Lanzhou as seen from the White Pagoda Hill
The White Pagoda on top of the hill in Lanzhou
The famous water wheels on the shores of the Yellow River
The White Cloud Temple in Lanzhou
The main figures of the standard Chinese book “Journey to the West”
The First Bridge across the Yellow River
Overview of Linxia
Pagoda on top of the hill overlooking Linxia
River leading up to the Bingling Temple near Linxia
Giant rock buddha at the Bingling Temple
The entrance to the Milarepa Monastery in Hezuo
The main building of the Milarepa Monastery, the 13-story tall tower
Tibetan prayer hall outside of Hezuo
Stupa on a hill outside of Hezuo
Indication of past conflicts in the region: Chinese style mosque in Hezuo
In the streets of Labrang Monastery
Unmistaken part of the Tibetan cultural area
Monks of the Yellow Hat Sect celebrating their daily ritual
Prayer flags at Darzong Lake
The golden stupa of Labrang Monastery
Prayer mills at Labrang Monastery
The new gate leading into the Wuwei city center
The Kumarajiva Pagoda in the center of Wuwei
The temple under which the flying horse was found
The flying horse, a relict found in a grave in Wuwei, has become the symbol of Wuwei
The Danxia landforms near Zhangye
After a little more than two days in Dunhuang we had to re-pack our backpacks for the first time. Luckily we had decided to travel light, such that we had to stow away much less tan 10kg each (plus the photo and electronics equipment). At 8:40am the bus left for Jiayuguan at the Western end of the Hexi corridor, which would be giving our trip the direction for the next few days.
Dunhuang: The structure around the giant Buddha at the Mogao caves
The last few days in Beijing occupied us with many last minute activities which had to be done when leaving a place: Moving, checking out at work, apartment, etc. At the very end we could enjoy a delicious dinner at the Opposite House, courtesy of the Swiss Society Beijing. Finally on Saturday, August 30 at 8:40 we sat in the airplane which should bring us to Xian from where we would connect to Dunhuang in the far West of Gansu Province. The goal was an experience in the desert, which I had left out three years ago when passing through the area in winter…
After almost 2 weeks in the Xinjiang province, home of the Uyghurs, time had come to discover the second province in China. The first stop in the Gansu province was Jiayuguan, known for the western end of the Great Wall during the Ming dynasty.