Zhangye Part 2 (10-22)

The hostel in Zhangye was a welcome site. It has a lovely sitting area and a lovely area outside the rooms with tables. It is nicely decorated and has lots of natural light through a plastic dome over the courtyard. 

There’s a pet hedgehog in the courtyard. I’d never seen a hedgehog before. It’s cute. I was in a dorm room for 6, but, since this was not the tourist season and only a few other people were there, they put us in different rooms. So I had the room to myself, which was nice. I don’t usually stay in dorm rooms, but this place had caught my eye and I really wanted to stay there. In addition, other hotels were twice the price and I didn’t feel like paying that much. I was very happy to have a hot shower.

After checking in, I went to the Giant Buddha Temple, which is near enough to the hostel to walk. Although the woman doesn’t speak English, she is very friendly and tried hard to help me. She told me how to walk there and gave me a map—in Chinese, but there’s a circle where the hostel is and I could follow her directions on the map.

On the way, I came across the Shanxi Guild house, a lovely, old building with magnificent carved wood.

The Big Buddha in the temple is the largest indoor, clay sculptured sleeping Buddha with a wood core in Asia—34 meters long, 7.5 high at shoulders. This made me wonder how it compares to the Reclining Buddha in Bangkok. I looked it up and that Buddha is 15 meters high and 43 meters long. The Zhangye Buddha is in a dimly lit building—to protect it from light, I suppose. 

I took a few photos before a man told me it’s not allowed, as I hadn’t seen the sign. (I thought it interesting that the guide with his group had walked past me and hadn’t said anything.) But later I found one in a tourist magazine. 

Other buildings in the complex have Buddhist art, sutras, painted Buddhas, and old Buddhas. 

I especially enjoyed the building with painted Buddhas because most of the wall paintings feature women, which is unusual. I learned later that such paintings are probably of family members of donors. 

The halos around the Buddhas are fire, which I hadn’t seen before. Later I was told that that is influence from India.

After walking around for a few hours and walking in the park for 3.5 hours in the morning, I was tired and ready to return to the lovely hostel. I stopped at a supermarket to buy water and yogurt and purchased a very small cooked chicken to take back with me. That solved the problem of what to have for dinner. I enjoyed eating it in the courtyard before my hot shower.

Tuesday turned out to be a day of minor disappointments. First, I had planned to go to Mata Si, as I’d read that buses leave every half hour. When I told the hostel managers, they opened a notebook and showed me the message that buses leave three times a day, the last being at 9:15. It was 9:40; so I missed that. No problem, as I could go there on Wednesday.

The new plan was to go to Black Water State and Tombs Complex from the Han dynasty (around 200-250), which I’d read about on a couple China tour sites online. The managers didn’t understand and called the person who speaks English. I learned that he is their son, and he came to assist as he speaks OK English. Once he understood, he looked up the site online and told me it would cost 10 RMB to enter and I would need a taxi because there are no buses to the site. They contacted a driver and we agreed on a price that seemed reasonable for a half day trip. After half an hour we arrived at a place in the desert where there were remnants of walls. We walked around for about 40 minutes. The driver was very nice and helped me to up the hills and up the inside of a corner building. I enjoyed watching a herd of goats run toward the structure and then move on. There was no admission or place where tickets could be sold and there was nothing that made it look like a cultural site. So I thought this was outside the main site which we would go to next. But when we left, he turned back toward the city. So I was confused. At the hostel, I told Eric that I wasn’t sure I had been taken to the right place. He showed me a photo on the Internet site he had looked at, and it did look like the corner building we had climbed through. And the walls looked like the ones we had stood on. So I finally accepted that we had gone where he had told the driver to take me. With our limited communication, it took about twenty minutes to discuss why I was confused so that he could understand. I was ready to move on, but he wanted to understand. I was also a little disappointed, as the site was interesting but wasn’t really worth the 150 yuan/$25 I had paid to be taken there. And since the trip took a total of two hours, not half a day, I felt like I had paid too much, as I have paid that much for several hours. But that happens sometimes. Fortunately, not often.

Later I looked up the information I had read again and realized that one site’s information had been written 40 years ago; so I’m sure it was outdated in terms of the appearance of the site. Eric had mentioned that things change in the desert as the wind blows the sand. That explained that information. But the other currently offered tour describes seeing decorations on the walls of the tombs. We didn’t see any tombs. It was interesting to see and stand on remnants of walls built in 200 AD. And it was pretty cool to be standing on walls that are about 1800 years old. So, all in all, it was an interesting outing even though I was initially a little disappointed.

Since the outing was much shorter than I’d anticipated, I had the whole afternoon free. I decided to go to the Wooden Pagoda, which I hadn’t planned to visit as I’d read that it wasn’t really special. Eric walked me there, as it’s on his way home. 

The pieces that stick out of the pagoda, giving it the pagoda shape, are wood. I wasn’t sure I wanted to pay the entrance fee to walk to the top, as I knew the city view wouldn’t be great. Since it was a lovely afternoon, I sat on a bench in the square and read for a couple hours. Then I decided to go into the pagoda because they usually have nice altars on each level and sometimes have paintings. 

The first floor has several Buddha images and lovely paintings. The rest have nothing. So that was another small disappointment.

On the way back to the hostel, I passed a place selling cooked food. The broccoli and cauliflower looked good and not spicy. Wrong. They must have been cooked in spicy water that didn’t affect their appearance but permeated them. I washed the pieces, but the spiciness was still there; so I gave it to the managers. The final disappointment of the day.

Some days are like that. When traveling, I can’t always be certain what I’ll see or experience, but I do it anyway. Some are amazingly wonderful; others aren’t. But, fortunately, I have more of the former than the latter. It comes with the territory of traveling.

My adventure Wednesday exceeded anything I had anticipated, balancing the disappointments of Tuesday. At the bus station I was told in English to take the bus and then take a taxi to Mati Si. I’d read that that was the way to get there. The ride went through farm country—corn and potatoes. I saw fields where potatoes had been harvested and put into sacks that were waiting to be picked up. 

For the second half of the trip, we could see the high mountains, some of which were snowcapped. With the blue sky, it was beautiful. When we arrived in the town, the bus attendant told me that for 30 RMB/$5, I could join the four other people going to Mati Si on the bus and then go back to Zhangye. Sounded like a deal to me, as I could stay on the same bus and not have to deal with getting a taxi and then a bus back. So the day was going well.

Mati Si is Tibetan Buddhist cave temples carved into a mountain. We went to two of the main sites. The bluffs have caves at ground level, but most of them are above ground and are connected with tunnels. 

From outside, the upper grottoes look like they are hanging on the side of the bluff. They reminded me of the nunnery we visited in Bhutan that had rooms in the caves in a cliff. 

The main site has grottoes in the form of a pagoda on the side of the bluff. There are five levels, 

and you can walk through the tunnels up to the top one. I met some women from Hong Kong who commented on the fact that because this was not tourist season, it was nice to be able to walk slowly and really look at things because the tunnels were not packed with mainland Chinese tourists. That’s so true.

On the side of the main grottoes there is a huge cave room that has a standing Buddha. 

Another smaller cave has many Buddha statues.

As we walked to the site, the views of the snowcapped mountains and of the grassland hills in the other direction were spectacular. Having some yellow leaves on trees added to the beauty. 

After visiting the grottoes, I walked up to the observation platform, not realizing how far up it was. But the views along the way and the 360 degree view from the top made the walk up worthwhile. 

It was a beautiful day.

I arrived back at the hostel at 3:30, a bit tired and ready to rest. Later I went out to buy vegetables on skewers for dinner. So I enjoyed my non-spicy meal.

I liked Zhangye. It’s not too big, and there aren’t too many cars. Thus it is quiet. The city is clean. The air is good. The sky is blue and the sun shines. People were friendly.

Zhangye Danxia Geopark (10-20)

Friday morning I departed for my military training journey. The first stage was a 29-hour train trip from Chengdu to Zhangye. I had a hard sleeper. Hard sleeper cars have 11 compartments with 6 beds each. Fortunately, I had a bottom bed. I can’t imagine being on the top one. The bed isn’t actually hard, as it has a 3” mattress on it and is quite comfortable, especially since I am used to hard beds. Across from each compartment there is a small table with two fold-down chairs. I sat on these sometimes for a change. During the trip, vendors came through the cars selling various snacks, drinks, and prepared meals. I had gone prepared—Chinese style—and had instant noodles and snacks.

The route went through a lot of farm country—mostly corn. 

For a while, we went along a river. 

The landscape got drier as we went farther north and headed west in Gansu. In the dry area, there were what looked like shade shelters for the crops. I was surprised to see many Muslim women, wearing headscarves, in the fields as we approached Zhangye.

29.5 hours after leaving Chengdu I arrived in Zhangye. The man in our compartment was going on to Urumqi, another 24 hours from Zhangye. I felt sorry for him, as I was ready be off the train, but I suppose that, if I’d had a longer trip, I would have been prepared and been OK.

The total trip from my apartment to the guesthouse took 33 hours. After arriving in Zhangye, I took a taxi to the guesthouse. It was sunset time, and the lighting was lovely. I took several photos as we drove to the park, and my driver slowed down for me and pointed out a couple nice shots.

I had chosen a guesthouse near the park entrance for convenience getting to the park. Clearly they are not accustomed to having foreign guests. The man was friendly enough, but the woman didn’t seem comfortable. I had to ask them to clean the bathroom, as the bin was full of rubbish. The room was not heated, but the comforter and blanket were very warm and I slept well. Hot water didn’t get hot; so I wasn’t able to shower. Good that the weather was cool.

I was thrilled to be in this colorful, desert hill/mountain area that reminds me a little of the Painted Desert. So, after checking in, I went for a walk. I first encountered this area when Raven sent a photo shortly after I arrived in China and asked if I knew where it was. I didn’t. A few months later when I was looking on the Internet at a list of top scenic places in China, there was a photo like the one Raven had sent. Thus I learned that it is Zhangye Danxia Geopark in Gansu and knew that I had to go there. So I was excited to finally be there.

After sleeping for ten hours, I woke up Sunday morning ready to go. I was in my traveling mode and was ready to explore the park, having left any reluctance to travel back in Chengdu as I had anticipated. On the way to the park entrance, I walked through the stalls near it hoping to find some porridge for breakfast. Since it’s not the major tourist season, only one woman was serving breakfast. She sold noodle soup; so I had some. She became my local eating spot for the next couple days.

I entered the park shortly after 9:00. There are buses that take people to the four viewpoints. The first one was a good place to be for the morning sun. It features the Rainbow Mountains, named for the colorful layers. 

There are several viewpoints to walk to in that area, and I spent about an hour and a half enjoying all of them. 

Some of the viewpoints have special names such as Monks Worship Buddha and Monkeys Rush into the Sea of Fire. The signs explain the geology in four languages and have a picture showing the special view. 

I could pick them out and relate to the names easily. One sign explained that the color layers are only 10 cm deep and take 60 years to form.

The second and third viewpoints are close. I walked to the third one first, as I was entranced by the colorful hills along the road. 

Then I walked back, stopping for lunch at the top of a hill. As I was alone there, it was very peaceful.  

Next I walked up the big hill at the second viewpoint.

It was like walking up a mountain with all the stairs, which are painted red and yellow to blend in with the colors. 

From the top of the hill, you can see all around.

The fourth viewpoint looks out toward the east. 

After viewing it, I decided to take a bus to the east gate because I wanted to see the scenic area on the map that is on the road to the east gate. However, the bus didn’t stop there; so I enjoyed the ride to the east gate which goes downhill and out of the main colorful area. 

Then I took a bus back, and it stopped at the scenic area. Everyone got off and we were told that we had twenty minutes. I decided to stay with the group since I wasn’t really sure what was happening. We walked up a hill and then down the other side to where the bus was waiting for us. This area had more red color than the others. I was glad I’d made the trip.

The bus then continued all the way to the first viewpoint. Since it was then about 4:30, I decided to hang out there for sunset. It was fun to be there again and look over the expanse to see where I had been now that I was familiar with the park. 

The colors on the east side were deeper in the afternoon light than they had been in the morning. Those on the west side were dulled by the sunlight, and the sleeping Buddha could hardly be seen. So I was glad I’d been there in the morning, too. I enjoyed watching the colors deepen as the sun lowered. 

At the last viewpoint I went to, another woman was also waiting for the sun to descend below the mountain top, which it did at 5:15. We could hear a man calling people, and she called back that she was waiting for the sun to go down. It was nice to share that special moment with her. Then she told me it was time to go down to the bus. On the way down, we passed a guard walking up to bring everyone down.

With the blue sky, a few clouds, and the sunshine and being in such a beautiful place, it was a lovely day. When the sun went behind the mountain, I was glad I’d dressed in layers. I’d taken the jacket off at 10:00, but I was certainly glad it was in my bag at 5:30. I had taken the vest off, too, when it was hot, but then the wind blew and it was cool; so I left the vest on all day, as the wind blew off and on.

On the way back to the guesthouse, I stopped to buy yogurt from my soup maker. She gave me two apples. I ate dinner at a restaurant next to the guesthouse. There was a boy who spoke a few words of English: hello and thank you. He enjoyed communicating and gave me a thumbs up a few times. Another group of people eating there gave me handfuls of peanuts.

When I had settled into my room, the woman brought a man who speaks a little English to talk to me. He told me how much the room cost. I showed him that I had prepaid and called C-trip, the booking company. Fortunately, I had used them, as their customer service is excellent and the agents speak English fluently. I showed him that I was calling the phone number on my reservation paper. He also called even though I told him not to because I was calling. I spoke to the agent and she spoke to the woman manager. In five minutes the problem was solved and the woman left us. However, the man was still on the phone. After a few minutes, he gave me his phone to talk to the woman he had connected with. She wanted more information about me. I told her the problem was solved; so I didn’t understand why she needed more information. Also that the man who called her is not the manager. After a few more discussions back and forth, she asked for my confirmation number and then talked to the man so he understood that I had prepaid. Next he gave me the phone so the woman could tell me I needed to give a 100 yuan key deposit. I explained that I had given 50, which is what I was asked to give. She explained that to him, and after 20 minutes, the problem was solved. When I asked the man, he explained that he is from a place nearby. I know he was helping his friends, but it was frustrating since the problem had been solved quickly and easily.

Monday I woke up at 6:30 to go to the park for sunrise. One of the reasons I had stayed at the hotel nearby was so I could do that easily; so I figured that I should. On the park bus I was with a tour group of Malaysians, Australians (former Malaysians or of Malaysian descent), at least one Indonesian, and a Canadian. I enjoyed talking with them and their Chinese guide. We went to the fourth viewpoint for the sunrise. I was surprised, as I had planned to go to the big hill, which is recommended for sunrise and sunset. 

But the fourth viewpoint was perfect. When we arrived, the pre-sunrise colors were deep. We watched the sun come up over the low layer of clouds. When I had been there in the afternoon on Sunday, the colors toward the west were muted. In the morning they were vibrant. 

The sunrise itself was nice, and I enjoyed watching the changing colors of the landscape. Since we were only thirty people, we could move around. I imagine that during the main tourist season the platform is one big mass of people and there is no moving.

Next I went to the second viewpoint to go up the big hill again. I wanted to see the colors toward the west, as they had been muted by the sunlight on Sunday. And I had envisioned eating breakfast at the top of the hill. When I arrived at the top, a woman ran over to me so she could take my photo for me. This happened more often at this park than it has at any other place. Usually I have to ask someone to take a photo, and they are happy to do it. But here several people asked if they could take a photo for me. After walking around and enjoying the view, I sat on the steps and ate my apple and bread. When I got to the bottom, the tour guide was there and we chatted a bit. She “complained” that some of the people in the group didn’t like the fourth viewpoint at sunrise because the colors weren’t good enough for their photos and they wanted to go back. They also didn’t like the first viewpoint, which I had loved on Sunday. When the Canadian man came down from the big hill, he commented that it would have been better in the afternoon. He couldn’t get good photos of some areas because of the morning light. I responded that you can’t have perfect light in both directions at the same time. I was glad that, although I do enjoy taking photos and taking good photos, that’s not everything. I am able to enjoy what is there even if it’s not perfect for perfect photos.

After leaving the park, I decided to have noodles at the stall again. The woman was happy to see me. I like going to the same place and becoming familiar for a short time. After checking out, I found a taxi immediately. The woman told me the cost would be 20  yuan. I checked and asked if it was 120/$20, as that’s what I had paid to go from the train station to the park and that’s about what I had read is standard for the trip, and she said 20 again. On the way, she picked up three students, and I think they, too, paid 20. When I got out, I checked the fee again, and it was 20. This was a very pleasant surprise.

On the road, we saw a number of trucks full of dried corn being taken somewhere. I’d seen corn drying—cobs and kernels—in yards, on rooftops. We saw truckloads of dried corn plants being taken somewhere for some use, I suppose.

National Holiday and Beyond (10-16)

The National Day holiday was a pleasant, quiet week bordering on a little boring. I didn’t really do much. Just hung out here and relaxed. And did some special eating.

My former student, Zoe, had told me that she has a part-time job at a place that specializes in squid and had invited me to eat there when she’s working. The holiday week seemed like a good time to do that. I invited Kasey to join me, but squid is out of her comfort range. Zoe was very happy to see me and cooked my squid. It is cooked whole on stones and then dipped into boiling water for a few minutes. Then it is cut into small pieces and mixed with several seasonings. I chose a garlic sauce. It was some of the best squid I’ve had; so I’ll return again. Zoe also made me a milk tea, which was free—or she paid for it. Since the café wasn’t busy, she was able to sit and chat with me most of the time while I ate, which was nice.

The next eating outing was with the foreign teachers. We went to a local Thai restaurant that Paul had found. The menu has English, which is always a nice treat, and lovely photos of the dishes. The food was good. I can’t say I’d seen most of it in Thailand, but it may be from other parts of the country.

On Sunday Jinchuan, another former student, wanted to spend the day with me. She came at about 10:15 to cook soup for lunch. She brought chicken and a root herb to make the soup and asparagus lettuce as the other dish. The soup needed to cook for a couple hours to make the broth, as the soup was broth with pieces of chicken—complete with bones and head. I realized that asparagus lettuce is something I’ve had in dishes but didn’t know what it was. The stalk is thick, and that’s the part I recognized. She left the leafy part for me to eat another time. While the soup was cooking, we chatted. After we ate, we chatted some more, and I realized that she really did intend to stay all day. Fortunately, she speaks English well enough that we could have a good conversation and I like her.

I suggested that we go for a walk for something to do other than sit and, admittedly, with the idea that we could separate after the walk. That worked, and after walking we returned to our own residences to have a nap. She planned to return at 6:30 for another walk. Later in the afternoon I decided to turn the leftover broth, of which there was a lot, into American style vegetable soup. So I invited her to go to the market with me. Then she watched as I cut the veggies and added them to the broth to cook. She had already eaten but had a small bowl of the new soup and said she liked it. It turned out to be a pleasant day.

Work started again on the 8^th, and my lecture was that evening. Lectures for the freshmen English majors are every week, and most of us will do two lectures during the semester. Fortunately, I have lectures I prepared in my first semester here. So I just needed to refresh my mind, as I hadn’t looked at it since last year. Since students are required to attend, there are usually about 200 students at the lectures. The waiban advertises the lectures in the administration building with a poster on a bulletin board. 

Photos are taken and a summary and photo are posted on the university’s Chinese website. So this was a moment of fame. 

My post-lecture treat was a special little cake.

We had classes for nine days, including the Saturday on which we did Tuesday’s make-up classes. It was difficult to get into the spirit of planning again, since there were only two classes before the next break for freshmen. But, once I got into class, all was fine. I decided to do a short presentation on Halloween to fill in time, as I didn’t want to start new units. Students loved that.

Student clubs had their advertising and soliciting members displays last week. When I walked past the yoga club, I was asked to participate in the demonstrations. Grace later asked me to go to her ping pong club’s first meeting to help excite the new members. Since she’s one of my special girls, I’m always happy to help her. I was asked to give a brief motivational talk.

After a foreign teachers meeting last Friday, we went to a restaurant that has foreign food. Three of us had the pizza, which is definitely Chinese-style. It’s not something I need to repeat. But some of the other food looked good.

Starting on the 20^th, all freshmen have military training for two weeks. Since I have no classes for two weeks, I asked for and received permission to travel. So I’m off to Gansu province to visit the desert areas. Although part of me would like to just hang out here, I know I’d become quickly bored and I do want to see these places. I think it’s just too soon after my last long travels to be leaving again, but I know I’ll be ready to take in the new sites once I arrive.