Chengdu, Sichuan

People's park, Chengdu, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

Chengdu was the first Chinese 'Mega City' we had visited, and we loved it. It's laid back and very friendly, especially considering it's size and population, with great parks and brilliant public transport, so it's easy to get about.

We stayed at Sim's Cosy Guesthouse which is definetely cosy and a great place to chill. We met some nice mates there, including Jackie again, and had some top nights out.

Sichuan food is bostin, it can be a little spicy, which I love, especially 'Ma Po Dofu' (without the pork) and the 'numbing spice'. We went to some brilliant Hot pot restaurants and the Vegetarian Hall at Wenshu Temple.

We visited the nearby Panda Breeding Centre, so cute, and The World's largest Buddha at Leshan.
More Photos

Amdo, Tibet

Monks chanting at Labrang Monestry, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

From Lhasa we got the train to Lanzhou and traveled onto Labrang Monastery.

Tibet is much larger than the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR) and
two thirds of Tibetans live outside it. Large parts of Tibet have been carved up and added to neighboring Chinese provinces, such as Gansu, Sichuan and Yunnan. View Tibet MAP

We traveled from Labrang which is in the Amdo region of Tibet, now known as Xiahe in Gansu province, China, to Langmusi, Songpan and Hongyuan. I'll write more about these places later but for now you can see the pictures and read the captions at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicelogo/sets/72157603265701039/

and

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicelogo/sets/72157603265947587/

Lhasa, Tibet

new religion, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

“Lhasa is just another big Chinese City”, people kept telling us and there’s a lot of truth in it. Tibetans are now a minority in their own capital after waves of migration since The People’s Republic of China ‘liberated’ it in 1950. The city is huge with shopping malls, KTV, modern infrastructure, and endless concrete buildings with the ubiquitous white tiles. Row’s of barber shops line the outer kora pilgrim route, often a front for prostitution. There’s a strong police and Military presence and CCTV cameras are everywhere.

However as you enter the Barkhor area, the ‘Tibetan quarter!’ around the Jokhang temple, it’s a different story and very Tibetan. The 1300 year old Jokhang Temple is Tibet's most sacred temple and the spiritual heart of Tibet. Pilgrims from all over Tibet in their traditional clothes- carrying prayer wheels, daggers, ornate swords and children - walk the kora, a clockwise pilgrim circuit around the area of the Jokhang Temple, many prostrating. It’s a very special place with a deep spiritual pulse.

We stayed at a great hotel, BaiYun Guest House, in the back streets of east Barkhor area. A stunning place, run by very friendly Tibetans, with beautiful Tibetan painting in the corridors and around the courtyard.

We stayed longer than intended, 12 days, in and around Lhasa and had a great time. The weather was great, lovely and sunny with the bluest of blue skies and only going cold at night. Some days we’d do very little just wander around the Barkhor. Karen would do Yoga on the roof of our hotel.

sharing pictures, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

We got chatting (albeit mostly with sign language) to some old guys near Jokhang Temple, whilst baking in the sun. They had a look at the pictures in our guidebooks, the one guy (face not shown) after seeing a drawing of H.H. The 14th Dali Lama in our book, shown us his pendant with pictures of the Dali Lama, which he wore hidden around his neck. He was careful when showing it us, indicating with actions that he could (perhaps had?) been beaten for wearing it.

It's illegal to have images of the 14th Dali Lama and can land you in Jail, but still many Tibetans secretly do. It’s rare to see his photo openly on display, although in one café we used to go to in the Barkhor, which done fantastic Thukpa noodle soup, we did see his photo alongside the Karmapa.

Karen showed her red ribbon bracelet, she had been given along with a blessing from the Karmapa whilst in India, to the guys. They lifted it to their head with a bowing motion.

We met Jackie, and had some memorable nights, perhaps even more memorable if we hadn’t have had those extra few beers or Chang (I see we meaning - me and Jackie, Kaz is a temple of yogic purity of course – well almost). Drinking at altitude is fun, 2 for 1.

One night Jackie and I found ourselves singing and drinking in a small backstreet bar cum living room of Barkhor. The place was packed with just me, Jackie, four Tibetan ladies and two Tibetan guys. They had all been singing Tibetan songs, and drinking a lot. “I’ll join in, if you want to start a song” I said to Jackie, “What shall we sing… How about Flower of Scotland” she Said. “OK” I said before realising I knew little of the words past the title line. Anyhow, Jackie sung I joined in the line I knew and they didn’t ask us to sing again. Which was fine by me. The Tibetan women had the most amazing voices, it was a very special to join them in this intimate sing along party.

Another night we all went to a Nangma club, which sort of looked like a Tibetan version of our Working Men Clubs, with various acts and dancing. It was a great if not strange night. There were jolly security guys in Police/ Military style uniforms with hard hats and batons patrolling the club but they also seemed to be having the odd drink and socialising too. Not sure what there role was, bouncers or something more?

smile, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

The Potala Palace still dominates Lhasa’s skyline. ‘Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. The citation says: 'The Potala, winter Palace of the Dalai Lama since the 7th century AD, symbolises Tibetan Buddhism and its central role in the Traditional Administration of Tibet'. Unlike the monasteries around Lhasa, the Potala is run by Chinese tourist authorities; the practice of Buddhism is essentially banned in the palace. Once humming with activity, the Potala is now a lifeless museum, a haunted castle.’*1.

It’s the view of The Potala from the outside that is the highlight but after some ‘umming and r’ing’ we did go inside in the end and I think it is worth it. It is a lifeless museum run by Chinese tourist Authorities where religious practice is essentially banned, but it is still a pull for Tibetan pilgrims, who thankfully don’t pay the inflated entrance fee, over 100 RMB, that all tourists including Chinese tourists do.

Of course there is little or no historical discourse inside and all tour guide’s including Tibetan one’s seem to be reading from the official line. So it’s best to do some reading before hand to get some sense of it’s history. Tibet by Michael Buckley is fantastic. It’s great to explore the immense architecture, albeit it chaperoned.

We met an English tour group who had a Tibetan guide and they said we could join them. The young Tibetan girl who spoke excellent English, gave some background on the Palace but when we asked about Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the Dalai Lama's choice for 11th Panchen Lama, she said ‘I don’t know this history’.

Which brings the classic Public Enemy lines "History shouldn't be a mystery, Our stories real history, Not his story" to mind.

Gendhun Choekyi Nyima was kidnapped at the age of 6 by the People’s Republic of China in 1995 and has never been seen or heard since. Monks and Nuns were forced to accept the Chinese nominee, Gyaltsen Norbu. The senior lama at Tashilunpo Monastery, Chadrel Rinpoche, who had attempted to negotiate the compromise with the Dalai Lama, was jailed.

Whilst there is on the face of it religious freedoms in Tibet, this is kept under check. It is estimated that up to 70% of political prisoners in Tibet are monks and Nuns. (*1)

Chinese work-teams have been dispatched to all monasteries and nunneries in Tibet for 'patriotic re-education' (an on going process). We met monks in Dharamsala, India, who have fled Tibet in recent years because of a lack of full religious freedoms.

On 17th May 2007, Tibetan’s living in exile in India staged a candle lit vigil for Gendhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama. Link to story and pictures.

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/05/371041.html

Mao in Tibet, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

China never fails to amaze/ shock with its take on history. Inside the Norbulingka, there is a homage to Chairman Mao, the architect of 'one of history's worst cases of cultural genocide', in the form of a Cafe/ Gallery/ Shop.

The Norbulingka means Jewelled Garden, and was the summer residence of H.H. The 14th Dali Lama. He meditated here before escaping to India in 1959 at the age of 23 disguised as a soldier, amid popular rumours of a Chinese plot to kill him. The Norbulingka was heavily shelled in the 1959 uprising, which was overwhelmingly crushed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) killing tens of thousands of people through 1960. This Cafe/ Gallery/ Shop, a homage to Chairman Mao, inside The Norbulingka seemed both bizarre and sickly placed. There were photo’s of Mao playing ping-pong, on holiday and of course with 'the people' but no history or question of his atrocities.

It's not unlike like having a Hitler souvenir shop at Auschwitz.

During ‘The Great Leap Forward’ (1958-61), the agricultural revolution led by Mao, it is estimated that the ensuing Famine caused an estimated 20 million premature deaths. (*2)

We went to visit some monks we had met in a café in the Barkhor but was told that Dreprung Monastery was 'closed for renovation'. This was the official line, however we heard from others in the city that there had been a confrontation between monks and Police on 17th October. The monks were celebrating the award of a US congressional gold medal to the Dalai Lama last week, and were repainting the walls of the Dalai Lama's residence in Dreprung Monastery and held a special prayer meeting.

The Ming Pao newspaper said 3,000 armed police surrounded the monastery and refused to allow the 1,000 or so monks to leave.

Later at Sims guest house in Chengdu we heard that some of his guests had taken photographs of the armed confrontation but had been arrested by the PSB and had their memory cards/ film taken.

The story was in The Guardian, UK, link below

http://www.guardian.co.uk/china/story/0,,2197690,00.html

Sera Monastery was ‘open for business’, so we went there and had a look around. Watching the monks doing their animated debating in the courtyard, whilst tourists clambered for photographs.

Tourists love monks, they’re photogenic, If only they’d just ‘behave’, the Chinese authorities must think.

Prayer Flags at Namtso Lake, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

We took a trip out to the Beautiful Namtso Lake, a holy lake for Tibetans. Pilgrims come here to walk or prostrate their way around the Kora, the spirtitual path around the lake. The sky is the deepest blue you’ve ever seen, and then you see the glistening blue lake. Prayer flags line the surrounding mountains. It’s breathtaking and not just because of the over 4700metre altitude. The passes to the lake take you over 5100metres.

When we left Lhasa the first snowfalls of winter had started to fall.

www.flickr.com Nice Logo's Lhasa photoset

Links

*1. Tibet - Michael Buckley, Bradt Travel Guides (2006). www.Bradtguides.com
*2. The Changing Face of China – From Mao to Market by John Gittings. 2005. Oxford University Press.
Team Tibet Film
www.supportteamtibet.com

BaiYun Guest House
Address: House No.13, Sanglam 2, Banakshok, Lhasa, Tibet
Tel: 0891 634 2222 or 634 2288
It’s in the back streets of East Barkhor Area. Follow signs from Beijing Donglu just near Dongcuo International Youth Hostel, which is listed in Lonely Planet 2007, and has a Korean flag and restaurant.

Train to Lhasa

Train to Lhasa, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

We’d been contemplating whether, or how, we should go to Tibet. I was not keen on paying the PRC for expensive permits to visit Tibet, it seemed absurd them proclaiming Tibet part of China’s motherland but then also charging for entry permits, which directly fuels the regime.

Jackie got a message from a friend who had just got the train from Goldmud, without a permit. So we decided to give it a go ourselves. We got the night bus from Dunhuang to Goldmud arriving at around 5am. We got a taxi to the nearby train station and got a ticket over the counter, using our guidebook and ordering in pigeon mandarin for the 5.30am to Lhasa.

It’s a beautiful 15 hour journey from Goldmud to Lhasa, on the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (QTR). The train line is the highest in the world, going to heights over 5000 metres and has oxygen on tap. It has caused much controversy, provoking H.H. the 14th Dali Lama to warn of ‘cultural genocide’ as Tibet’s famously isolated homeland of 2.8 million is linked with China seething 1.3 billion, a point echoed by many in my film Team Tibet.

As it was early, 5.30, and we’d be travelling through the day, we’d bought the cheap (170 RMB) hard seat ticket. The carriage was packed mostly with Tibetans, but also Hui and Han Chinese. Some had an insane amount of luggage and could have been migrating. Others looked like they were Pilgrims. We took our seat and soon our friendly neighbours were sleeping on our shoulders and sharing their bag of boiled eggs.

There’s only so many boiled eggs you can eat and we hadn’t come as prepared as others in our car. We tried the ever popular instant noodles but they don’t fill you up so we headed to the Canteen car. In the Canteen car we met people from all over Europe, USA, China… Including ‘Geeza Haniker III’ and ‘Alicia Skipper’, two members of 'European Train Enthusiasts'. We had some good food, which wasn’t too expensive. It was great place to sit, eat, read and watch the stunning scenery go by.

The road runs close to the rail track at times and we passed scores of Tibetan pilgrims, prostrating their way to Lhasa. The plains were full of Yaks and a lone shepherd. We saw huge birds of prey flying in the unbelievably blue sky high above the snow capped mountains.

At one station there was a lot of construction, we were told it was going to be a hub for the ‘development’ of Tibet. The train bringing raw materials and migrant workers.

As we approached Lhasa, there was much excitement amongst the pilgrims in our carriage.

www.flickr.com Nice Logo's Train to Tibet photoset

Links

Team Tibet Film

Dunhuang

Sand buggy, originally uploaded by Nice Logo.

We got a night bus from Turpan to Dunhuang, the full moon lighting up the desolate desert landscape. I watched it unfold from my narrow bed until I drifted off. When the bus stopped later that night for an improtu mid desert toilet stop the moon had set and the sky was a wash with stars. It was f f f frrreeeeezing cold.

The main attractions at Dunhuang are the nearby Mogao caves and huge Sand dunes. The caves are expensive (180 RMB) but well worth visiting. Set in a canyon stretching almost 2km, the caves contain over a millennium of Buddhist art. Unfortunately you can’t take pictures inside.

The Sand dunes, or Mingsha Shan aka Shazhou (Town of Sand), near Dunhuang have been turned into a ‘gated’ tourist mecca with sand buggy's, camel rides ... Your supposed to pay around 120 RS to get in ! although its easy to just walk in to the left of the main entrance. The first day we did this with ease and got a sand boogie up to the top, we went the next day with two friends, Jackie from Glasgow and Ben from San Fransisco, but got spotted walking up, by 'The man in Black' dressed in a snappy suit and bombing around on a sand buggy.

More info on Mogao Caves at:

http://whc.unesco.org/pg.cfm?cid=31&id_site=440
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mogao_Caves

Turpan

From Urumqi we got a sleeper bus to Turpan with Tristen. Turpan is a legendary desert Oasis, at 154m below sea level it is the second lowest depression in the world (after the Dead Sea) and is also known as the hottest spot in China. It’s famous for it’s silk road history and ancient settlements

We stayed in a hotel near the bus stop, behind it was the markets, busy with mainly Uighur traders and shoppers. There was plenty of Nan bread, Yoghurt and fruits especially grapes of which the region is famous for.

In the town square at night we saw TV news projected on water fountains, which seemed both spectacular and ridiculous, this supposedly being an oasis town in the middle of the desert. The news was from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Communist Party conference in Beijing.

Opposite was a huge outdoor pool hall, where we stopped for a game with Tristen.

The next day we hired a car with Tristen and a Chinese Buddhiset Nun for a tour around Turpan taking in Gaochang and Jiaohe Ruins amongst other sites. It was a good day but as often with tours it felt a little bit conveyor belt, tick the box. The entry to each site wasn’t cheap and soon added up. The ruined cities were impressive though and well worth it.

Gaochang (Khocho Ruins) was originally settled in the first century BC and rose to power in the 7th Century during the Tang Dynasty. Also known as Khocho it became the Uighur capital in AD 850 and a major staging post on the silk road until it burned down in the 14th century. We didn’t take the ‘donkey taxi’ deciding to walk around the ancient dusty desert city.

The Bezelik Caves were not that great and were pretty much empty after being looted most famously by German archaeologists in 1905. Known as 'Thousand Buddha caves' the name means a lot of Buddhas rather than an exact amount. Tristen was not impressed and said "Its like everywhere I've been in China, slightly disappointing

Driving around the region we saw many square vented structures, which are were used for drying grapes and other fruits.

We had lunch at a Uighur Restaurant in Grape Valley. It was a nice spot, eating outside under vines for shade. We had Laghman, hand pulled noodles with Veg, which we had a lot in Xinjiang, it was one of the few veggie options we knew how to order in Uighur restaurants, and was nice.

We stopped at Emin Mosque, an Afghan style mosque and minaret, founded by a Turpan general Emin Hoja, but didn’t go inside. Outside the mosque were many stalls selling local fruits, grapes and raisins alongside tourist tat. The Peoples Republic of China flag was raised on the entrance gate ensuring you remember who's land it is. 'Religion, Tourism and Commerce'.

The Jiaohe Ruins were probably the most impressive site. Also known as Yarkhoto, it's one of the world's largest, oldest, and best preserved ancient cities. 6500 residents once lived here. It was established by the Chinese during the Han dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) as a garrison town.

We met many tour groups, mostly Chinese, their guides talking through hand held tanoys and leading the masses by flags. We had to make use of our guide book and the useful signs in ‘Chinglish’ that would give in depth knowledge such as “The layout of the whole temple is full of characteristics’.

The next day we took a local bus out to nearby Tuyoq. The bus was held up on route, by the PRC army on parade wielding shovels? I took a photo which upset their boss, who came onto the bus shouting ‘No Photo’. The bus which was full of Uighurs didn’t seem to enthused about the display and delay.

We had a great day just wandering around the area and old town, walking up to Tuyoq Mazar, the symbolic tomb of the first Uighur Muslim.

We jumped on the back of a local tractor/ taxi to get back to the bus stop, where we had some delicious Laghman, whilst waiting for the bus back to Turpan, we ended up getting a shared taxi back for around the same price as the bus. It was a much more rewarding way of getting about and cheaper than the tour yesterday.

Urumqi

We spent longer than intended in Urumqi. Urumqi is a big city but easy to get around on great cheap buses and the city had a good feel to it. We tried but couldn’t get our lens fixed here, so we got a 50mm 1.4 lens to use in the mean time.

We found this great Hot Pot restaurant near Wuyi night market. You pick skewers of vegetables, tofu, mushrooms etc, from the shelves then cook them at your table in a huge hot pot which has a soup base with tons of herbs, spices, onion, ginger, garlic.

It was great as it can be hard ordering vegetarian food because of the language barrier. We have written down in Chinese and Uighur “No meat or fish please, we only eat vegetables”, which works most of the time. There’s great Vegetarian food here, including Tofu etc but they often like to sprinkle port bits on top. Sometimes there is an English menu or pictures, on one menu under vegetables it had ‘duck intestines’ and ‘old man fungus’, you can see why we liked the hot pot restaurant so much.

We sat outside alongside the bustling night market. To pay the guy counts how many sticks/ skewers you’ve used. We’re sure the couple opposite us were throwing a few of theirs into the street. It was a great place and cheap with Beer around 3 Yuan (20p).

On the way home a guy insisted we join him and his mates for a beer in a KTV (Karoke Bar). Why not. This one was a little scruffier than others we’d seen, we went in, through the warren of corridors and was given a room. Beers came and the guys selected their favourite love songs to crone along too. A little later a parade of girls came in, some in jeans others a little more skimpy, and stood for selection! This wasn’t just a Karoke place, a couple came and sat by me and the guys. We made our excuses and left, the guys stayed.

Claire and her friend Andrea came a few days later. I went out to ‘Fubar’ a great pub run by an Irish guy, to catch the Rugby final with them along with Tristen from Washington state US, and Ken ? also from OZ.

There was quite a crowd there including one South African and a load of young English volunteers who were out here on the British equivalent to the US peace core - teaching English. The game didn’t start till around 4am Beijing time (?) so there was plenty of time for drinking before hand. Also met Josh from Oregan who is living here and working as a Uighur to English translator. It was quite a night with more drinking when we got back to the hostel till way past sunrise.

I got maybe an hours kip before we had to leave to get a bus and taxi to Tian Chi (Heavenly Lake). Andrea was leaving the next day, so it was her last chance, so still a little drunk to be hung over we went for it, us, Claire, Andrea and Tristen. It was a Beautiful drive, the trees glorious in their autumn fall.

Tian Chi is beautiful but over developed to the point of turning nature into a theme park. Large TV Screens display images of nature at the car park and entrance. We took the well laid path and bridges up to the lake, signs would alert you to ‘be civilised’, that ‘green grass is afraid of your trample’ and ‘Please have mercy on the green grass’. There were plastic bins modelled on trees or the endangered Panda bear. At the lakeside you can get dressed up in 'traditional costume' and have your photo taken.

We saw two couples having their Wedding photos taken whilst we were there, wearing trainers and jeans underneath their wedding dresses to try and keep out the cold breeze. We were told its quite common to have your wedding photos taken like this, going to several locations, like a photo shoot, not on the day of your wedding. Coming down we followed the road taking short cuts down sketchy trails and under barb wire, which was more fun.