This is one heck-of-a-post, will probably become the highlight post of China with so many remarkable landforms…
It all began at 9am on 20JUN when the truck rolled out of Humi. Another 413km drive to our two-night stay in the city of Dunhuang in a new province. After just one hour driving we entered the grand Gobi Desert. We would spend the next four days in this vast wilderness and I would return to the Gobi on the Mongolian side after 10JUL. The Gobi Desert is a large, COLD desert with ROCKS instead of sand !!! It is the sixth-largest desert in the world measuring 1,600 km from southwest to northeast and 800 km from north to south to give an area 1,295,000 square kilometres or 5.3 times the size of the UK. It straddles the north of China and the south of Mongolia along their borders. The Gobi is overall a cold desert, with frost and occasionally snow occurring on its dunes. This is because it is located on a plateau roughly 910–1,520 m above sea level, which contributes to its low temperatures. It usually averages -23C in winter and 18C in summer. The lowest temperature ever recorded was -40C. An average of about 194 mm (7.6 in) of rain falls annually in the Gobi. More on the attractions in the Gobi later, as I visit them both here in China and in Mongolia. The rest of the trip was flat, yellow and hot thanks to the Gobi. We pulled into our hotel in Dunhuang at around 5pm with plenty of time to find supplies and dinner. Dunhuang looked terrific – wide tree-lined streets, heaps of shops and restaurants and a kick-arse supermarket with CHEESE and WINE in it !!! Still no olives as I was told – only in the east. That night was a blast. We attended an outdoor Cultural Spectacle, showcasing the history of Dunhuang with several sets and live performances. We sat on a circular stage that actually moved between three different sets – amazing. The costumes, lighting and projected images were first class as was the music and even fireworks. The only downside was the covered equipment at the front of the moving seating that blocked some of the actors. The show only lasted one hour (930-1030pm) and I was glad to be back in my bed ahead of my run in the morning.
I ran right up to the famous Mingsha Mountain (Sand Dune), exactly 5km from the hotel and back again – would visit it later today. After my 4th run in China I cleaned the truck windows and then set out to visit the city of Dunhuang. Dunhuang (Pop 182,400. Elev 1,142m) was a major stop on the ancient Silk Road and is best known for the nearby Mogao Grottos. Dunhuang is situated in an oasis containing the Crescent Lake and Mingsha Mountain. Dunhuang commanded a strategic position at the crossroads of the ancient Northern Silk Route and the main road leading from India to Mongolia. Dunhuang was first inhabited 2,000 years ago and was conquered by many of China’s Dynasties. My first impressions of Dunhuang were spot on – it is a very picturesque, easy-going, clean, well-serviced city to visit – in fact, my favourite Chinese city to date. Just the right size and temperament. Please enjoy some shots before I hit you with the main attractions…
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At 1pm we set off from our Dunhuang Hotel to the nearby Mogao Grottos which turned out to be my 4th favourite Chinese attraction to-date after the Terracotta Soldiers, Great Wall and Forbidden City !!! The Mogao Grottos, also known as the “Thousand Buddha Grottoes” or “Caves of the Thousand Buddhas”, form a 1.6km long system of 492 Buddhist Temples, 25km southeast of Dunhuang. The caves contain some of the finest examples of Buddhist art spanning a period of 1,000+ years. The first caves were dug out in 366AD as places of Buddhist meditation and worship. Later, the caves became a place of pilgrimage so more temples continued to be dug-out until the 14th century. Thousands of important Buddhist scrolls/documents were discovered in 1900 in the so-called "Library Cave" dating back to 406-1000AD and the caves contain over 45,000sqm of frescoes and 2,000+ sculptures, making them one of the largest repositories of Buddhist art in the world. For these reasons, the caves became UNESCO protected site in 1987.
Our visit to the caves started with a single screen cinema documentary followed by a 360 degree, IMAX-style, 4D film documentary which was simply SPECTACULAR – better than IMAX since the caves are all around you (front, back and sides) like you are in the room yourself. The colours and detail was also amazing. So good I filmed the best bits for you and wait to you see the photos of it below. After this cinematic sensation we visited 8 important caves. They are adorned in wall paintings and large painted statues most dating back to the 4th to 7th Centuries AD. There are literally thousands of painted Buddhas. The colours are vibrant and look like they were painted a few decades ago. They even rival Christian frescoes I have seen around the world. This place is a significant cultural treasure and showcases the significant impression Indian Buddhism has had on China over the centuries. Taking photos in the caves is prohibited so that you do not damage the frescoes but this is rubbish given the strong torch light used by the guides !!! No risk, no reward – I took photos in stealth mode as you will now see…
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We arrived at our last stop at 6pm !!! The grottos were hard work in 34C heat and over 4hrs long !!! The Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake were swarming with people. Thousands. Everywhere. It took 20min to get tickets !!! Same story as the Heavenly Lake, only 10 times worse. Don’t get me wrong. The dunes are big and spectacular and the crescent lake is OK but the crowds destroy the mystique and turn it into an over-populated Disneyland making it a bad experience. I knew this would happen when I saw many lines of tourists climbing the dunes like rows of ants on my morning run at 8am !!!
The Mingsha Mountain or Echo Sand Mountain is actually a giant sand dune poking out of a range of dunes, about 40km in length, 20km in width and 100m in average height (the top of Mingsha is 1,650m above sea level). The Mingsha Mountain is composed of tinny hyaline sands of five different colours: red, yellow, blue, white and black, and winds its way up and down showing different shapes. Some of the sand dunes stand like a golden pyramid, some lie as the fish scale, some wave like a snake. The biggest feature of Mingsha Mountain is that the sand echoes here. When a strong wind blows, you can hear a loud roaring sound made by the moving sands. When a light wind blows, the sand echoes like some gentle sound of orchestral music. This is how the mountain gained the name of Mingsha (Echo Sand Mountain).
The Crescent Lake is shaped like a crescent moon. It is located in an oasis surrounded by the sand dunes of Mingsha Mountain. The lake is nearly 100m long from south to north. The largest width is 25m, and the largest depth is 5m. Crescent Lake is known as the First Spring in the Deserts because it has never dried out since its origin. How can this be if it is located in the Gobi Desert ? Good question ! Legend has it that it is the remnants of an ancient river fed from underground water. Another interesting geographical phenomenon is that the surrounding Mingsha Mountain sand dunes never end up in the lake because of the wind direction is constantly AWAY from the lake on all sides !!!
Sadly, if there was singing sand, you would not be able to hear it over the voices of thousands of Chinese tourists. I managed to get some tourist-free shots by picking dunes without people on them or removing hundreds of them using my Samsung deletion feature. What is strange is that we did not see a single other non-Chinese tourist !!! We were the only ones !!! What is even stranger is that the local people seem to enjoy thousands of each other’s company. Everyone is smiling with selfies and streaming despite the thousands of others in their backgrounds !!! Not for me. I hope I can convey the mystique of the landscape in the following tourist free photos…
I cannot remember another day on this trip that I was more tired and desperate for a shower and wine than the day we saw the caves, dunes/lake. We got back at 9pm and it was 1030pm by the time I sat down to eat and drink. I cannot even remember falling asleep !!! Just as well because the following morning (Sun 22JUN) I awoke well rested for our long drive into the Gobi for our last bush camp. Set off at 8am with very similar scenery as the drive to the caves. Very flat with sharp craggy ranges on one side and nothing on the other. Eventually we saw some agriculture and lots of wind farms. As usual, the toilets were terrible along the way making the thought of bush pees and poos seem so attractive – at least there is no smell !!!
After 371km and 5hrs we arrived at our attraction-along-the-way: the “Jiayuguan Fort”, also known as the “Jiayuguan Pass”. This fort actually marks the westmost end of The Great Wall of China !!! Built in 1372 during the Ming Dynasty, it served as a significant military defence point along the Silk Road and is known for its well-preserved architecture and strategic location. The Great Wall here is not so great – it is quite short at only 4.2m in height but at least it is the “start” or “end” of it whichever way you look !!! More on the Great Wall when we see a big section of it near Beijing. Despite its age, Jiayuguan Fort is one of the best-preserved Great Wall fortresses. We drove a little further and got the opportunity to climb the Great Wall of China roughly 7km before it ends at the Jiayuguan Fort. For this reason, this section of wall is known as the “Jiayuguan Great Wall”. I climbed from 1,691m to 1,808m (a rise of 117m) over a length of 570m in 12min. The wall here is narrow at only 1m across but the view from the top tower is to die for. The biggest treat of all is that we bush camped right NEXT to The Great Wall of China !!! It wasn’t a grand section but it was the actual wall nevertheless. My tent was right next to the wall !!! Slept like a baby but you do not need sweet dreams when you can enjoy images of the wall…
Not only did we have dinner and sleep by the wall but we topped it off with brekkie at 630am. By 730am we were rolling again and headed 222km towards the Rainbow Mountain Range, officially known as the “Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park”. These spectacular jagged peaks are renowned for their vibrant, colourful rock formations. These stunning landscapes are located in the Gansu province, specifically within the eastern foothills of the Qilian Mountains. The unique colours and patterns of the “Danxia Landforms” are a result of the deposition of red sandstone and other minerals over a period of 24 million years, followed by tectonic activity and wind/rain erosion to form jagged towers, pillars, and ravines. Iron oxide and other minerals within the rock layers contribute to the vibrant red, yellow, and other colours. The landforms cover 322 sq km at elevations between 1,500m and 2,000m. Once the truck was parked we walked to a huge ticketing hall. You then catch hop-on, hop-off buses to 4 distinct stops organised in a circle in an anti-clockwise direction. Each stop has a number of viewing platforms. Each stop has landforms of different shapes and sizes. All are simply stunning. The best stop is easily number 4 so I decided to visit it first. I then did, 1, 2 and 3. Stop 2 was second best followed by 3 then 1. I have seen landforms like these in Utah USA but not to this scale and extent. Well worth the visit and will let the photos do all the talking !!! We spent 3hrs at the landforms and left 230pm for our very last bush camp to bring my total nights in my tent to only 8 out of 92 !!! The camp was another 3hrs away. For almost half the trip we could see the original Great Wall passing through fields and town – this section was built 650 years ago by the Ming Dynasty which was the last dynasty to finish the wall. This section does not look like much and has many bits missing with uneven tops and sides that have been eroded by weather and not repaired. I guess if you have 21,192km of wall, the budget to keep it in good condition would be the National GDP of many nations !!! Then some bad luck. As we were pulling off the main highway to find our camp site, we heard a huge gush of air and a tilt in the back – the truck had run over a big piece of split metal from a roadside barrier and punctured the rear outer driver tyre (there are twin tyres in the back). Felt sorry for Adrian who had been driving all day and now had to change a tyre as big as an aircraft tyre. He did well. Lucky he found a concrete driveway and was able to change it in 25min flat (pardon the pun) !!!
Tonight’s bush camp was extra special and very tolerable since it was our LAST ONE !!! Yeah !!! The site was 143km from the landforms and was extra special again – next to the original old section of The Great Wall of China. Two nights in a row – we may as well be terracotta travellers !!! Our site was at 2,160m elevation so quite cool. It was a terrific final camp with plenty of wine, cheese, olives and YAK !!! I invented yak-stuffed olives !!! Our last camp site was magic with a magic bush camp sunset. Now it’s time for some spectacular shots of the Danxia Landforms to help you sleep…
FAREWELL BUSH CAMPING !!!
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