Day 8 - Wuwei to Jiayuguan
Wuwei was once a prominent city along the Silk Road, connecting China and Central Asia, Mongolia and beyond. Traders from India, and modern Afghanistan walked through Wuwei and brough Buddhism as well as goods and services east. Our hotel in Wuwei was the three star Tian Ma Hotel.
Day 8 takes us from Wu Wei to Jiayugan, which is the first pass at the western end of the Great Wall of China. We started out the day traveling west (that’s the way to Paris) on the expressway. At approximately 150 km west of Wu Wei, it passes thru the Great Wall. That’s correct, a toll road cuts right through the Great Wall.
W
e spent the rest of the day looking for routes with varying degrees of success. More on that later, first let me fill you in on lunch. We had lunch at a farmer’s kitchen. It was a kind of bread and breakfast home-style cooking like mom use to do. There were 10 of these places on the road. We entered through a courtyard and shown to a private room with table and couches we chose the couches and had a great lunch sitting on the couch and eating off the coffee table. Lunch consisted of chicken and chicken feet! You will learn that nothing is wasted.
After lunch we found a great road that wound through some farmland and lakes and suddenly ended at a
construction site. As usual, we asked for directions. Well Sim asked and we listened to the animated conversation in the middle of the desert that we had just entered; No problem, just turn left and at about 15 km, you will rejoin the road.
Well, left led us into a scene out of Laurence of Arabia. Driving along at 10 km, we got stuck fast and high centered in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of China. Being seasoned travelers, we were well prepared for such an incident and resorted to digging ourselves out with our bare hands. Needless to say, we chose a different route to finish the day.
Our 450 km day turned into 700km, by the time we reached the hotel in Jiayuguan. After a shower, (we needed it), it was an easy walk to the local restaurant near the Hotel for a meal of seafood stew, baked carp, candied yams, and oh, don’t forget the appetizer–donkey. Yes, I had never eaten Donkey before either. ( and it did not taste like chicken!)
I can’t wait to see the reaction and reception we are going to get from the people as we bring the Great Race 2008.through China on our way to Paris. The Gobi Desert next!!
On the Road,
Wayne
Lanzhou, with a population of 3.2 million people, is the capital of Gansu Province and is located right in the center of China. It also has historical significance thanks to being located where the Silk Road crosses the Yellow River.
Leaving Lanzhou was no problem. Just a quick u-turn out of the hotel, one left-turn to cross the Yellow River and you’re out of town. This morning, the weather was overcast and cool. At 2200 meters (7,200 ft) elevation, it reminded me of central Nevada
Today’s Weather was 75 degrees. In the mountains, the high was in the 60’s. Gas and diesel is everywhere!. By the way we climbed to 2600 meters and spent some time in the fog today! It was cool, literally!
We are spending the night in Wuwei where I did my laundry. 4 shirts 4 pair of pants 6 underwear and 6 pair of socks. There was a 50% surcharge for same day service and the cost was $6.75. And they had it back to my room in two hrs! Wu Wei! Yep, that how you say it! well almost.
After a visit to the temples atop Kong Tong Mountain, we continued to head west and circled a mountain shrouded in fog, climbing to 2700 meters about 8500 feet before dropping into valley and on to lunch on national road “312″.
This afternoon, we left the national road and wander through an amazing countryside that must have taken centuries to carve into the terraced fields that filled the horizon. Along the road people were selling fruit and vegetables. We saw beekeepers perched along the steep slopes overlooking the valleys.
At one point, we stopped in a small village at least 40 kilometers from the nearest main road and walked along the road and spoke, well tried to speak with the locals. Every Chinese word I attempt brings big smiles to people who have seen few westerners. I asked Sim our guide how many foreigners visit this area his answer was that HE had never even been there!
After a great night and a breakfast buffet to match the 5 star rating, we were back in the hunt for those great China roads. After leaving the city center, through North Gate of the old wall that surrounds the city, we were on our way northwest along the great Silk Road, through the province of Shaanxi. We found two great things, one was very good road signs, and the second was plenty of great roads. Our mission since day 1 was to find the roads “less traveled”, and today we achieved our mission!
Our hotel was the Grand Hotel, centrally located near the airport and rail station. The 4-star Grand Hotel is one of the largest hotels in the area. The rooms are air-conditioned and it has a business center.
After leaving Luoyang we followed our maps in search of 318. It looked to be a significant road according to our maps and should be clearly marked. Unfortunately, we were not able to find the beginning of the road. We used every means at our disposal including asking for directions from a local motorcyclist who led us to what he tried to convince us was “318″. We followed his directions but never found it.
you will eventually rejoin the expressway. We know that somewhere out there “lies” what we are now calling the “gui road” (gway) ! translated the “ghost road”
Xuxhou (Shoe zo) is a large transportation hub at the corner of the four provinces in the southeast of the North China plain. Renowned for being the birthplace of the first Han emperor, the city has its own miniature army of terracotta soldiers, discovered in a 2000-year old tomb in 1984. Our hotel was the New Century Grand Hotel, situated on the banks of the Yunlong Lake and is spectacular.
All along the way, we have encountered road crews maintaining the roads. The crew we passed today consisted of one woman, dressed in a day-glow orange jump suit and armed with a straw broom. She was sweeping rocks out of the fast lane, 20 kilometers from the nearest exit! She looked up at us as we passed a mere 3 ft to her right @ 150 kph, and yes, her back was to us. Just another day at her office, 20 kilometers of super highway
!!!..Straw broom???
The line of trucks was 2 miles long! Some of the trucks had children riding in the bed of garlic as they accompanied their parents to the market. The kids were cute but did have a distinctive odor. One footnote there was not a vampire in site! Just another day in China!
headed out northwest toward Xuxhou (shoe zo). Once again, we are following a different itinerary than originally planned to avoid Beijing and the 2008 Summer Olympics, as recommended by our team in China. As you may know, the Yangtze (formerly Yellow River) is the third longest river in the world at world 6,300 kilometers.
A word on the highways in China: There are really four types of roads in China; the Expressways, which were built in the last 20 years and are similar to the Autobahn in Germany; super high quality and an easy drive; the National Roads, which are the about the same as the freeways built in the 50’s and 60’s throughout America, and then there are the provincial roads which are very much like the U.S. State highway system; finally, there are the smaller roads, which could be as small as an ox cart path and very interesting.
interesting driving style of being polite but aggressive.
Shanghai is an amazing and exciting city. It’s like New York City times three. The hotels are amazing and first rate. We spent some time in Shanghai looking at hotels and the route. Our guide Sim led us around Shanghai quite a bit exploring different ways of getting out of the city while encountering the least amount of traffic. We’ve developed a plan to overcome that concern.
