Could you help me plan my trip?

[suMMit]

I think the closest city to Yongtai is Baiyin. We stayed the night in Baiyin on the way down from Wuwei. Looking at the map, I see there is a Natl park called: 寿鹿山国家森林公园 about 12 min drive from Yongtai. 

 

Yangguan is another place I ran out of time for, about an hour from Dunhuang.

 

I found typing in a city like say "Wuwei" into the the Trip.com app and then clicking "Attractions" gives you lots of interesting things to see within an area of like 100km in every direction and most have reviews. This is very useful for less obvious places. It also helped me skip places like Jiayuguan. For example, I remember thinking about this one, but didn't go:

[abcdefg]

On 8/6/2024 at 4:33 PM, lordsuso said:

But I definitely will find a way to go to Yongtai, that's the kind of scenery that draws me to the region, it reminds me of one of my favorite Chinese films "Swordsmen in Double Flag Town" which was probably filmed in Gansu or Xinjiang.

 

I spent half a day in a movie studio outside Yinchuan where quite a few Chinese martial arts films were shot. One could walk into sets of places that you remembered from scenes in famous 武侠 films, especially ones that were set in "China's Wild West" -- dry, rolling hills, sand. "龙门客栈" type surroundings. I think it was this one, though I'm no longer 100% sure. (It was a long time ago.) https://factsanddetails.com/china/cat7/sub42/entry-7604.html 

[lordsuso]

Ok so here is what I came up with, I ended up following most of the advice shared here so I want to thank everyone again for their help. I also recommend this site http://www.silkroadshow.cn/, and the documentary 河西走廊 (2015). I decided to go to Qinghai rather than Gannan, it made more sense thematically to me. 

 

day 1: beijing           >> Old Summer Palace

day 2: yinchuan      >> 西夏王陵 (Western Xia Imperial Tombs) + 贺兰山岩 (Rock Paintings of Helan Mountain)

day 3-4: zhongwei >> Tengger Desert + Yongtai (I'll try to hire a taxi for half a day to take me there)

day 5: xining           >> Kumbum Monastery + Donguan Grand Mosque

day 6: chaka lake

day 7: bus to zhangye (hopefully I can take the alternative route that Summit shared that goes by the north of the qinghai lake rather than back to xining)

day 8: zhangye             >> Giant Buddha Temple + Zhangye Danxia Landform Geographical Park

day 9-10-11: dunhuang >> Mogao Grottoes (and maybe Yulin Grotto) + ruins (玉门关, 阳关, 汉长城遗址, 河仓城遗址) + Yadan National Geologic Park

day 12-13: lanzhou  >>  Gansu Provincial Museum + buying gifts + Maijishan Grottoes

day 14: beijing         >> I'll try to find a ticket for an opera, and I'll treat myself to some cupping treatment (it never fails to fix my crappy back)

day 15: plane

[abcdefg]

On 8/27/2024 at 9:09 AM, lordsuso said:

day 14: beijing         >> I'll try to find a ticket for an opera, and...

 

Reminds me that when I was in Yinchuan, one of the things I stumbled upon was a group of itinerant opera performers singing and passing the hat at the main square in the evening after dark. It was late spring/early summer and the square was walking distance from my hotel. Lots of street food, grilled eggplant, roasted peppers, meat on skewers 烧烤, flat bread, watermelon slices -- all of that with live classical music. I couldn't believe it. Large portrait of Mao over the main gate, doubtless modeled after Tienanmen 天安门。

[lordsuso]

I just came back from the trip. Overall it was a fantastic experience, this was my first time in China with a more mature understanding of its history and culture, so I was able to enjoy things on a deeper level than when I was younger. My Chinese is also significantly better now, so the interactions were much richer and I even made a couple of friends. The food was also amazing, and @abcdefg 大盘鸡 was indeed one of my favorite meals! I was alone and spent 950 euros (+ plane ticket + gifts). Here is what I ended up doing:

 

day 1: beijing

Plane was delayed so I didn't have time to do anything.

- night train to yinchuan

 

day 2: yinchuan

I didn't visit the movie studio you mentioned @abcdefg because it's not really my thing, but every taxi driver told me I should go, so it's definitely one of the prides of the city. The city itself is not very interesting, although there seems to be some nice parks I didn't have time to go to.

- 贺兰山岩 (Rock Paintings of Helan Mountain): I really enjoyed it, and I can see kids particularly liking it because it's pretty fun to find the paintings. The museum is also nice.

- 西夏王陵 (Western Xia Imperial Tombs): It has a great museum on the xixia dynasty, and the scenery is beautiful. The tombs themselves are in pretty poor shape but overall I recommend it.

 

day 3: zhongwei

I didn't have time to visit the city.

- Tengger Desert: This was my first time in a desert so I really enjoyed it, I don't know how it compares to others.

- Yongtai: I hired a taxi for 550 yuans to take me there. It's not too far away (1h45 one way) but the tolls are pretty expensive so I ended up paying more than I expected, but it was worth it, thank you very much for the recommendation @suMMit, definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

- night train to xining

 

day 4: xining

 The city is nice, particularly the muslim district. I regret not going to the museum, apparently it's very good.

- Kumbum Monastery: The temples are nice, and it is interesting to see a functioning monastery.

 

day 5: 坎布拉 kanbula national geopark

Absolutely stunning section of the 黃河 river, and with very few visitors (almost none). To get there you need a long-distance bus from xining (30yuan) + a taxi to the entrance (20yuan), and the ticket is pretty expensive (170yuan), but it is worth it. A guy told me that the huge Buddha statue they are building up in the mountains is a project started by the Kumbum monastery, but it depends on private funds (the state won't help) and they are struggling to find any, so it's been on hold for the last 10+ years. I am sharing this only because I am very proud I understood it.

 

day 6: chaka lake

This might have been my favorite non-dunhuang day, it is beautiful and very interesting. I am happy I followed the advice here and didn't stop by the qinghai lake, which is also beautiful but you get a very thorough glimpse at it on the road to chaka. Upon arriving at the hotel in Chaka (Wulan Novelty Inn, booked with Ctrip) they told me foreigners were not allowed, so I had to go to another one that surprisingly didn't try to fleece me despite my situation. The people in the entire trip, but specially in Qinghai, were very nice.

 

day7: road to zhangye

This was a bit of a wasted day, I ended up taking the same chaka-xining bus because I didn't manage to find an alternative route. Then a xining-zhangye train. Upon arriving at zhangye I had a very nice massage + cupping at 希秀盲人按摩.

 

day 8: zhangye

The city is small but nice, there is a nice museum.

- Giant Buddha Temple: Big buddha indeed.

- Zhangye Danxia Landform Geographical Park: The colors were a bit pale because it was windy so the sand blocked the sun, but it was still stunning.

- night train to dunhuang

 

day 9: dunhuang

The city is small but has a nice night market.

- Crescent lake: I really enjoyed this, the sand is much softer than in Tengger so it's much more difficult to move around, and the dunes are much higher. After an hour of hiking I was completely alone.

- Mogao Grottoes: Stunning, but frustrating. Not because of the price (258yuan), but because you only visit 8 caves and barely spend 5 minutes per cave. But of course they do that for preservation purposes, so I understand.

 

day 10: dunhuang

I booked a group tour to visit the western side of dunhuang. This was my favorite day and the main reason behind the trip.

- Dunhuang old city: Absolute garbage, everything is new and doesn't really make any sense, there is even a replica of the greek parthenon...

- Western Thousand Buddha Caves: Most of the art is from the 回鹘, so it's a nice complement to Mogao, but obviously not as spectacular.

- 阳关: Beautiful views.

- 玉门关 + 汉长城遗址 + 河仓城遗址: Stunning ruins.

- Yadan National Geologic Park: This was so weird, like being in a different planet!

 

day 11: jiayuguan

I didn't have time to visit the city, but it seemed pretty ugly with plenty of factories.

- Weijin tombs: One of the highlights of the trip, the paintings are beautiful. There was literally nobody there, which I don't understand.

- Great Wall: Nice I guess, but heavily restored and the views are not that beautiful.

- Jiayuguan fort: Like @Jan Finster said, not really worth it since most of it is also restored. But the sunset was nice and you get a nice view of the terrain. It is indeed a pretty narrow section of the Hexi corridor between the two mountain chains, so it makes sense why the Ming started their great wall there.

- night train to tianshui

 

day 12: tianshui

I didn't have time to visit the city.

- Maijishan Grottoes: Beautiful grottoes, but in very bad shape because they are pretty exposed to the elements. Also, I don't recommend it if you have fear of heights! Or insects haha.

- Fuxi temple: For such an important temple that draws so many believers, the statues of fuxi are pretty ugly.

 

day 13: lanzhou

I spent the day with a local I had befriended in zhangye, she took me to the Gansu Provincial Museum (very nice, I really wanted to go there ever since @suMMit shared a picture of the bronze horses), the iron bridge, and a couple of statues I wanted to see. Very nice way to end the trip.

- night train to beijing

 

day 14: beijing

I only had half a day, so ended up just buying gifts. I tried both the mei lanfang theatre and the changan grand theatre, but sadly none had an opera show that evening.

 

day 15: plane

[abcdefg]

On 10/28/2024 at 5:10 AM, lordsuso said:

I spent the day with a local I had befriended in zhangye, she took me to the Gansu Provincial Museum...

 

Bravo! This is the sort of thing that almost never happens when you don't speak the language. It enriches a solo trip so much! Once on a long-distance bus in West China I struck up a conversation with two grad students, who were traveling from Chongqing to their home near Changsha for a national holiday. They absolutely insisted that I get off with them so they could treat me to a hot pot meal that showcased local specialties which were in season for only a short time. My schedule was flexible, so I accepted their kind invitation and had a most memorable detour. 

 

I'm convinced that was cosmic reward for about a thousand hours of dry SRS vocab building drills and 500 hours of sentence grammar exercise. 

[lordsuso]

On 10/28/2024 at 4:19 PM, abcdefg said:

I'm convinced that was cosmic reward for about a thousand hours of dry SRS vocab

hahaha absolutely

 

As someone who has mostly learned outside of China (I lived there for 6 months as a beginner), it felt very validating to realize that yes, what I've been learning is actual Chinese. It is weird because of course I know it is, but there is a big difference between understanding a podcast and understanding what an actual human being is saying to you. Same for speaking, it felt surreal the first few times I said something more complicated than "where is the toilet?" and people actually understood me. 

 

Here is a random observation: there were a few people that approached me to speak in English, which I don't remember ever happening in my previous trips from 5+ years ago.