Not long before I started this journey, there were problems in the Xinjiang area of China between government forces and the Uyger peoples who still make up the majority of the population of this the largest and least settled areas of this huge country. Leaving the politics out of it, I was looking for an alternative to my Plan A (which was to visit the famous market @Kashgar) and one possibility which had never occurred to me was to visit this area (Jiayuguan, Gansu) and see the less accessible end of this man-made marvel, truly one of the wonders of the old & modern world. So, as with all adventures in China, Plan B became the default and here I am.
The fast train took just over 6 hours and passed through some of the most desolate countryside I have ever seen. Being a China however, there was perpetual evidence of life and living here – electricity pylons, train maintainence buildings/equipment, farms buildings and bare fields waiting for spring and rain, occasional herds of animal, vehicles trundling along highways, passing trains and slipstreams in the sky from planes flying west.
Jiayuguan is a spacious city that is evidently growing fast. It is surrounded by heavy industry which leaves the air quality somewhat lacking but the streets are wide, the public transport frequent and efficient and people generally friendly and helpful. My hostel hosts collected me from the high-speed station (which are never built anywhere near the town they belong to) and the following day dropped me off at the West Gate (UNESCO World Heritage site).
Six hours and two very tired legs later, I had meandered around, up, down and pretty much everywhere there was to wander. Some parts had been restored but at a fairly high spec. The entry price was half the usual price but there were also parts that were not generally open (reduced footfall no doubt made this necessary). And the Qilian mountains to the south and Black mountains to the north made for spectacular backdrops to this remote outpost of the Chinese dragon. It must have, and to some extent still does, felt like the back of beyond to the people who first came here to conquer and settle. Soldiers and their families, peasants and farmers, traders and foreigners: all part of the history and the on-going survival of this most remote of outposts.
I wish I could say what the food is like (the soup below was delicious) but my appetite is hampered by the on-going joys of traveller’s tummy so I am hoping that my next stopping point will add more to the menu – Chengdu, Sichuan: home of pandas 🐼 and yummy food.
