sit on benches to read. It was a lovely afternoon.

Sunday morning’s quick outing was an example of something that was more than I thought it would be. I’d seen photos of the First Beacon of the Great Wall and knew it is a mound of the remains of an old building. So I hired a taxi to take me there for a quick look before leaving Jiayuguan, thinking it would take no more than an hour. But when we arrived, I saw that there is a whole complex that has been built near the remains of the First Beacon. There is a small museum, mostly in Chinese but with the main information in English. It’s in the cliff on which the First Beacon is located. From the platform, there are good views of the river and the First Beacon on its cliff. 

Then there is a reproduction of the First Pier. I’d seen the name a few times, but it wasn’t listed on the brochure of Jiayuguan sites. It’s the first pier along the Great Wall, as it is on the river. The site has replicas of the tents, which were made of adobe, for the general, officers, and other men. There’s a suspension bridge across the river to the remains of an inn. 






From the other side, there’s a good view of the First Beacon. 

Last we stopped at the First Beacon briefly. I read that it got its name because, when there was danger, a fire was lit on top of the building to warn others. For that reason, is also called the First Fire Tower. 

From the First Beacon there is an unreconstructed section of the Great Wall that goes back to Jiayuguan Pass. Thus I felt like I had experienced how everything was connected.

So, the whole trip took an hour and forty-five minutes instead of half that time as I had anticipated. I arrived back at the hotel just in time to check out and get to the bus station to head to Dunhuang.