Travelling along the ancient Silk Road and through Tibetan areas (October 2024)

Travelling along the ancient Silk Road and through Tibetan areas (October 2024)

Every year it gets more difficult for me. Where to go and what to see this time in China? I have seen already so much in the western parts of China. But luckily, I came up with some new and very interesting things to do and to see. I had already visited the Tibetan part of Gansu province. But Gansu province has a lot more to offer. Part of the ancient Silk Road goes trough Gansu. Along the Silk Road, Gansu was an economically important province, as well as a cultural transmission path. Temples and Buddhist grottoes contain artistically and historically revealing statues and murals. I really wanted to see some of these sites. So for my October 2024 travel in China, I choose to travel in the provinces Sichuan, Gansu and Qinghai. And it sure didn’t disappoint me. I saw (again) very special and beautiful things. And also had a fun trip.

Chengdu (Sichuan province)

As always I flew from my home country Holland to Chengdu, China. In the past I could do this with a direct flight from Amsterdam to Chengdu with the Dutch carrier KLM. But unfortunately, the KLM doesn’t fly to Chengdu any more. So I booked my flight again with Air China. That means first flying with Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then onto Chengdu with Air China. The flights were fine. I was unlucky on my flight to Chengdu because the screen at my seat didn’t work. Well, that was also my luck. I got another seat with more room for my legs and no one sitting next to me. Great!

The plane arrived on time at the new Tianfu International Airport of Chengdu. This airport is located approximately 50km from Chengdu. Luckily my guide and driver were waiting for me at the airport and soon after landing we drove to Chengdu, to the hostel I had booked.

We had a quiet day in Chengdu. We did some obligatory things like exchange money and bought some things. And that evening we watched a square dancing. I had seen that already in many Tibetan towns. But it’s also done in a big city as Chengdu. And more specific in the Tibetan district of Wuhou. And on my first day here I immediately had a fling with a cute, little baby boy at the dance.

Sanxingdui Museum / Deyang (Sichuan province)

The next day our round-trip started in the province of Sichuan. High on my to do list was the Sanxingdui Museum, located about 38km north from Chengdu. On this spot they discovered remains of the old Shu kingdom, dating back to about 4.500 till 3.000 years ago. Most famous are the many bronze masks they found. To me they look a bit alien. I was very impressed, and even flabbergasted at what I saw in the museum. It was so special. It’s a great and modern museum. My guide and driver enjoyed the museum also very much and took – like me – lots of pics. They hadn’t been here before, so it was also new to them. Like all of the first part of our trip through Sichuan and Gansu was. There were lots of visitors that day at the museum. But because the museum is so very spacious, you could have a good look at al the objects.

After visiting the museum we drove north, to the city of Deyang, where we stayed the night and had a lovely hotpot (with duck) dinner.

Langzhong Ancient City (Sichuan province)

The next day it went further north, to Langzhong Ancient City. We drove through a green, hilly landscape. On the way we were having a rest and a picnic at a service area at the highway. At Langzhong we first looked for an hotel. I got a lovely room with a great view on the modern apartment buildings of Langzhong. The lady at the reception of the hotel didn’t know how to register a foreign guest (with a passport) in the registration system for the police. But my guide is very handy in all kinds of things and he could help her out. That afternoon we took a taxi and we visited Langzhong Ancient Town. Langzhong Ancient Town is situated on the banks of the Jialing River. We had a nice lunch there looking out over the river. Langzhong Ancient Town is lovely and it’s quite big. A lot of students were making a painting of the houses in the ancient city. Of course it’s touristic and there were (Chinese) tourist there. But it’s not overcrowded with tourists. I really liked it.

At the end of the afternoon we took a taxi back to our hotel. Directly behind our hotel, there was a big open air night market with lots of restaurants. Very colourful! There were lots of people at the night market, enjoying the food in one of the many restaurants. We did the same and enjoyed hot pot again. The weather was great with a nice temperature, so eating outside was lovely thing to do. The next morning I got my breakfast delivered to my hotel room.

The city of Tianshui (Gansu province)

The next morning we were on our way again, to the city of Tianshui in Gansu province. First we drove a long time on the highway, but to get to Tianshui, we made a short cut between two highways. That meant that we drove for quite a time on a very narrow road through the mountains. I really loved that because of the view on the mountains but also because we drove through small villages.

When we arrived in Tianshui city, we found a good, central hotel with a nice room. Unfortunately the rooms we choose had no window. Therefore my cheapest room till now, about €25 for a night. The advantage was, that in the room you couldn’t hear the noise of the busy street in front of the hotel. That’s why we choose these rooms. We would stay two nights at Tianshui.

That evening we explored the ancient centre of Tianshui. It’s not very big and not touristic at all. But it was colourful and lovely. And we had hotpot again as dinner in a restaurant, owned by people from Chongqing, the city famous of its hotpot.

The following day we visited two interesting sites. In the morning we visited the Fuxi Temple. The Fuxi Temple is a large and well preserved Ming Dynasty architectural complex. It was built about the year 1490 to worship the god Fuxi, who was believed to be one of the ancestors of all Chinese. The Tianshui Museum is located inside Fuxi Temple scenic area. It is dedicated to preserving local history through its collection of over 40,000 historical artefacts.

In the afternoon we visited the Maijishan Grottoes on the Cliff. The site is about 45 km from Tianshui city. It’s one of the “Four Greatest Grottoes in China”. Maiji in Chinese means “piled sheaves of wheat”. That’s what the Maiji Mountain looks like and why it got the name. Maijishan grottoes were firstly built in 384-417 AD and expanded in the following dynasties such as Northern Zhou (557-581 AD) and Tang (618-907 AD). Now there are 221 caves, 10632 clay sculptures and more than 1300 square meters of murals. When we arrived at the (new) visitors centre at the entrance of Maijishan, we wanted to park our car there at the parking lot. But a local lady (a parking attendant) said we could have lunch at her restaurant inside the scenic area. So she stepped into our car and we drove to the village inside the scenic area and had a nice lunch at her restaurant. To go further to the grottoes we had to take the shuttle bus. But there was a local driver that offered us to bring us to the entrance of the grottoes and back again. We took his offer and this way we arrived at the grottoes.

Maijishan Grottoes can be roughly divided into western cliff and eastern cliff. The first thing we saw at the grottoes was the big statue of the Amitabha Buddha attended by Avalokitesvara on the western cliff. There are many so called “special grottoes”, which are not open to regular tourists (I think they are mainly on the western cliff). To visit them you need to pay additional fees. We didn’t do that. But we could visit the grottoes on the eastern cliff. On the rock wall, layers of plank roads are built. The tour route of the Maijishan Grottoes is very simple, as long as you go up the wooden plank roads built between the mountains and visit the grottoes along the way. Hard to miss on the eastern cliff is the trinity of Buddha and two Bodhisattvas, which is the largest statue on the mountain: the cave’s central statue of the Buddha tops out at 15.7m. There were many caves there with beautiful statues, still with colours on them and great paintings. What can I say. It was unbelievable and so special. I was looking forward to the other grottoes with ancient Buddhist statues and paintings, I would visit on this trip.

Liujiaxia town (Gansu province)

The next day we were on the road again and were driving past the big city of Lanzhou. After passing Lanzhou we came into a mountainous area. We were on our way to the town of Liujiaxia. This town is located on the banks of the Yellow River. But more important for our visit, it’s located near the Liujiaxia Reservoir, a reservoir formed by the Liujiaxia Dam on the Yellow River. I had a great view on the Yellow River and the town of Liujiaxiazhen from my 10th floor hotel room. That evening we walked along the Yellow River. My guide and driver looked long for a specific restaurant serving fish. And we found one and had a great dinner eating a delicious fish.

We had come to Liujiaxia to see some ancient Buddhist grottoes again: the Grottoes of Binglingsi or Bingling Temple. The Bingling Temple Grottoes are on the Liujiaxia Reservoir. To get there you need to take a speedboat from the dam to the grottoes. That takes about 50 minutes. A normal boat is also available but not recommended because it will take 2-3 hours. When we arrived at the parking lot from where the boats are starting, it seemed there were not many visitors that day. So it was the question when a boat would be full of visitors and would start the trip to the grottoes. That’s when a local man addressed my guide and driver. He could bring us with his car to the grottoes and it would be cheaper than the speedboat. We agreed and stepped in his car. He drove us back to Liujiaxia, we drove over the bridge to the other side of the Yellow River and up into the mountains. It was a great ride on a small road of about an hour (about 45km) with beautiful views on the surrounding mountains. And then we were at a small parking lot directly near the site of the grottoes. We bought our tickets and went in, the local guy would be waiting for our return. The grottoes were firstly built in 420 AD at the end of Western Qin, then the work continued and more caves were added. “Bingling” in Tibetan means “Thousand Buddha”, so Bingling Temple Grottoes are also called Thousand-Buddha Caves. At present, there are four layers in total with 183 caves and niches, 694 stone statues, 82 clay sculptures, and 900 square meters of murals. Of course you can’t visit them all. But I must say, what I saw was again very interesting and special. And the scenery there was so beautiful! And we were lucky. Today there were few people visiting the grottoes. After our visit the local man brought us back to Liujiaxia.

The city of Wuwei / Tiantishan Grottoes (Gansu province)

Our next destination was the city of Wuwei. We were going to higher altitudes. This day we were driving on the highway at an altitude of more than 2800 meters and we saw snow on the mountains. About 40km before we reached Wuwei, we turned off the highway and drove about 20 km to arrive at our first destination. An artificial lake, the Huangyanghe Reservoir. There we visited the ancient Buddhist Tiantishan Grottoes. There are several grottoes but you can only visit the biggest grotto. The biggest grotto is 30 meters high, 19 meters wide and 16 meters deep, in which a sculpture of Sakyamuni Buddha is housed. The sculpture is 15 meters high, and 10 meters wide. On the right and left sides of Sakyamuni are sculptures of Manjusri, Samantabhadra, Virapaksa, Vaisramana, Kassapa Thera and Ananda. Above in the grotto there were several beautiful paintings on the walls of the grotto to be seen. They are preserved very well. It’s not a really big site to visit but it’s excellent. There were a lot of buses with Chinese groups that visited this site. So it was quite crowded. After visiting this grottoes, we drove to Wuwei where I had an hotel with a luxury hotel room.

Zhangye/ Linze / Mati (Gansu province)

The next day we drove to the city of Zhangye. On the way we saw the remains of the Great Wall of China next to the highway.

We didn’t get a hotel in the city of Zhangye but in the town of Linze, about 45 km further on the road. This way we were closer to the Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park. We visited the park the next day. Known for its colourful rock formations, it has been voted by Chinese media outlets as one of the most beautiful landforms in China. It became a UNESCO Global Geopark in 2019. The mountains are so full of several colours. That’s why to are also called the rainbow mountains. It’s quite a big park but you go with hop on, hop of buses to the five big platforms, from which you have an excellent view of the mountains. The platforms were very convenient and you could see the mountains from different angles. Of course there were visitors to the park but it surely wasn’t crowded. It was obviously not high season any more. The weather was a bit cloudy that day, but you could enjoy the colours of the mountains for sure.

Near Zhangye I also wanted to visit the Mati Temple Grottoes. It’s located at Sunan, 60 km away from Zhangye. So after visiting Danxia Geo Park we drove to there. We drove with our car into the scenic area of the Mati Temple Grottoes and there was a very small village there with a small hotel and some small restaurants. We stayed there for the night. The surroundings of Mati Temple are beautiful with green hills and waters and surrounding high peaks of the with snow on them. I had a great view from my hotel room on these white, high peaks of the Qilian Mountains. The Scenic Area is also known for the Yugur People, which is a unique minority group in Gansu Province, living at the foot of the Qilian Mountains. They are the descendants of a nomadic tribe that originally lived in Mongolia. Because it was already late in the afternoon and soon it would get dark, we had a quiet rest of the day.

The following morning we visited Qianfo Cave also known as the Thousand Buddha Caves. This was a Tibetan Buddhist Temple constructed in the Yuan Dynasty (1271 – 1368 AD) and now is a Chinese Tibetan Buddhist Temple. Luckily we were there early and there were not many visitors yet because the passages and stairs are very narrow. We had no problem to climb up and go to the different grottoes/temple halls. We’ll, beside one, the highest of them all. There are no normal stairs going to that one. It’s climbing up and you have to be strong, supple and brave to do that. I didn’t, my driver didn’t but my guide got up, leaving his big camera with me. With his phone he made a video of the way up and the statue in that grottoe.

After that we visited Pagoda Forrest. There are dozens of pagodas in different shapes densely scattered in the red palisades forming a holy forest. Although most of them were built in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 AD) and have been weathered a lot in the long time, these pagodas still remain their distinct lines.

After that we drove off, turning southwards to the big city of Xining.

The big city of Xining (Qinghai Province)

As said, we drove south. Through the white, snow-capped Qilian Mountains, to the big city of Xining in Qinghai Province. After arriving in Xining, we found a great hotel in the centre of the city. I had a great view from my room on the 12th floor on the surrounding high buildings. We would stay there for two nights. In the afternoon we explored the surrounding area at our hotel. There were lots of shops, restaurants and a square with an exhibition with flowers and promoting of selling apartments. So it was nice and colourful.

The next day we visited the Kumbum Monastery or named Ta’er Temple, about 30 km south of Xining. It’s one of the six important monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Kumbum Monastery was founded in 1583 by the third Dalai Lama, Sonam Gyatso, and is closely associated with Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The story of Kumbum Monastery began in the 1360s when Tsongkhapa’s mother built a small temple and stupa on the spot where the great Tibetan teacher Tsongkhapa was born. When his mother cut the umbilical cord, a sandalwood tree (the “Tree of Great Merit”) grew from where the blood dropped. Another version of the story says Tsongkhapa’s father took his son’s afterbirth and buried it in the ground and soon after, a sandalwood tree grew on the spot. The leaves and bark of the “Tree of Great Merit” bear mystifying images of Buddha’s face and other divine symbols. This sandalwood tree is still situated in the compounds of the sacred Kumbum Monastery.
In 1576, a powerful leader named Altan Khan from the Tumed Mongols invited Sonam Gyatso to Mongolia to teach Buddhism. After Altan Khan embraced Buddhism, he gave Sonam Gyatso the title ”Dalai Lama”, which means “ocean” in Mongolian. Dalai Lama” is a combination of the Mongolic word Dalai (‘ocean’) and the Tibetan word Lama (‘master, guru’). It means “ Ocean of Wisdom”. As the 3rd Dalai Lama journeyed to meet Altan Khan, he stopped at a peaceful place near the tree which is Tsongkhapa’s birthplace. Here, he dreamt of building a large monastery. In 1583, this dream became a reality and it is called Kumbum Jampa Ling.

It is now a very touristic site and there were many Chinese tour groups. But there were also Tibetan pilgrims. Almost nowhere in the monastery it’s allowed to make photos. So I only have a few taken. As it was autumn, the trees slowly lost their leaves. So did the Tree of Great Merrit, when I was there. It was a windless day. So not many leaves of this tree fell down. But some did and there were many pilgrims waiting around the tree to see a leave falling down and picking it up. I also tried to get a fallen leave, but the pilgrims were too quick for me. But my guide managed to get three leaves and he gave me one of them. Later, when we were having lunch in a nearby restaurant, he had the leaves sealed, so it would be preserved. Of course I took the leave home with me at the end of my China trip and I will keep it in good order. It was good to be in the Tibetan atmosphere again! That evening we had a lovely dinner in a very nice Tibetan restaurant in Xining.

Rebkong (Qinghai Province)

Our next destination was Rebkong (Tongren in Chinese), about 160 km south-east of Xining. Rebkong has some big and important Tibetan monasteries. At Rebkong we visited the big Rongwo (Longwu) Monastery. In the front of the monastery is a square with a big, golden Tara statue. The monastery currently has nine temples and around 600 monks. It wasn’t allowed to make photos inside most of the temples. But we were lucky. In some halls – we’re we were the only visitors inside – the monks allowed us to take pics. I like Rongwu Monastery. It’s not so touristic as for instance Kumbum Monastery, that we visited yesterday. Here at Rongwu Monastery there were only pilgrims. And me. That evening we had a hotpot dinner in a lovely restaurant.

We had been at Rebkong a few times before and we stayed at the same hotel, I had been at my previous visits. But they had clearly renovated the rooms since my last visit. It was now a lovely room. There was only one problem. The rooms in the hotel are so warm and I can’t put the heating off. So it was sleeping with the window open en still having it warm.

The next day, before we drove off, we visited Lower Wutun Monastery, situated in a village about 7km from Rebkong. This monastery is easily recognisable by eight large stupas out front and a new triple Buddha statue. But there are two more, beautifully decorated stupas. The temples of the monastery itself were closed, except one smaller hall. That hall contained a beautiful statue of the Maitreya Buddha.

After visiting this monastery, it went on the road again for us.

Xiahe / Labrang Monastery (Gansu Province)

After leaving Rebkong, we drove to the town of Xiahe with it’s big and important Labrang Monastery. The route on the way went through snow capped mountains. And on the way we also saw the work on the railway to be constructed, on which the fast strain in due course is to run from Chengdu to Xining. Everywhere we saw the support pillars already standing in the landscape. Since late August the railway is finished till Songpan and the station for the parks Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. I would take the fast train from Songpan to Chengdu at the end of this trip.

After arriving in Xiahe, we checked in in an hotel, we used already several times on previous trips. It’s not far from the big Labrang Monastery. This hotel is okay but it’s a bit worn out. After having a late lunch we walked the kora around the monastery. There were many pilgrims walking the kora. The kora is about 3.5 km. We were very lucky because when we walked at the backside of the monastery, we suddenly saw the monks were chanting outside on a square in the monastery. Of course we went there to see it. And I could make some nice pics and videos.

The next day we used to explore the monastery itself. Labrang Monastery is one of the six big monasteries of the Gelug sect of Tibetan Buddhism. There are about 1000 monks at Labrang. Lots of pilgrims visit Labrang but it’s also a very touristic place. Very different than when I visited China and Labrang for the first time in 1997. Unfortunately making pics now at Labrang gets more difficult every time I visit Labrang. Nowadays it’s not only not allowed to make pics inside the several temples but also not at the outside of the temples. You can only make pics outside on the public squares and streets. Luckily I managed to make some nice pics of the monks, who were gathering for a service.

As I said, our hotel was a bit worn out. So my guide had looked for another place for us to stay on our second night in Xiahe. And he came up with a beautiful alternative. We moved to a beautiful Tibetan family guesthouse. We were the last guests there this year because from now on the guesthouse would be closed because it has no heating. But I slept wonderfully warm, partly thanks to the electric blanket, while outside the temperature dropped to -9ºC. The only downside of this guesthouse is, that its further away from centre of Xiahe and the Labrang Monastery. But we had visited the monastery already.

Hezuo (Gansu Province)

And the next day we were off to the town of Hezuo, a drive of about 65 km. At the town of Hezuo is the famous Milarepa Temple. What makes it unique is its unusual structure: it is a 9-storey tower. Each floor contains a separate temple, where different spiritual leaders from varying Buddhist sects are worshipped. The exterior of the tower looks modern but the interior is entirely made of wood (including the stairs) and the floors are creaky. You have to put off your shoes when entering the temple. It was cold inside the temple and the floor was even colder. And I can say, when walking there a long time, my feet became quite cold. Of course we climbed up to the 9th floor. There were not many visitors in the Milarepa Temple at that time, so we almost had it for ourselves. We also visited the monastery annex to the temple. We were lucky because the monks were chanting inside the great assembly hall. Unfortunately, again no pics were allowed taken inside the temple and the assembly hall of the monastery.

We looked for a hotel in Hezuo. There was only one hotel, that accommodated foreign guests and this hotel was quite expensive. So we drove to the next bigger town Ma’ai in Luqu County and found a nice hotel there.

Awancang / Nima Town in Maqu County (Gansu Province)

The next day we were driving through green, hilly landscapes with vast grasslands with yaks, sheep, goats and also some farmland.

We drove to a Nyingma sect Monastery, about 7 km from the village of Awancang, where is the biggest Prayer Wheel in the world. Till yesterday, I hadn’t heard of this big prayer wheel. Not until my guide and driver told me we would go there today.

The prayer wheel stands at a height of 42.38 meters, with a bottom diameter of 12.43 meters and a top diameter of 17.6 meters, weighing a staggering 320 tons. The body of the prayer wheel is made of alloy, adorned with scriptures and relief Buddha statues, and covered in pure gold foil. Inside the prayer wheel, there are approximately 110,000 volumes of scriptures, weighing a total of 86 tons. With the addition of the body and the scriptures, the total weight of this prayer wheel exceeds 400 tons. At first, when we arrived, I thought that the prayer wheel was turned around mechanically. But I was wrong, it is done by the pilgrims by their hands and body. Because the prayer wheel is so big and heavy, that’s hard work. I experienced this myself. Of course I also made some koras turning the prayer wheel. And I needed all my strength to help other pilgrims to turn the prayer wheel. But at some moment I was about the only one left turning it. I could not get it moving any more. Next to the big prayer wheel was a big, high “tower” totally filled with stone slabs, all containing the mantra “Om mani padme hum” in Tibetan script of course. Afterwards we had a nice lunch at a small restaurant in Awancang.

After lunch we drove to Nima Town in Maqu County, where we found an hotel to stay the night. We wandered around in the streets of the city enjoying to see the activities of local people there.

Langmusi (Gansu and Sichuan Province)

Our next destination was the town of Langmusi (Taktsang Lhamo in Tibetan), a drive of about 70km. Langmusi is known for it’s two big Tibetan monasteries. It’s has become a touristic place. The town in partly located in Gansu Province and partly in Sichuan Province. I had also been there last year, during my travel in June 2023. At that visit I had a good look at both monasteries. This time we took it easy and we just wandered around and I visited only one of the monasteries, Kirti Monastery. It was a relaxed day. We had a nice Tibetan guesthouse at Langmusi. The only disadvantage was, that the rooms had no heating and only an electric blanket. So it was a bit cold in the room till I went to sleep. But we had a nice dinner at the restaurant of our guesthouse.

Zoige (Sichuan Province)

And on it went to the town of Zoige (Ruoergai in Chinese) in Sichuan Province, a ride of approximately 70 km. We searched there for a hotel in Zoige. We inspected the rooms in four hotels and decided to get a room in last hotel we inspected. After checking in and having lunch, we walked to and visited visited the Dazha Monastery. This is quite a big monastery. Unfortunately the Main Assembly Hall of the monastery wasn’t open. But I was still lucky. In a small temple there was a special ceremony with monks wearing a five Buddha hat, a so called Ringa. On display at this hat are the five Dhyani Buddhas. The Ringa is a ritual cap which worn by the Buddhist monks while performing very specific, tantric rituals. You very seldom see this. So I was very lucky I could watch it with some Tibetan pilgrims from the entrance of the temple. And I was allowed to make some pics and videos. Also I got, together with the other pilgrims standing at the entrance, a blessing from one of the monks.

At the end of the afternoon, there was a surprise. The monk friend of my guide, who’s monastery is at the town of Tangke (about 60 km away of Zoige) came to visit us in our hotel and he took us that evening to a great hotpot restaurant in Zoige. I had met this monk already several times and it was so nice to see him again. We had a lovely time.

Songpan (Sichuan Province)

The night in Zoige, the weather turned bad. It rained heavy all night and higher up in the mountains it snowed. But the next morning we were on the road again to Songpan. We drove through white, snowy landscapes but also through green landscapes with autumn colours.

We arrived at Emma’s Guesthouse in Songpan, where Emma received us. We were very happy to see each other again. Emma was dressed as a Tibetan lady because she was at that moment participating with her family in a television recording about the different minorities in this area. With my guide and driver we walked the ancient town of Songpan that afternoon. And we enjoyed the evening at Emma’s Guesthouse talking a lot and with her father playing the pipa and singing for us. We enjoyed the (Chinese) wine and beer and it was late when we went to bed.

The next day after lunch, my guide and driver left to drive home. I felt sad to see them go. But I felt – as always – very welcome at Emma’s and Emma, her brother David and the rest of the family are so deer to me. So I was very happy to stay for about a week in Songpan. I had an easy afternoon walking round in the Ancient Town of Songpan. The following day I also spent in the Ancient Town of Songpan, but I walked around with Emma, meeting friends of her and seeing Songpan through different eyes with her. During the week I was in Songpan, I noticed there were many Chinese tourists visiting Songpan. This will be due to the opening of the new railway with a fast train at Songpan and one train station further on, the train station for the National Parks Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. Result, it is very difficult to get tickets for the train. I also wanted to take the train back to Chengdu. That is a ride of about 1.5 hours instead of 6 or 7 hours by bus. So Emma tried her best for 2 days to get a ticket for me. But they were not available. But this evening at 22:00 hour there suddenly appeared to be some tickets available again. So Emma succeeded! I was going back to Chengdu by fast train!

On the fourth day of my stay in Songpan, Emma took me to a valley – Simozigou – and surrounding mountains about 50 km from Songpan. It’s a totally not touristic valley. Emma drove to a relatively new village at the beginning of the valley. And then we changed car and Pema, a very nice local guy, drove us in his car further into the valley and higher and higher into the mountains. We drove over a very narrow and unpaved road. The higher we came, the road became more slippery because of the rain and snow of last days. We drove as far as we could. And was it cloudy at first, but the sun came out and we saw the beautiful landscape with the high mountains. Halfway back in the valley, there was the beautifully located old village. We stopped there and had an indoor BBQ with wine, we brought with us from Emma’s Guesthouse, in one of the houses. Another local guy, JiaJia – the Yak boy – joined us. Very special to see that day in the village was the marking of the yaks. It were wild yaks who live the whole year in the mountains. But they have an owner. In this case the owner was JiaJia. Once a year they drive the yaks to the village and they count and mark the yaks. I hadn’t seen this before. So we had a long look at this and I made lots of photo’s and videos.

There are two amazingly beautiful parks near Songpan. That are Jiuzhaigou and Huanglong. But since the train is operational till here since the end of August, these parks are so crowded. Every day about 40,000 people visit Jiuzhaigou. So I decided this time not to go to these parks but to go to nearby Mounigou park on the fifth day of my stay at Songpan. It’s also very beautiful. I went there with David, Emma’s brother. And in this park there were almost no visitors. It was very peaceful and tranquil there. Unfortunately some of the lower ponds had (almost) no water in it because last months it didn’t rain enough. But I enjoyed the visit very much.

About 15km from Mounigou is the Zhaga Waterfall. It’s also part of the Mounigou park. It’s a great site to visit and the waterfall is so beautiful. When I walked to the waterfall Emma was waiting there for me. She was there with some other guests.

Near Zhaga Waterfall there is a Tibetan monastery (Tara Monastery). Of course I also had a look there.

Back in Songpan, I walked to the Ancient Town. And there were life performances (singing) at the entrance of the ancient town of Songpan. And after a busy day it was now time for a caramel latte at the ancient town of Songpan.

 

The sixth day in Songpan was again an easy going day for me in Songpan. I just did some walking in the Ancient Town. And in the evening I went there again. This time to make some pics of Songpan by evening with it’s beautiful light up buildings and streets.

When I came back, it was a nice again a joyful evening. JiaJia – the yak boy – was there (he was in Songpan for a wedding) and Emma’s father played the pipa and sang for us again. And of course we drank Chinese wine again. Jiajia “míngnián”, till next year. Pema also of course. Also Emma’s daughter came home from school because she had a short holiday. Since this year she studies at a Middle School in an other city, where she is intern. But happily I could meet and see her again for a few days.

The seventh day in Songpan, I wanted to visit a Tibetan monastery in an other valley near Songpan, a monastery I visited the firs time I was in Songpan in 1997. So David would drive me there. But there was a road construction going on and we couldn’t get into this valley. But David knew another interesting Tibetan monastery and village in the vicinity of Songpan. This monastery was new to me. It’s situated in the same valley where the entrance Mounigou Park is. The monastery has still some really old buildings. After visiting the monastery, David met a friend at the parking lot. This friend has a beautiful guesthouse in the village. We went with him to his guesthouse. It was the first of November and we were sitting outside in a garden in a Tibetan village having tea and a lunch with the family. After that Davids friend showed me around in his beautiful guesthouse. And I remembered that years ago I visited this village with Emma and had also lunch in this guesthouse. So I had a great last day!

Back to Chengdu (Sichuan Province)

The next day it was back to Chengdu. With the fast train! Emma, her daughter, David and Emma’s chef brought me to the train station. It was sad to say goodbye but see you again next year. The fast train brought me in about 1.5 hour to Chengdu East Railway Station. From there I took the metro and after a short walk arrived at Holly’s Hostel. That evening I had a little walk in Jinli Street. The next day I had a whole day in Chengdu. I went to Peoples Park, walked around and sat on a terrace there and drank tea. Later that afternoon I went to Jinli Ancient Street again and sat there also on a terrace having tea. On my last day at Chengdu I visited the Wuhou Temple. Halfway the afternoon, I collected my baggage at Holly’s Hostel and took the metro (with two transfers to another line) all the way to Tianfu International Airport (50km from Chengdu). Shortly after midnight my flight with Air China to Frankfurt started. After a transfer in Frankfurt I was back in my home country, grateful for another great trip to China.

 

Itinerary of my trip

D1	Arrival at Tianfu International Airport and drive to Chengdu. Stay there for the night.
D2	Visit the Sanxingdui Museum (situated in Guanghan city about 50 km north from Chengdu). Drive to the city of Deyang and stay the night there.
D3	Drive to the town of Langzhong and visit Langzhong Ancient Town. Stay the night in Langzhong.
D4	Drive from Langzhong to the town of Tianshui and stay there two nights.
D5	Visit the Fuxi Temple in Tianshui and go to the Maijishan Grottoes on the Cliff
D6	Drive from Tianshui to the town of Liujiaxiazhen, Stay there for two nights.
D7	From Liujiaxiazhen visit the Bingling Temple Grottoes along Yellow River bank.
D8	Drive to Wuwei and visit the Tiantishan grottoes on the way to Wuwei. Stay the night in Wuwei.
D9	Drive to Zhangye and stay the night at the small town of Linze.
D10	Visit the Danxia Geopark and after that drive to the Matisi area and stay there in an hotel.
D11	Early in the morning visit the Mati Tempel. Afterwards drive to Xining and stay there two nights.
D12	Visit the Kumbum Monastery from Xining.
D13	Driving to Rebkong. Visit the Rongwu Monastery. Stay the night at Rebkong.
D14	Visit Wutun Monastery at Rebkong. Drive to Xiahe and stay there two nights. Walk a kora around Labrang Monastery.
D15	Visit the Labrang Monastery at Xiahe.
D16	Drive to the town of Hezuo and visit there the Milarepa Temple with monastery. Because there is only one expensive hotel in Hezuo that accepts foreigners, drive further to the town of Ma’ai in Luqu County and stay there in an hotel.
D17	Drive to the village of Awancang and visit the largest prayer wheel in the world near the village. After the visit drive to the town of Nimazhen in Maqu County and stay there for the night.
D18	Drive to and visit Langmusi and stay the night.
D19	Drive to the town of Zoige and visit the Dazhasi Monastery there. Stay the night at Zoige.
D20	Drive to Songpan and stay at Emma’s Guesthouse.
D21	Relaxed day at Songpan.
D22	Relaxed day at Songpan.
D23	Going with Emma to a not touristic valley (Simo Zigou) and the mountains, about 50 km from Songpan. Having lunch at a village in the valley. Seeing the wild yaks getting counted and marked there.
D24	Visit the Monigou Park and Zhaga Waterfall from Songpan.
D25	Relaxed day at Songpan.
D26	Visit to a Tibetan monastery and village in the vicinity of Songpan (in the valley where Mounigou Park is).
D27	Take the fast train from Songpan to Chengdu. Check in at Holly’s Hostel for two nights. Visit Jinli Ancient Street in the evening.
D28	Stay in Chengdu, visiting Peoples Park en Jinli Ancient Street.
D29	Visiting the Wuhou Temple in Chengdu and taking the metro to Tianfu International Airport.
D30	Flying home from Chengdu.