STOP PRESS:
Up to now, I have not seen any communist party propaganda in China compared to Russia where it is everywhere. I expect I will see some in Beijing. Also, English is hardly spoken. Thank goodness for Dr Google, who has been instrumental in helping me with locating shops and finding supplies.
I think everyone was glad to complete our last day of bush camping. You could tell since everyone woke early and we left early at 7am bound for the city of Xining. We passed more of the old Great Wall before our climb into the Huangshui Mountain Range and onto the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau at a constant 3,000m elevation. We topped out at 3,500m. The plateau is very green and full of agriculture. Encountered plenty of mountains covered in pines. It took 5hrs to drive the 399km to the Kumbum Tibetan Buddhist Monastery just 25km outside Xining. Xining is famous for this monastery, visited by many Chinese as well as Tibetans. We parked the truck and caught shuttles across 6km to the monastery. This monastery complex comprises many buildings and temples and was founded in 1583 by three monks to honour Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, who was born in the nearby village of Tsongkha in 1357. It took me 2hrs to cover the key temples which contained marvellous Buddha statues as you will see below. I shall explain the main difference between Tibetan Buddhism and Chinese/Indian Buddhism. This complex also contains a college to teach new monks and of course living quarters for the monks who live on site. In the 1950s there was a peak of 3,600 monks living here but sadly at the end of 2024 there were only 400. This was another crowded venue but given its size I was able to get people-free photos. Our visit ended at 430pm and we made our way to our hotel in Xining.
Xining (Pop 2,741,300. Elev 2,275m) is ultra-modern with apartment and business skyscrapers everywhere. Xining was a commercial hub along the Northern Silk Road's Hexi Corridor for over 2,100 years, and was a stronghold of the Han, Sui, Tang, and Song Dynasties' resistance against nomadic attacks from the west. Islamic traders and settlers from Persia and Arabia began arriving in China during the Tang Dynasty in the 7thCentury AD via the Silk Road and established communities in Xining. Over time, the they intermarried with Han Chinese and other ethnic groups, adopting Chinese language and customs while retaining their Islamic faith and cultural practices forming the HUI PEOPLES now an ethnic group in Xining. In 763AD Xining was overrun by Tibetans, many of whom stayed after it was recovered by the Song Dynasty, which led to the introduction of Tibetan Buddhism and the establishment of the Kumbum Tibetan Buddhist Monastery. As a result of these two big historical events Xining is now predominantly Islamic and Tibetan Buddhist.
Our arrival to our Xining Hotel was met with another setback – same one as before but the outside tyre on the other side – we hit a low concrete barrier which distorted the rim and let air out of the tyre. Just bad luck to get another flat within 24hrs of the last one. There was no time to do sightseeing in Xining given my supplies depletion due to the two nights bush camping so I went shopping to restock my kitchen and post my blog. Please enjoy images of the huge Kumbum Tibetan Buddhist Monastery…
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Running Xining was high, cold but easy. 2,135m elevation explains the 9C sunrise but with plenty of wide footpaths to by-pass the busy boulevards. At 845am we caught taxis 6km to our parked truck and set off for Bingling Si, 234km away along the mighty Yellow River. The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of 5,464 km (3,395 mi). Is starts in the Bayan Har Mountains and empties into the Bohai Sea (below Beijing). The river is named for the yellow colour of its water, which comes from the large amount of sediment discharged into the water as the river flows through the Loess Plateau. The Yellow River basin was the birthplace of ancient Chinese civilization. According to traditional Chinese historiography, the Xia dynasty originated on its banks around 2100 BC. The river has provided fertile soil for agriculture, but since then has flooded and changed course frequently, with one estimate counting 1,593 floods in the 2,540 years between 595 BC and 1946 AD. As such, the Yellow River has been considered a blessing and a curse throughout history, and has been nicknamed both "China's Pride" and "China's Sorrow".
We continued our drive along the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau but this time whole cities sprung up in its clutches between mountains sporting high-rise apartments. Just what everyone who lives here does for a living is beyond me but my guess is manufacturing and power stations given the copious amounts of overhead power lines everywhere. We arrived at the boat terminal on the shores of Liujiaxia Reservoir at around 130pm for lunch before the cruise to Bingling Si to see the Buddhist Grottoes with sculptures & the giant Maitreya Buddha. The Liujiaxia Reservoir is man-made, formed by the Liujiaxia Dam on the Yellow River. It occupies over 130 km2 and averages 1,735 m (5,692 ft) above the sea level. At around 230pm the cruise company cancelled the trip to Bingling Si due to an incoming storm. We could see the ominous dark clouds closing in with a rising wind. First time anything had been cancelled in 90+ days of constant travel. I felt slight relief in that we would have a free afternoon given our hotel was close by, on the outskirts of the city of Yongjing, right next to the Yellow River. The downside was not as many good photos for this day. The day did end brilliantly with the BEST DINNER to-date at the hotel. The whole truck went to a restaurant next door that does Vietnam-style “Hot-Pot” where you pick raw veggies and meat and cook them yourself in a pot or wok in the middle of your table. No good for William and I that are used to doing take-away and eating in our room to a movie. I suggested we try to find another place even though we were 2km+ from the centre of town. William suggested the hotel even though none of the crew mentioned it had a restaurant as an option to next door. Bingo. The hotel receptionist invited us to level 3 for dinner !!! Level 3 comprised individual rooms with tables and we sat ourselves down. No one else was there. The Chef and 3 wait-staff approached us with a giant picture menu. Perfect. We would dine alone in our own room with beers, veggies and meats so we went upstairs to grab our computers and watched our movies while we ate. Heaven. Garlic broccoli, garlic Bok chow, roast beef with spices, sweet & sour chicken and fried rice. BEST DINNER to date and only $40AUD for both of us with two beers each. It made the day and night !!!
The following morning (Thu 26JUN) we were cruising by 8am. Another long 419km, 7hr, drive as we inched our way to Beijing. We continued along the plateau with a parade of several large cities, mines, manufacturing plants, power stations and agriculture, all mixed together. This particular drive proved to me the awesome commercial strength of China and the fact that it was on its way to becoming the number one economy on the planet – it is only a question of “how soon” !!! About one hour from Maiji Mountain we entered multiple valleys at 1500m covered in thick green forest. The truck parked 3km from the Grottoes and two cars ferried us the rest of the way. This is a spectacular site. A huge stone monolith with a vertical face sporting 5 giant Buddhas mounted on it with grottoes everywhere linked by scaffolding and stairs and concrete pathways that hug the vertical face with views straight down. You start on the ground at one end and mount several stairs, walkways and landings to the top and the then more of the same back down to the other end.
The Maijishan Grottoes are a series of 194 rock-cut grottoes (man-made caves) cut into the Maijishan Mountain or Maiji Mountain near Tianshui, Gansu Province, northwest China near the Silk Road. They contain over 7,200 Buddhist sculptures and over 1,000 square meters of murals. The mountain is formed of purplish red sandstone. Construction of the grottoes began in the Later Qin era (384 - 417AD). The Maijishan Grottoes are especially important to Chinese Buddhism because of a manuscript of Golden Light Sutra written in late Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) on the right cheek of Amitabha Buddha. For this reason, this place is UNESCO protected and considered by most Chinese Buddhist as the number 2 pilgrimage site behind the Mogao Grottoes that we visited near Dunhuang.
I spent two hours doing this and filming / photographing the grottoes with Buddhas inside along the way. It was very challenging since the walkways are right up against the vertical cliff face and you cannot step back far enough to capture the front face – only from the ground as you will see in the photos below. From here, our family run hotel is inside the compound only 4km from the grottoes. It was a cosy place but featured two strange inclusions: one-time use paper towels for showering and pillows with rice in them !!! Not the best. It is a pity because the rooms were cosy, clean and airconditioned with a very hot modern shower. The family cooked for us and we ate in their courtyard. Very nice. That evening William and I settled for a deep and meaningful conversation on the world’s major religions having a Sunni Muslim, Tibetan Buddhist and Orthodox Christian around the table with plenty of beer and wine to fuel the conversation. The only fuel you need are the photos below of the impressive Maijishan Grottoes…
TIBETAN vs CHINESE BUDDHISM IN A NUTSHELL
Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism are two different practices that were formed on the same teachings.
In both Tibetan and Chinese Buddhism, the practitioner is trying to attain enlightenment, the ability to break away from the cycle of rebirth and suffering, known as “samsara”.
Chinese Buddhism requires the follower to completely change his or her lifestyle in order to become a successful Buddhist. On the other hand, Tibetan Buddhism only requires the follower to change his or her perspective on life.
Tibetan Buddhism places a strong emphasis on the guru-disciple relationship, with lamas (teachers) guiding students through specific practices and initiations. Chinese Buddhism encourages the efforts of the individual.
Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies are often elaborate and visually striking, involving chanting, music, and symbolic gestures whereas Chinese Buddhism is focused on chanting and silence.
Tibetan Buddhism incorporates elements of Tibet’s former religion of multiple deities linked to nature whereas Chinese Buddhism incorporates elements of Chinese Culture such as the chants or food s offered to Buddha.
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