My Next Chinese Travel Destinations

When I was in China, I lived in/traveled to a few different cities - Beijing, Lanzhou, Jinchang, Xi'an, Huan Xian, Tianshui, Guangzhou, and Yinchuan.

But that's only a really, really small sample of where I want to go. There are all kinds of beautiful places around China that are just calling my name! When I get back, I'm going to try to visit every single one of them. These aren't really in any particular order.

1. Qinghai Lake (pronounced Cheeng Hi), Qinghai Province


This place is pretty close to where I was at in Lanzhou, but I unfortunately didn't get the chance to visit. It's a really well-known place and a lot of people in the Northwest go to visit it during their school vacations, although from Lanzhou, it would make a good weekend trip! (so I'm told)

This is what it looks like during the early summer - I don't know about you, but this looks like paradise. It's completely unlike anything I saw in China.


Qinghai also has really, really great food (so I've heard), so that's another great reason to go!

2. Tianchi (Heavenly Lake) - Xinjiang Province

Heavenly Lake is in the far-west province of Xinjiang, or as Poise On Arrows puts it, "The New Tibet" hahaha

Seriously, though. She's got an awesome blog, check it out! (it's actually way better than mine)

Anyway, back to it!

3. Dunhuang Grottoes - Gansu Province

The Dunhuang (pronounced "Dune Hwong") Caves are home to the most famous Buddhist carvings and sculptures in China.

The oldest caves were dug out in 366 A.D. for meditation and prayer purposes and the rest of the cave paintings/sculptures span a period of over 1,000 years! Freakin cool!

Seriously, this is sweet.

You don't have to be a Buddhist to appreciate the beauty of the sculptures and the intricacy of the paintings. You don't have to be an artist or a laborer to appreciate how long it took the ancient Chinese to carve out the 492 caves that dot the site.

Lakes like Tianchi and Qinghai are cool and everything, but there are beautiful lakes all around the world.

Places like Dunhuang are places that are unique to the indigenous culture and can't be found just around the corner. I had the chance to go to Maiji Mountain in Tianshui, which is like a smaller scale Dunhuang, and I was struck by the true awesomeness of the place. Awesome like "full of awe" and not like "fried rice is awesome" (though it is).

Read my post about Maiji Mountain here.

4. Jiuzhaigou Nature Reserve - Sichuan Province

Jiuzhaigou (pronounced "Geo-Jie-Go") is probably the most famous nature reserve in China.

This is a picture of Five Flower Lake, which is famous for the crystal clear water in which you can see the trees that have fallen into the water over the years.

Jiuzhaigou is a valley, so naturally, it's surrounded by mountains.

I've been to a lot of beautiful places, but this is honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen, and that's just from pictures!!

I can't imagine what it would be like to go there.

The only problem with this park is that it's in Sichuan Province, which sometimes closed off to foreigners for one reason or another.

The government doesn't announce it either. You can just be on your bus or your train and then the police will stop you and say, "You are a foreigner. Travel to Sichuan is closed to foreigners for the moment due to ethnic tensions in the area", which is a bullsh*t excuse, because Sichuan is a really safe place. If you're going to go, take a Chinese friend who can negotiate with the police. If they're even decently savvy, they can help you talk your way in. After that, it's smooth sailing!

When you get there.....oh boy, wow.

Seriously, just look at that.

I cannot wait to go and see this!!!!

These particular falls are 320 meters long and are usually more full than this --- this is a picture taken during somewhat of a dry spell.

Still, how cool is that?

This is the 长海, or Long Lake, the deepest lake in the valley.



I don't have to say anything -- you can see how awesome this is.

5. Kashgar - Xinjiang Province

Kashgar, as you can see in this map, is waaay out in western China. It's pretty much as far west as you can go......and I thought I was in a remote area in Lanzhou!

It's almost in all of those Stans - Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, and all of those -- and you can tell by the pictures!

Actually, I had only heard the place mentioned once while I was in China, but after I got back, I started reading a blog by this Australian girl called "Poise On Arrows" and she put up a great series of posts about this city in this far-flung area of China.

It took me all of half a post to be entranced by the sheer "Un-Chinese-ness" of the place, according to the idea of China that I had in my mind.

Seriously, it freakin looks like Lawrence of Arabia or something -- and geographically, it's pretty much the Middle East.

It's so culturally different from all the places that I have been been --- can't wait to check it out!

It's definitely not all bright and polished like Beijing and Shanghai, and those are the places that I really love!

How cool would it be to hang out in a place like this??

There's so many unique aspects of these kinds of places -- the language is different, the dress, the food, the downtime activities, traditional customs, everything!

Check that out! Looks like something out of the movie "Alexander"!

There's the Middle Eastern style doors, and the sign next to the door is written in Arabic, not Chinese!

Can't wait to go.

The world is a big, wonderful, beautiful, and culturally diverse place. There's so many people and places out there that we have no idea even exist, let alone what they go through on a daily basis.

We, (or Americans, at least), get caught up in the idea that we are the greatest country on earth, and (subconsciously) think that since we are the greatest, we don't really need to be culturally informed about other places.

I can't wait to go back to China and be thrown into a place that's totally foreign, and, at times, awkward, disgusting, and frustrating! There's so much to learn and so much to see!!!

-----------------------

Feel free to comment or to subscribe to my blog - it's totally free and no sign-up and I would love to hear from you!

Beautiful China, Part 2

(this is Part 2 of a series - for Part 1, click here)

 Again, we are going to start with mountains! There's just something majestic about them. Seeing mountains reminds me of [insert a profound realization about the nature of life that I cannot really express here] and I'll always keep that with me.

(Left) The flat mountain here is Maiji Mountain in Gansu Province. (Below) Taken from Maiji Mtn itself.

Although you can click on these pictures to make them bigger, something is lost when you take a picture of mountains which are surrounded by the early morning's fog. 

Although you can look at the picture and say, "wow...", it is a truly awesome thing to actually experience. Awesome as in the original sense of being full of awe. 

For me personally, there is nothing better than a combination of three things which I love most of all - mountains, cultural history, and China.

And Maiji Mountain gave me all three at once! Buddhist carvings dating back over 1000 years on a mountain in China! How about that?

As I walked along the side of this mountain, I was once again reminded that I was in China - sometimes I forgot that I was on the other side of the world in a country that I technically didn't belong in, but felt like I belonged in.

Sometimes it takes something truly foreign and unique to remind us of where we came from and how we got to where we are today.

When I think of something beautiful, normally I think of the mountains or somewhere far away from the city. But beauty isn't just about mountains and nature. It's about something that is stirred deep within you and reminds you of your humanity and your fleeting time on earth.


(Lanzhou University of Technology campus)

It's not limited to Tianshui, Lanzhou, Beijing, New York, Colorado, or any place.

Beauty is everywhere - you just have to be aware of it, I guess.

To me, the beauty of these places is that all of these places are special to me because I got to Rest. 


That seems to be something that's largely been lost on humanity. The ability to just rest and reflect on yourself. Now life is all about doing and planning, but rest and reflection have been all but forgotten.

(Lanzhou from Bai Ta Shan)

Sometimes you can find the most peaceful and beautiful spots in the unlikeliest of locations....would you care to guess where this is?




Downtown Beijing.

Yep - this is at the Old Summer Palace! It's not exactly downtown - it's north of downtown, but still.....it's in the smack middle of one of the biggest cities on the planet.


Who would've thought it?

Despite its location, it was a great place for introspection and soul-searching.

This was the point in time when I was nearing the end of my stay in China - I had maybe 1 week to go. It was the perfect time and place for me to rest and reflect in the disastrous humidity.

The world is a beautiful and wonderful place, and I've done my utmost to never foret it.

Just try and tell me otherwise.

What do you think? Feel free to leave comments and responses! No sign-up, just leave your name and your comment! I love hearing from you :)

My Favorite Pictures: Part 2

Today is Part 2 of my favorite pictures from my time in China. Just like last time, you can click to enlarge them, and feel free to comment and subscribe!

This is Mr.....we'll call him "Wang". - he is the father of one of my best friends. He comes from a really small and remote village in Gansu Province. He used to work in the fields and also did some construction work on the side. When my friend was in middle school, his dad heard about an opening at the county-level school (the county is 环县) for a village student. He wanted to take a bus to the county, but it had rained earlier that day, so the dirt roads have become unnavigable. Mr. Wang walked all day and all night to that school, and the next morning he met with the school officials and my friend got  the spot! He worked his way up to the number one student in the class all the way up until he graduated high school. He went to Lanzhou University of Technology and is now the number 1 English student at the University AND has spent 1 year studying in America at my university, ETBU. All that is possible because of this man. Although he is still poor and living in a 1-room house that measures about 15' x 10' with his wife, he has moved up into Huan county (环县) and is now an engineer. Imagine that.

These are some of my best friends. L -> R is Ethan, Janson, Freddy, William, Danny, Jim Green, (i forgot this guy's name), and Zhu. This particular occasion, we wanted to find a classroom to hang out in, but they all had students in them. We found one with about 10 or 15 students in it and we pretended that I was a foreign teacher that was going to have class now, so we kicked them out and just chilled! Sometimes being the foreigner is great.....

These two pictures came from the Terracotta Warriors exhibit in Xi'an. The Terracotta Warriors are a true treasure of China and of world history. They have survived since 210-209 BC. They are more than 2000 years old. It's unimagineable. Unbelievable. 

This is an interesting one - a nearly full-sized chariot and charioteer from the Terracotta Warriors exhibit! This is actually made of bronze, I believe.

This is fruit beer! I had it when I was in Xi'an. I don't know how in the world they make beer from fruit, but it's really really really good. It doesn't really taste like beer - it's pretty much just a soda. Kids drink it. I think the alcohol content of 果啤 is pretty much non-existent. When you drink it, you can taste one or two distinctive fruits - for me, the best one I can remember had a great mix of pineapple/apple flavor to it. It's really great stuff. I had it all the time. America needs this. 

This is me in front of Maiji Mountain, a really famous mountain just outside of Tianshi, in Gansu Province. It has 7,200 Buddhist sculptures that date from the 4th century all the way up until the 19th century Qing dynasty. It has 1,000 square meters of murals and the sculptures are scattered throughout 194 caves on the cliff face. 

When you are standing on the mountain looking out, it becomes obvious why the people who did the carving did it here. The landscape is second to none. It truly is majestic and is one of the most beautiful and truly awe-inspiring places I have ever been. 

This photo was taken in Tianshui itself. It's just a kid playing in some water, but the amazing part about the picture is just the innocence and happiness that was happening within that moment. The kid was having so much fun playing in the water, and the father was having just as much fun watching the kid play in the water - even the guy way over in the background of the picture is watching them. In the picture, it looks a little creepy, but it was not. He was smiling and watching them play in an innocent way.

It's truly reflective of the lifestyle in Tianshui - it is probably the happiest city I visited in China. Everyone was out and about and just enjoying themselves. People were doing Tai Chi everywhere, people were singing songs, playing instruments, reading - it was kind of like a dream, really. It was a great place, and to me, this picture just embodies the life there. I hope to go back one day.

This is me having dinner with Mr. Xi and his family - to me, it was an honor. After I heard his story, I could barely look him in the eye, but he was honestly one of the happiest men I ever met. He had the biggest laugh lines and Crow's Feet that I have ever seen. Although he was a poor man, he offered me so many gifts and treated me as royalty - he had never been around a foreigner before and I was his honored guest. But, for me, the honor was being accepted as a part of his family. His son and I are brothers, and I believe his father treated me as a son. 

These two pictures mean a lot to me. The first one features my friend Ethan's arm as we skipped rocks down on the Yellow River. Imagine that - skipping rocks on the Mother River. Our group of five had nothing to do, so we went out to Lanzhou's Xi Zhan aka West Station, and had hotpot. After that, we walked around and went down to the river. It was just a time for us to be kids for a bit - we were 10 years old again and skipping stones on the river.

A beautiful twilight after a beautiful day in Lanzhou. 

Tianshui and Maiji Mountain

Tianshui is the second largest city in Gansu Province, but you'd never know it - I spent almost a week there and I thought it was only about 400,000 people! I thought it was a small city until I looked it up on Wikipedia after my trip! It has a real small-town feel to it; people are happy and seem to know each other, life is super-relaxed, and the natural beauty surrounding the city makes you forget that you're in a big city. Crazy!


Overall, I think Tianshui is my favorite city (or possibly Huan Xian, but we'll get there later). I had a wonderful time meeting lots of great people and eating some good food - especially the mutton. It was a really enjoyable experience. 

Benjamin Xi, a Chinese friend of mine who studied a year at ETBU, has an uncle who lives there and own the 黄河原 water company, a prominent bottled water/office water cooler supply company. Here's a picture of them:

He knows pretty much everyone in the city, but he's way down to earth. He was so nice and so gracious. One day he took us to Maiji Mountain, a very famous mountain in China.





When we got there, he called the Tianshui tourism bureau or whatever it is, and the head of the bureau let us in for free because he's a friend. Holy crap! The entrance fee was like 80元 or something, and we had 8 of us! Well done, sir!


We climbed the mountain and took a lot of pictures and really enjoyed the scenery. After that, we went to a really cool restaurant over a little pond and had some great food and great conversation. 

He wants me to come back and visit him when I return to China and come into his business and help maybe branch out to other places! We'll see what happens :)


Tianshui was a great place and Maiji Shan was truly majestic, but the treasure of Tianshui lies in its people. They're so loving, giving, open and hospitable, so it was tough to leave there, but I have fond memories of the times I had.

The mountain is immediately visible from a distance due to what I call its "straight-down-ness".

Not natural.

Wow, there's a lot of empty space here with this picture haha...


Anyway, I had only heard of the place and hadn't seen any pictures or anything, so I didn't know what to expect...needless to say, I was struck by the scale of it -- it's a freaking mountain full of Buddhist carvings!! A MOUNTAIN!!!

Dude.

If you click on the picture, you can see how tiny the people are in comparison to the stature. It's insane.

All of those little windows are grottoes with statues/paintings inside.

There's 194 of them.

That doesn't sound like a lot, but trust me, 194 grottoes handcarved into the side of a freaking mountain is a big deal. 

Normally, I hate having pictures taken of me, but this time I had to do it --- the scenery was just to beautiful and the place was just too unique to do without it.

Some of the Buddhas like this one date back almost 1,000 years. Dude, look at that. Looks pretty good for 1,000 years unrestored! Carving grottoes was a good idea -- keeps the paint out of the sunlight!