China Day 14

Today we drove West from Dunhuang, continuing our crossing of the Gobi Desert. It is amazing how a city of 170 000 just emerges from the desert landscape, complete with beautiful landscaping, tree lined streets etc. It Is a very beautiful city. 

Just a few kilometres out of the city we stopped and from a viewing platform on the roadside looked in awe at the world's largest solar farm covering several square kilometres and also including two giant towers surrounded by mirrors directing the sunlight to a concentrated area at the top of the towers. Once more the Chinese achievement evident here is mind blowing. The glow from these towers could still be seen when we stopped at our next visit 20 km away!

Our next stop was Numen Pass where there are the ruins of a gate from the ancient silk road which brought jadewares from the west. Another 5 k on from this gate are the remains of the Han Dynasty great wall which was built of rammed earth  but parts still remain - this wall was built 1000 bc! One thing we have certainly learnt is that the silk road story dates well back before Marco Polo and there were numerous roads both to the north and south. 

80k further on we reached the Yardang Geologucal Park which consists of rows of sedimentary towers eroded into incredible forms by wind/sand action. Pictures will again amaze you!

Most of the last 2 days have been spent driving long distances between phenomenal sights. What has kept it really interesting is the fact that we're actually experiencing the Gobi Desert  - never thought that would happen when learning about it in high school geography! The other fascinating thing is how the Chinese get water to some parts of it and grow crops, raise sheep etc. Today we also passed a fence which went on and on and when asked, Fan informed us that it was the Chinese missile testing range. Further to the West is also where they exploded their atomic bombs.

As we had not been able to get lunch anywhere, Fan took us to dinner at the town market - barbecue lamb, beef, vegetables, soup erc. Chinese food as I've already said is just beautiful.

Might be a gap in the blog tomorrow night as we catch a train at 5 and don't arrive in Turpan until 9 so we'll see how we go!