Lanzhou to Xiahe
It already started before the bus left. The mix of people on board promised something new and exciting. 6 Tibetan monks on the back seat, with dark red gowns, revealing some yellow and blue underneath. Local men and women with Mongolian features, some muslims wearing the characteristic white cap, and a group of plain Chinese youngsters looking like they just flew in from Beijing or Shanghai. All on their way to Xiahe, a small town with a big Tibetan monastery and a population of mostly Tibetans and muslims. The common Han Chinese are a small minority here! Amazing, this is an entirely different China than I got to know over the past 2 months. On the way we passed the town Linxia, with a large number of mosques. Some looking very similar to a Taoist temple, but just with a moon crescent on top. Some rather large, with the typical onion-shaped dome and minarets, like in the Middle East, but with Chinese texts written on them instead of Arabic. Most of the bigger ones were still under construction, or just finished. It seems like the muslim population here is gaining momentum.
The road went through some rough terrain, with steep mountains on either side of the road, sometimes we had to bypass a tunnel still under construction, driving on a very bumpy dirt road. At other points, we were driving on a brand new stretch of highway, like China has a completely new infrastructure of highways, all seemingly build in the past 2 or 3 years. All over China I have seen these super duper highways, with all signs both in English and Chinese. One time I actually saw a sign saying "don't drive terribly", really!
After I arrived in Xiahe, I walked to Tara's Guesthouse, recommended by Lonely Planet, and checked in a (empty) dorm room for 35 Yuan. After a really nice hot shower (much needed after spending 2 days and a night on the bus) I walked out to explore the town. It's quite small, basically one main road with the monastery (and my guesthouse) on one end, and the bus station on the other end. I had walked down this street already in the opposite direction after arrival, but now I was looking more intently, especially for food. The people in this town are really from another world. The Tibetan monks I had already seen in other places, but the guys dressed in heavy woolen coats with very long sleeves reaching below their knees was something new. They wear a waistband of red silk wrapped around the coat, and it's a mystery how they manage with their hands and the long sleeves, which are routinely thrown over the shoulder or flung about in a way I could never imitate. Also interesting are the Tibetan women wearing the type of hats usually worn by men in Europe and America in the 50's. They also wear heavy garments of wool and silk in many colors, and large silver belts around their waist. Some are hoisting a baby on their back, wrapped in big scarves.
In my hunt for food, I found a couple of foodstalls at the side of the road which looked rather interesting. On a table were displayed 3 heads of some animal (cow, goat or sheep, I couldn't tell) and some other animal parts. On another table a row of clay pots with a good looking mix of meat and vegetables, topped with chillies and koriander. I ordered one of those. From a large pot a big spoonful of broth was poured over my food, and it was placed on a charcoal fire. I went across the street to fetch a bottle of beer, and shortly after I got back, my food was served. I shared a table with 4 girls, who happened to be from Lanzhou, and were visiting Xiahe for the weekend. Nice company to share my food with. They were having a bowl of unidentified meat and some skewers with grilled potatoes and vegetables. To my happy surprise, my clay pot contained not only meat and chillies, but also glass noodles and potatoes, and some shreds of green peppers. Very tasty all in all. After the 4 girls left my table, a Chinese family joined, with a boy of about 12, and a girl about 8. She was munching down a large number of skewers with grilled meat, but complained about a hot throat to her mom. I think it was too much chillies for an 8 year old. I finished my beer and walked out after paying my 6 Yuan. The cheapest food is always the best!
I already discovered the internet cafe very close to my guesthouse, so that's where I spent the last part of my evening. Not much else to do in town at this hour, at least I wouldn't know where the action is. The internet cafes are mostly used by the locals to play games. First person shooters for the boys, dancing games for the girls. Only foreigners check their email and update their blogs...
The road went through some rough terrain, with steep mountains on either side of the road, sometimes we had to bypass a tunnel still under construction, driving on a very bumpy dirt road. At other points, we were driving on a brand new stretch of highway, like China has a completely new infrastructure of highways, all seemingly build in the past 2 or 3 years. All over China I have seen these super duper highways, with all signs both in English and Chinese. One time I actually saw a sign saying "don't drive terribly", really!
After I arrived in Xiahe, I walked to Tara's Guesthouse, recommended by Lonely Planet, and checked in a (empty) dorm room for 35 Yuan. After a really nice hot shower (much needed after spending 2 days and a night on the bus) I walked out to explore the town. It's quite small, basically one main road with the monastery (and my guesthouse) on one end, and the bus station on the other end. I had walked down this street already in the opposite direction after arrival, but now I was looking more intently, especially for food. The people in this town are really from another world. The Tibetan monks I had already seen in other places, but the guys dressed in heavy woolen coats with very long sleeves reaching below their knees was something new. They wear a waistband of red silk wrapped around the coat, and it's a mystery how they manage with their hands and the long sleeves, which are routinely thrown over the shoulder or flung about in a way I could never imitate. Also interesting are the Tibetan women wearing the type of hats usually worn by men in Europe and America in the 50's. They also wear heavy garments of wool and silk in many colors, and large silver belts around their waist. Some are hoisting a baby on their back, wrapped in big scarves.
In my hunt for food, I found a couple of foodstalls at the side of the road which looked rather interesting. On a table were displayed 3 heads of some animal (cow, goat or sheep, I couldn't tell) and some other animal parts. On another table a row of clay pots with a good looking mix of meat and vegetables, topped with chillies and koriander. I ordered one of those. From a large pot a big spoonful of broth was poured over my food, and it was placed on a charcoal fire. I went across the street to fetch a bottle of beer, and shortly after I got back, my food was served. I shared a table with 4 girls, who happened to be from Lanzhou, and were visiting Xiahe for the weekend. Nice company to share my food with. They were having a bowl of unidentified meat and some skewers with grilled potatoes and vegetables. To my happy surprise, my clay pot contained not only meat and chillies, but also glass noodles and potatoes, and some shreds of green peppers. Very tasty all in all. After the 4 girls left my table, a Chinese family joined, with a boy of about 12, and a girl about 8. She was munching down a large number of skewers with grilled meat, but complained about a hot throat to her mom. I think it was too much chillies for an 8 year old. I finished my beer and walked out after paying my 6 Yuan. The cheapest food is always the best!
I already discovered the internet cafe very close to my guesthouse, so that's where I spent the last part of my evening. Not much else to do in town at this hour, at least I wouldn't know where the action is. The internet cafes are mostly used by the locals to play games. First person shooters for the boys, dancing games for the girls. Only foreigners check their email and update their blogs...
posted by marc at 21:31
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home