Mogao, Dunhuang

Buddha Caves

One of the key highlights on the Silk Road, the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang is a series of caves with carvings to honour and help spread Buddhism.  The caves originated from a monk who saw a vision of a thousand Buddhas at the site way back in the 4th Century.  Over the course of a thousand years, monks and families of many dynasties took ownership of the caves to create elaborate paintings and statutes.  The different expressions on the Buddhas reflect the happenings and trends through each dynasty.  Unfortunately, many of the paintings on the caves have been destroyed both purposely and by weathering.  Today, doors have been created to the entrances of the caves to help protect what currently exists.  The site was a key pilgrimage point for many, especially during the Tang dynasty as trade on the Silk Road thrived, but it wasn’t until the caves were re-discovered by explorers in the 18th century that interest was renewed.  

On the outside the caves appear to be holes in rock and mud built structures but what lie inside are beautiful and such detailed drawings, murals and statutes.  The largest structure is the 35 metre sleeping Buddha, depicting a serene face and a body reclining in a relaxed state.  Some of the statutes seem to come alive, especially with the eyes decorated with precious stones that glisten in the dark.  But over the years, many of the precious stones have been stolen by thieves that have dug up anything that seemed valuable and the majority of the manuscripts showcasing Buddhist wisdom and the spread of Buddhism which were hidden in the Library Cave have disappeared.  It wasn’t until many years later that people saw the value in the lost cultural heritage.  Today, there is much more careful monitoring of the caves to prevent further damage, such as not allowing tourists to take pictures, using technologies to provide lighting that won’t damage murals and constantly measuring temperatures and cracks in walls.  But there are plans to potentially develop the site into a massive tourism attraction with everything from hotels to outdoor theatres.  In the extreme desert weather that the Mogao Caves are located, visiting the site at present is already no easy task, let alone the very first hermit monks who have come to the caves to meditate and study and the artists who have carved intricate murals by hand over hundreds of years.  It was no easy task to create the Mogao Caves and is a site that needs to be continually protected for its history and heritage.

Xi'an

Terracotta Warriors

 

The former capital of China, Xi’an is the starting point of the Silk Road.  This charming city was inhabited as far back as 500,000 years ago and it is also known for the discovery of the Terracotta Warriors.  But the food was what made me fall in love with the city.  Some of the must-try items include paomo-flat bread in lamb soup and all sorts of dumplings with flavours like tomatoes, taro, celery and more!  The mix of old buildings and new high-rises with alleyways in between makes this a fun city of explore.  By night time, the alleyways are popular dining spots with food carts selling dumplings, lamb skewers and of course noodles.  Many families make their own noodles at home too, right from scratch, so nothing artificial is added.

Everyone who comes to Xi’an always visits the Terracotta Warriors and has become the tourist icon of China aside from the Great Wall.  The warrior sculptures were buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China way back in 210 BC, as a sign of power and protection for the emperor in his after-life.  The site wasn’t discovered until the 1960s and today, only three pits have been excavated, out of the hundreds.  Even in the three small pits, 8000 soldiers and over a hundred chariots have been found.  It’s amazing how artists were able to create figures that seem to come to life, especially with the detailed facial expressions on the figures.  Each figure’s is assembled separately as the neck area is more vulnerable to breakage.  The first pit has the most items.  Most of the coloured pigments on the figures have worn off due to lack of excavation knowledge.  Now the parts that haven’t been fully excavated are being protected by plastic covers to prevent corrosion and oxidation.  The first pit has more than 6000 figurines standing in rows.  Most of the figurines resemble people holding something like weapons but these were all stolen during wartime by Xiang Yu, a warlord.  The third pit is smaller in scale but has the higher ranking warriors and chariots.  The second pit is still in excavation and when I was there, the ground was being watered slightly to make digging easier for archaeologists.  This pit contains the more detailed works and this is where some of the different positions of warriors can be seen, from the young archers who stand in their kneeling positions, ready for action with their bows and arrows to charioteers in shoes that have finer teeth to prevent slipping.  Details go as far as including beard and wrinkles to depict the age of the warriors and if you look closely, no too figure is the same!

Xinjiang

A multi-cultural province

If I were to name some of the places that are most culturally diverse in China, Xinjiang would definitely top the list as it has 13 major ethnic groups, with the largest groups being the Uygur, Hui, Mongolian and Kazak.  Originally inhabited by two major groups of people-the nomadic Dzungar people to the north of the Tianshan Mountains and the Muslim Uyghur people to the south, it wasn’t until in the 1880s that Xinjiang was combined as a single province as part of China.  After 1955, people from other parts of China started moving into the region.  Many were soldiers sent to the Gobi desert to set up new families to strengthen China’s protection of its borders in Xinjiang through farms and factories created by the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.  This has resulted in a culturally diverse region that is almost half ethnically Uyghur and the rest a combination of Han, Kazakh and Hui ethnicities.  With the ethnic attacks that have taken place in recent years, it wasn’t a surprise to see tight security in major cities like Urumqi, especially at hotels, large open spaces where groups can gather and at the airport.

Boasting of some of China’s largest oil and natural gas reserves, this seemingly barren land is also a naturally rich one.  The empty fields of barren land are also populated with sources of energy generation from wind turbines to solar panels.  The early pioneers of the land suffered many hardships, but today, this thriving and quickly growing region is livelier than ever.  The grand bazaar in Urumqi boasts to be bigger than the one in Turkey selling all sorts of daily goods, local foods and also packed with restaurants with daily singing and dancing performances.  From lamb kebabs to crunchy breads with varying sizes, red dates, melons, juicy cherry tomatoes and more, this parched and dry land has been the food bowl of China.  To get a quick sense of the Uyghur people’s exotic customs, the dance and singing performance is not to be missed as the culturally diverse customs of different tribes can be seen.

Yueyaquan

Desert oasis

Yueyaquan, which literally translates into Crescent Lake, is a natural oasis in the middle of the Gobi desert in Dunhuang, Gansu province and was named crescent moon because its shape resembles a moon crescent.  Over the past decade, the oasis has shrunk by half in size and has been gradually stable in size with the local government’s efforts in expanding it.  Closer to the centre of the oasis, water could be seen seeping out from the central pond as the sand is much wetter.  There’s nothing like dune surfing from the sand peaks in the Echoing Sand Dunes mountains surrounding the oasis and camel riding is a must, especially to view the spectacular views of the hills and hills of rolling, golden sand dunes.  If you scoop up a handful of sand, you’ll see that the sand isn’t just yellow in colour but has a mix of colours-red, green, yellow, black and whites.  It is with the mix of colours and the rays of sunlight refracting from the sand that the array of colours can be seen from the distance.  As we were leaving the desert, we caught a glimpse of the moon hanging in the middle of the sky.  From afar, across the peaks of the sand dunes, it almost felt as though we were walking closer and closer to the moon…

Silk Road naturally

Gifts of the gods

It’s no joke when it comes to extreme climates on the Silk Road.  In Turpan, where the mountains are aptly named the Flaming Mountains, temperatures can shoot way up to 55 degrees in the summer!  This is the hottest spot in all of China. There’s even a blown up version of a thermometer to measure how hot it is.  Inspired by the story of the monk Xuanzang who spread Buddhist wisdom by getting Buddhist manuscripts from India, the Flaming Mountains was the source of inspiration for the author Wu Cheng’en to create the stories of Monkey King and Xuanzang crossing the “wall of flames” in their journey.  It’s hot in Xinjiang but Tianchi or Heaven Lake is a true gift from the gods.  Known as the lake in the skies, this is the perfect place to enjoy the natural waterfalls, hop on a boat ride and the view of the snow capped peaks in the horizon just takes your breath away.  It’s the perfect way to hide from the heat.  Weather might be extreme in Xinjiang but it’s also the fruit bowl of China.  Be sure to sink your teeth into the sugar sweet and lip smackingly juicy Xinjiang melons and grapes, especially during harvest season in July and August.  That’s a even better way to quench thirst.  

Silk Road-China

A historic journey

For a taste of the route Silk Road traders took during the heyday of trading trekking across deserts and treacherous peaks, there’s nothing like experiencing the Silk Road.  Of course, with the advance of better roads, improved sanitary conditions and high-speed train connections between some of the cities on the Silk Road, traveling is much easier today.  From the Terracotta warriors in Xian to the extreme heat at the Flaming Mountains in Xinjiang province, journeying on the Silk Road in China was an experience like no other.  The best time to go is definitely June, just before it gets too warm and the weather is still a bit chilly in the mornings and evenings in some cities.

Extending over 6000km, the series of trade routes stretching across China and India to Africa and Europe was fundamental in promoting trade between the West and East at the beginning of the Han dynasty, around 206 BC.  In China, the Northern Silk Road covers the Xinjiang, Gansu and Shanxi provinces and further splits into three routes, two going to the north and south of the Takiamakan Desert and another going through the north of Tian Shan mountains before rejoining at Kashgar.  From this route, traders traveled between modern day Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.  While known as the silk road, silk was only one of the valuable goods that merchants sought, other goods like nuts, dates, saffron, sandalwood and porcelain were popular at the time.

Objects weren’t the only things being traded, more importantly, cross-cultural ideas and religions spread because of the Silk Road.  While Buddhism originated in India, with the spread of the religion to China, it was become the mainstream religion during the past and present, as evidenced by remarkable caves carved by monks at sites such as the Mogao Caves and the Luoyang Grottoes.

Watch for more to come on my journey on the Silk Road!