Xinjiang Trip Day 17 (5-4-2007)
I had made a deal with a driver the previous day to show me around the sights for 180 RMB. The first stop was the “Overhanging Great Wall”, which was a disappointment. It was just a heavily restored section of the Great Wall which happened to run up a mountain side. I didn’t get what was so remarkable about it or why it was ‘overhanging’. It was nothing compared to the Great Wall at Simatai near Beijing.
Up on the wall I ran into a Sichuanese girl and Hong Kong guy who I had seen checking into my hotel at the same time as me the previous day. I had figured they were probably tourists too and nearly asked them if they wanted to share a car. It turned out the girl had been thinking the same and nearly asked me but wasn’t sure if I would speak Chinese so hadn’t. We almost decided to pay off one of our drivers for part of the day and have them go back but decided it was a bit evil.
Predictably their driver charged 30 RMB less than mine, possibly another example of the ‘foreigner price’. Later I did sound my driver out about the morality of ‘foreigner prices’ and he seemed to find it all very natural. He was a nice guy and all, and besides just driving me around he accompanied me into a couple of the sites and gave me a bit of an introduction to them, so if he overcharged me a little he also did a little extra to earn it. It is depressing though just how ingrained the mindset of gouging foreigners is among some Chinese.
Anyway, the next stop was the most westerly watch tower on the Great Wall, which is located above a river gorge a few kilometers to the west of the Jiayuguan fort. The tower was badly weathered but the location was dramatic. There was also a reconstructed Qing Dynasty military camp which was worth a quick look.
The highlight of the day was the Jiayuguan fort itself. The fort lies on the edge of the Gobi desert guarding the strategic pass of Jiayuguan, and was historically considered to mark the end of China proper. The air was still dusty so there were no views from the fort. It was a shame because on a clear day the scenery should be quite dramatic, with mountains on either side, the Gobi desert to the north, and more fertile plains to the south. The fort itself was impressive though, and though parts were reconstructed the reconstruction had been done quite well. Parts of the complex were locked up because of it being the low tourist season, and nor were any of the martial arts performances advertised at the front gate actually happening. Up on the battlements though there were women hiring out bows and arrows and letting people shoot at armor wearing straw targets below. It was pretty good fun.
The last stop was the tomb of an official containing bricks showing scenes of daily life from several centuries AD. The bricks in the photo are from another similar tomb nearby that was excavated and moved to the Gansu Provincial Museum in Lanzhou.
After having a coffee and some dinner (lamb stew and salad of something called ‘bitter vegetable’ – 苦菜) I took an evening train to Lanzhou. The train ride was uneventful. The attendants seemed desperate to sell yogurt and constantly came past offering it. They even found an English speaking attendant to drop past and offer me ‘sour milk’. I guess somebody overbought yogurt. A pair of Chinese guys sat getting drunk on Baijiu and boisterously declining the yogurt each time it came past. The last guy in my compartment was slightly unusual. He was more smartly dressed than most train travelers, in a pin stripe suit, pink silk tie, and fashionable metal rimmed glasses, but what really marked him out as different was his choice of water bottle - a spill-proof a baby bottle, complete with a teat. I waited for things to turn bizarre. Maybe he would wake up at 45 minute intervals during the night and loudly demand we feed him? However, besides his odd choice of water bottle he seemed perfectly normal. I suppose a spill-proof baby bottle is the ideal thing to drink from when lying in cramped sleeper berth, since you can drink while lying horizontally without worrying about spillage. Perhaps he just valued practicality above self image? Maybe he was worried about dripping water on his suit.
Everybody ignored me and I managed to get a little sleep.
