Last night we stopped in Pingliang, located in eastern Gansu Province. This historical city, now home to 2.2 million was a stop for travelers (and us) as they made their way west on the great Silk Road from Xi’an. Nearby is China’s most sacred Taoist site, Kongtong Mountain, where dozens of temples and ancient pagodas dot the landscape.That was our first stop this morning and I must say it was spectacular! Most of the mountain is covered by forest and steep, imposing cliffs that fill the sky. . I’m told that it is a natural habitat for approximately 1,300 species of animals and plants. The ridges and peaks are

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″.

For lunch we had baked carp and some other local delicacies, preferring to stick to hot dishes and avoid fresh items that may not agree with our western stomachs. Lunch was $5, total for everyone!

Kongtong Mountain was the start to a day filled with the sites and sounds of what the real China is all about. Today we got to experience its history, its artistic landscapes and beautiful and friendly people first hand. Today we avoided the expressway in favor of the highways and back roads in search of great roads for next year’s Great Race.

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!

We are still in search of those great roads and today we found many.

What is amazing about this Great country is that after leaving those great back roads we joined an expressway and entered Lanzhou a vibrant city of 3.2 million plus people and pulled into a 5 star hotel.

The city was created in 86 BC and became an important strategic town on the ancient Silk Road. I can’t wait to see what’s around the next bend

Word for the day!!!!Wu Fan (woo-fan) Lunch

On the road,

Wayne

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 29th, 2007 at 9:12 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.