Hello,
11,080 kms, not quite 11 months of travel, 3 months to cross China, we arrived in Kashgar. We are happy! Pleased to be passing from the Han, Hui, and Uyghur.
In addition to its 23 provinces, 2 special regions (Hong Kong and Macau), 4 metropolitan cities, China includes 5 autonomous regions where national minorities are not necessarily a majority in their respective region. One that we hear about is obviously very Tibet, the Chinese have renamed Xizang. Originally, Tibet was territory which is now the province of Qinghai and the region Xizang Autonomous. The border between the two has been traced more or less arbitrarily, nothing distinguishes them apart from a line drawn on a map, one is now a province and one autonomous region. The area of Qinghai is not available everywhere. Some roads are sometimes randomly closed to tourists. Since the founding of the Communist Party in China it was a sort of "Chinese Siberia" with many labor camps and prisons isolated. It is also a "nuclear dustbin" with many "secret bases". It is a province of Tibetan culture (the Dalai Lama is not present in this region), except its capital Xining in the east of the province who is Han. The smallest is the Autonomous Region Ningxia designated area for the Hui, Chinese Muslims. However, there are 80% of the Huis is outside their region and their region consists of a 62% Han. It is a very poor area, one reason that explains the migration of Huis in other provinces. We have many encounters in Gansu Province, and is with them that we have tasted our first lamb kebabs, a delight! Hui are descendants of Arab and Persian merchants who came to China during the Tang Dynasty (618 BC-907apres). Very little distinguishes them from the Han Chinese, except their devotion to Islam. Inner Mongolia, southern Mongolia and Guangxi autonomous regions also 2 others which I do not know much. Finally, last but not least we do not hear enough about is the East Turkestan, Xinjiang renamed by the Chinese, who wants to also say "new frontier" land of the Uighurs we like it! Uighurs make up 45% of the population, the total minority ethnic (Uighur, Kazak, Hui, Kirgiz, Mongolian and others) is 59%. The Han are present at 41% and this number continues to grow ... I can do a single message to him to talk about all this. That's for later!
I leave to the east. We left the Middle Kingdom has Jiayuguan in Gansu. We have seen the end of the Great Wall and the fort, which controlaientt access to them from the west with crosses Turkestan and those arriving from the north of Mongolia. It is from this point we entered the world of caravans, but we have found very little evidence. At Dunhuang, we visited the Mogao Grottoes very impressive. They are open to the public since 1980, only 40 remain open to the public, turnover, ten times, on a set of 492 Buddhist temples. The number of caves carved into the rock remains undetermined. These caves were places of worship of a great importance on the Silk Road. The pigments used to color murals come from everywhere, from Afghanistan for example the blue of lapis lazuli. Their realization took place over long period from the 4th century (Wei Dynasty 386-581) in the 14th century with a peak during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Around 1900, a small walled cave was discovered by accident and it turned out to contain tens of thousands of documents, statues and other objects, often dating back over 1000 years. Much of these cultural treasures have been purchased by Western explorers, notably Sir Aurel Stein and Paul Pelliot. This leaves more manuscripts in China and the Chinese would like to recover ... Caves, however, were spared the Cultural Revolution in the application of Mao's wife Jiang Qing. These are the murals, if well preserved, which are magnificent. They are mostly religious-themed, but some also trace the lives of monks. Not to be missed if they are not very far from your path! :)
Leaving the Middle Kingdom, we left the Han, even though we've finally found then living in almost all major cities. They move around more ... Here are some characteristics which hans I had not yet speak.
The Han are accustomed to a short meeting of all employees of a restaurant, a shop, a hotel in public. They are all lined up on the sidewalk or in front of the supermarket meat counter and listen for a few supervisors minutes. Hans
Men drink lots of beer. In the countryside, but also in town. They go out in restaurants, drink like holes, returning to hotel completely drunk (this is where we see the before and after), has the opportunity to become angry at the reception. A woman (wife or lover I do not know) is always there to accompany him, pull his arm if he gets angry too, and most importantly, she keeps her quiet! Hans
Women seem to be "afraid" of the sun in the same way that women in Latin America. They think I have a sort of disease when they see my tan. Either they use an umbrella-umbrella to protect themselves from the sun when they are in town, or when working in the fields or travel by bicycle or scooter, they are all covered. They wear a scarf or a hat, cover your mouth with a mask (to protect from dust also may be) and have extensions to their short sleeves. Men do not like it at all. The sun is more dangerous for women than for men?
Throughout our crossing the country, we have noticed that the rivers were dried up enormously, especially here in the west. But in return, much water flows in irrigation canals and useful crops from the villages. Many of these canals were built under Mao and the building had caused a great human catastrophe. The "Great Leap Forward" (1958-1960) was aimed at boosting agricultural production by collectivization. One of the goals was to increase steel production. Each person had a quota to fill. Farmers have melted their tools to meet their quota. They were no longer occupied in it's agricultural production. It is also the steel used to construct the little doors that are found in all channels. Added to this, 1959 was a terrible year for agricultural weather, and in 1960 the Soviets withdrew their aid. The country is entering a famine. These irrigation canals have now on the air to function well. They are dry or filled at certain times. We did not know who controlled the opening of doors. For us all that, they were very helpful cool for us.
Cote equipment. A bag of disjointed but repaired in Xi'an. A tent really waterproof and yet not old, a chance we did not often heavy rain. When that happens, our mats are on a thin cushion of water. Warming of the pump no longer works well. It uses more fuel. It has a reserve of gas cylinders. Rupert has burned his mat through the stove top in trying to cook in the interior. Bravo! A patch and repaired hop! The carpet was not too throne. The rim of the rear wheel of the bike Rupert's crack. He has seen it Xi'an, bought one on the internet and made it send to Lanzhou. He rolls with lightness between these two cities! The derailleur cable otherwise the bike was damaged by Rupert and snack when we took the bus from Dunhuang and Turpan. He rolls with 3 speeds up Kaxgar. Bravo has found a good bike shop who knew how to change it here. We have had several consecutive punctures due to tire wear. AC change in the open desert, great! Oceanne lost his duck-blanket long ago but now has very good AC replaces a piece of cloth! She also lost her sun hat and sandals. All that has fallen from the trailer, by accident or intentionally, and it does not say. Full big climb, Rupert came down to 2 km and rises from 2 kms to find his sandal. Sexy! And
side road, we are well on crosses and crosses the desert. Not so difficult, however. Leaving Turpan, we immediately hit a storm of wind without carrying sand, another time in the west, another time the wind. Impossibility to advance. We boarded a van for 15 miles then the road changes direction. A crosswind which tamed. Then we climbed from sea level up to 1800m in Turpan was 60 kms. It took us two days. We camped in the mountains. It was thought to be alone, it was without a village 60 kms, but ultimately unintentionally (we have not seen, it was in a turn), we stopped a few meters from one kiosk selling watermelons. A couple and a child came to us and we were invited. Boiled eggs and watermelon in the evening boiled eggs and watermelon in the morning. There was also a small water source. We spent some time with the truckers who stopped, nice. The man gave us the money (put in the hands of Oceanne) when we left. Unable to restore it. Really generous. Several times on the road we were offered water, and melon, and watermelon, and melon, and watermelon, and melon, and watermelon. I can not! For the rest of the road, we crossed many cities, which allowed us to stop about every 3 days to one day of rest is the freshness, grocery shopping, walking in the city. There are also numerous villages, all irrigated by water descending from Tian Shan. A single section of 400 km between Aksu and Artux was a little longer. 2 nights camping, 1 night hotel in the village trucker. The nights in the tent were not very pleasant. Very warm with plenty of mosquitoes, we could not open the doors. We also had the right to a third storm of wind, short, but this time transporting sand. We woke with a thin carpet of sand in the tent. Reveille at 6am by the heat, nothing to do but pedal until he makes fresh 18h, we did more than 100kms per day averaged over 4 days. We had a tail wind for 2 days, it helps a lot! But this section of road is very beautiful, the Tian Shan, very colorful, are very close to us. Even if it was on cloudy days (so much better, it was so hot), it was already very beautiful.
Kaxgar We arrived there a week now, although fatigues. Aksu after, it was of course our sole motivation. You know all about this week and what will follow (Kyrgyzstan) in another message, because it is already very long!
you soon. Hugs to all, Dorothee
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