Lanzhou, Linxia, and beyond!

I returned to China in a whirlwind of delayed flights and sickness, but the good news is that I had time to rest when I got back. Jet lag hasn't been bad on any of my other trips between here and the US, but this time-because I had so much free time- it was awful! Because I wasn't feeling well I decided that my first day back I could sleep all day...well that wasn't a good idea. That next night, I slept from about 10pm till about 4am...I laid in bed awake until about 7, but was tired again by 11am...It became a vicious cycle...I eventually regained my norm...up til at least midnight and awake at 9:30 or 10am...but it took about a week. A week after I returned to China, I was over jet lag and on my way to the northwest provinces!
I went on a week-long trip that took me almost into Tibet! It was some of the most beautiful scenery I have ever experienced! This blog is about that week.


A few facts:

Xian (the city where I live)
population: Approximately 10 million
land mass: 9,983 square kilometers (about the size of one and a half Delawares)
elevation: about 400 meters above sea level (apr. 1300ft)

Lanzhou (the first city)
population: Approximately 3.3 million
land mass: 14,620 square km (about the size of Connecticut)
elevation:1600 meters (apr. 5200ft)


On Monday we took a night train from Xian to Lanzhou! We arrived in Lanzhou at about 7am where we met one of our friends, Jason, outside the train station.
First we went to his house and met his wife and daughters, and then quickly proceeded across the street for breakfast! The famous breakfast of champions in Lanzhou- beef noodles! These were the best noodles I have ever had in China!
Then we went to the Yellow River to ride down it on Goat Skin Rafts...yep its true.

Goat Skin Rafts- they take goat skins (8-12 of them) and tie them up at the feet and neck...the bottoms have been sewn together...and blow them up...with their mouths (I have pictures don't worry). The skins are tied to a grid of sticks and then there are cushions placed on top of that for the riders to sit on. So yes I rafted down the Yellow River on a Goat Skin Raft...it was pretty cool to see the yellow river that close up!

Then, after riding down the river, we took a ski lift sort of thing to the top of the mountains that were on the other side of the river...we were able to see all of Lanzhou from up there, well all that the pollution would allow us to see.
Lanzhou is heavily polluted because of its geographic location mountains all around and the yellow river to pull it into the valley. The pollution gets stuck...Lanzhou is kinda famous for its pollution. Even with all of the pollution, there was a nice park at the top of the mountain.

Then we had lunch at a Brazilian BBQ place called 'How Nice.' Then we moved on to the next city...

Linxia (the Mecca of China)
population: approximately 300,000
land mass: really small...couldn't find the info:(
elevation: 2000 meters (apr. 6500ft)

In Linxia, we explored a little bit and then had dinner on the street! A few of us (me and the other young ones...all were 10+ years younger than me) stayed up and played cards for a while...The next morning we got up really early and hiked up to a daoist temple...it was very quiet up there...we climbed 300 stairs to get there...needless to say, by the time I made it to the top, I was ready to dance around like Rocky Balboa ( I did a little dance) but it wasn't the same without the music...Then we did sort of a scavenger hunt to other mosques and temples...We were looking into the religious aspects of the area...After a little shopping and some lunch, we moved onto the next city...Xiahe!

Xiahe (basically Tibet)
population: approximately 75,000 about 80% Tibetan
land mass: apr. 6000 square kilometers (about the size of Delaware)
elevation: 3000 meters on average (apr. 9750 ft)

First let me say that the drive to Xiahe was beautiful...Mountains lining both sides of the road...blue skies with big white puffy clouds, and a small river/brook that ran along the side of the road the whole way to Xiahe!
Xiahe has one main street and one huge lamasery (don't know about that spelling)...Even though Xiahe is rather small...It has 5 western restaurants...hotels where people speak English, and about 1200 Tibetan Buddhist monks...This was a really relaxed city...It was so nice to be there...However, we went on a tour of the lamasery and all I can say is it was hard to see all of these people walking around the lamasery, spinning the prayer wheels...the monks spend hours and hours memorizing and studying their philosophy and then praying...you will see lots of pictures...Even with all of the sadness I felt spiritually, the lamasery was beautiful as the sun rose over the mountains around it...Xiahe is a peaceful place, but there is lots of unrest there. Because most of the people are Tibetan and the land is still part of China, there are some political issues...We didn't really experience this, we just know about it. While in Xiahe I ate a yak burger...and got up to see the sunrise twice, and laid in a field at night to watch a meteor shower, and saw more stars than I think I have ever seen. I could even clearly see what I think was the milky way!!! It was totally awesome, and it was cold in the mornings and in the evenings...I loved the weather there!

We drove back on Friday and we drove through Linxia (china's mecca) at the time for the call to prayer...it was very interesting.

This trip was very spiritually charged, and I loved learning all about what is going on around me...I learned a lot! There are some really awesome pictures from this trip!

More Pictures from this Adventure