YELLOW RIVER STONE FOREST

16/09/2009

 
The Yellow River 'Stone Forest' (黄河石林 Huánghé Shílín) is 145km north of Lanzhou (map). Take a bus to Báiyín (白银) from the East Bus Station, then change to a local bus, or negotiate a taxi (we paid Y120). Local farmers have rooms available for overnight stays. Trivia: Some scenes from the soon-to-be-released Mulan (花木兰) were filmed there (trailer). We were there on a very overcast weekend, so I put some black and white film in my camera (more colourful pictures). Photos here.
 

SHAANXI EXCURSION

30/10/2008

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Here are some photos of the places we visited on a three-day trip to neighboring Shănxī (陕西) province (spelled Shaanxi in pinyin, to distinguish it from Shānxī 山西 province).


Dāngjiācūn (党家村) 

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XIAHE REOPENS?

18/10/2008

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Due to the riots in march, for the past several months travel to Xiàhé (夏河) Tibetan Autonomous County in south Gansu has been restricted for foreign visitors. Those who did manage to slip in found they had nowhere to stay. Even foreigners with residency there found travelling around almost impossible.

Well, after reading a few online reports that restrictions had just been lifted (and the Labrang Monastery resuming allowing foreigners to join their tours) I phoned the south bus station to get more information. I was told that foreigners could indeed now travel into the area, as long as they provide photocopies of passport and visa when they buy the bus tickets. 

I'll keep looking out for any reports that might verify this. 

South Bus Station
Bus times: 07:30; 08:30; 09:30; 14:30
Tickets: 49.5 yuan

Here are some recordings and photos I made on my last trip there in 2007:

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TRAVELS IN QINGHAI AND NORTH GANSU (days 3-5)

25/08/2008

 

DUNHUANG
From Xining we returned to Lanzhou, and took the N857 overnight train to Dunhuang.

 

TRAVELS IN QINGHAI AND NORTH GANSU (days 2-3)

18/08/2008

 

We hired a driver through Tibetan Connections, and drove around Qinghai Lake for a couple of days...

 

TRAVELS IN QINGHAI AND NORTH GANSU (day 1)

15/08/2008

 

One of the advantages of being based in Lanzhou, is that China's 'remote' northwest is actually pretty close by.

Xīníng (西宁), capital of Qinghai Province, to Gansu's west, is around 3 hours away by train (50 yuan, soft seat).

We left on the 7.42am train, and by lunchtime had checked into our hostel.

We spent the afternoon at Tă'ĕr Sì (塔尔寺), the Tibetan monastery nearby, by taxi (45 yuan each way).