Xinjiang - Muslim Chinese Farmers (pt. 2)

It's been about 2 1/2 months since leaving Shanghai now, and we started feeling the first pangs of travel-weary since the start of our journeys. Above, at over 12,000 feet elevation, Tiffany walks the famous Karkoram Highway, which leads from Xinjiang into Pakistan, as the Silk Road winds through the 20,000 ft plus mountain pass. It didn't help that she'd gotten her first bout of food poisoning since India, which made her not so excited about Xinjiang food anymore. Or that we felt like we were never going to get out of the hot, sandy desert at times. But she toughed it out, and we were rewarded with some amazing scenery, friendly locals, and another blog entry! Back in town, we decided maybe no more buying bread off the street was a good policy.

Kashgar is famous for their Sunday Market, where farmers from all over bring their livestock and produce to trade and sell. We watched hundreds of market goers checking animal teeth, taking donkeys out for a test drive, and haggling for their life to finally complete a sale. In many cases, there is a 3rd party negotiator that acts as the go-between between buyer and seller.
These two guarded their family donkey.
Tiffany found her favorite animal, a brown fluffy donkey. We watched an under-1 year old donkey (about this size) that was touted for it's (relatively) calm demeanor, sold for 1700 RMB, or about $220. Not bad, unfortunately Tiff knew her donkey would never stand to be checked in at the airport, and had no chance of fitting into her carry-on bag. Hundreds of sheep lined up for sale. Farmers would shave their flock in a distinctive style, like a brand, for identification purposes.
Another part of the market specialized in various handicrafts, like these fancy versions of the common Uigher hat.

This area of Xinjiang is famous for the "smallest hat in the world". How they know that, who knows, it's not actually all that small, but whatever. Zach is styling a tiny black silk number, with baby blue topping.
We came across this colorful brood in the old town of Kashgar (most recently used in the Kite Runner film due to it's proximity to and resemblance of Afganistan). This was the first of about 50 photos that this giggly group of girls demanded to take, swarming Zach after each one to critique the result, then running back to pose for the next one.

Zach closes the deal with a knife salesman in a town outside of Kashgar, called Yengisar. The blades are hammered out by hand, along with various handle types made of wood, bone, even deer antlers, and inlaid or encrusted with jewels, mother-of-pearl or other decoration. The salesman then took us up the dirt road to his home, where his colleage sharpened each knife while we enjoyed looking around their simple home. At the knife salesman's house, Tiffany and our guide, Aliya, relax for a moment. The family was incredibly hospitable, offering to climb their tree to pick us some fresh apricots for a snack while we waited for the knives to be sharpened. Aliya was a fantastic guide and was interestingly enough a Muslim (but recently converted Christian) who competes in Hip Hop dancing competitions when not leading hapless tourists around Xinjiang.

Tiff half-heartedly prepares herself for another Uigher lunch. Zach loved the "lakh man", made of fresh, hand-pulled noodles and topped with tomato sauce and slices of lamb.

Noshing in China?? Uighers are famous for their "girde nan" and love to eat it in the mornings. They were delicious, thick and dense, sometimes baked with salt crystals in the dough, and always crisp and extra chewy on the bottom, where they dough sat in the hearths. If only they had some low-fat schmear to spread on it...
No vampires here!
Fresh lamb for sale.
It was like the Cirque du Soleil of chickens, hung like they were acrobatically balanced in the air. It always struck us how non-chalantly large sides of meat were hung in the street.

A rare sight in the officially "no religion" China. Friday afternoon brings a crowd of the largely Muslim population to pray at one of the many mosques we saw in Xinjiang.
The most fuel-efficient vehicle on the planet!

The standard package in one of our hotels, the swatter unfortunately came in very handy.
At a silk farm, we watched the silk eggs getting boiled and threads drawn out, for these weavers to form into various scarves and clothing.

Part of the Himalayan mountain range, the snow-capped peaks made for a stunning backdrop as we visited Karakul Lake. The vaunted K2 mountain (named for being the 2nd peak of the Karakoram range), second highest in the world, is nearby.
Out in the desert we explored the Thousand Buddha Caves, home to an ancient monastary of Buddhist monks with individual chambers carved into the stone face.
Top 10 Jobs Zach Wouldn't Last 2 Days At - In order to prevent the desert from completing overtaking and obscuring the road (this was the Cross-Desert Highway, an ardous 12-hour drive we undertook one day), the government decided to plant vegetation along the shoulder to trap and filter the grainy environment. Unfortunately, some poor souls need to be out there to water the plants. So two people are hired to live in one of these desolate, oven-like outposts in the middle of the desert -- and water the plants every day. These buildings dotted the highway every 3-5 miles or so. One tour of duty lasts 3 months (after that you fall prey to desert madness maybe?) and pays about $400/month. Food and fresh water have to be trucked in once a week to keep them alive. Unsurprisingly, the majority of desert gardeners are not locals, but immigrants from another province who are just poor and unknowing enough to sign up for the job. When not even the native desert folks want the job, you gotta wonder...
A minor delay in our journey across the Taklamakan desert caused by some wayward camels.
A mosque and burial ground for the sacred Islamic Yarkent King, about a 20 minute walk into the desert. A sandy wind is swirling around, and Tiffany was not happy.Amazingly, even out in the middle of this desert, Zach found a bright flower somehow flourishing.

Xinjiang - Meat and Melon (pt.1)

From the cool mountains of Lijiang, we made our way back to the desert, into the furthest northwest region of China, a province called Xinjiang. Xinjiang is notable for being home to China's Muslim population, the native Uigher (pronounced "wee-gur") nation. They are a mix of ancient Ottoman and Mongolian civilizations. Xinjiang sits at the doorway to China for eastbound travelers on the Silk Road from Europe to Asia. It is a fascinating place, and very different from anywhere else we've been in China. Xinjiang produces much of China's fruit - and is famous for their watermelon (Tiffany enjoys this cup of fresh watermelon as much as for its sweet juicy flavor as for its economical 25 cent cost) as well as walnuts, grapes and a melon called Hami melon, from the Hami region. It's sort of like a crunchy, sweet canteloupe.
The Muslim influence can be seen in the nightly food markets, with savory smoke pouring off the lines of hot coals grilling lamb kebabs, along with fish and vegetables. This stand put together an artistic, if somewhat unsettling, display of the Xinjiang version of "Mary Had a Little Lamb (Kebab)"
Mountains of nuts and dried fruit provided flashes of color.

The province of Xinjiang comprises 16% of China's land, but only has a population of around 20 million. Considering that that is the same as Shanghai's population alone, we felt remarkably free and uncrowded, as can be seen by Tiffany stretching her legs along the deserted main highway which runs along the Silk Road.
The latest in Xinjiang's Baby Bjorn fashion. This one doubles as a high chair.
For a region that feels remarkably unchanged from the past, it is also quite advanced. While we have been traveling along the Silk Road, our Uigher guide has educated us on Xinjiang's ancient history. And it's been easy to imagine what life was like 1000, 2000 years ago, because for the most part we've witnessed the same, simple farming lifestyle, slow-paced life and easy-going people with a ready smile. At the same time, we've seen massive wind-power farms and oil and natural resource mining operations that point to the future development of this ancient region. We just hope they don't stop growing that delicious fruit!

Tiger Leaping Gorge - The Big Hike

One of the biggest natural attractions in Yunnan, and really all of China, is the Tiger Leaping Gorge, just outside of Lijiang. A giant mountain range with peaks over 15,000 feet high is split by a diving canyon called the Tiger Leaping Gorge, at the bottom of which the mighty Yangtze River winds its way through. Inhabiting the Gorge and surrounding area are the local Naxi people, who are mostly farmers.

There is a 15-20 mile trail through the mountains from one end of the Gorge to the other, through steep terrain, and frequent hazards, from slippery waterfalls to narrow wood planks crossing gaps high over the canyon. Weather changes are frequent, with heavy rains leading to dangerous washout and landslide conditions, or alternatively bright, burning sun to parch your throat and cramp your muscles.
This is the foolhardy 2-day journey that Tiff and Zach decided to attempt.

It started innocently enough, with absolutely no intentions of doing anything other than taking a nice drive up to see the Gorge, and maybe an hour or two of hiking around before turning back and heading home. Unfortunately, the few hours from their starting point was almost straight up, so that by the time the terrain levelled out and the brilliant views became apparent, the last thing our two intrepid explorers wanted to do was climb right back down. As well, they ran into two fateful, Israeli backpackers who promised, in return for some heart attack-inducing ascents and ankle-breaking descents, natural beauty unheard of in China and heretofore unseen if we continued further along the high trail. And animals. Lots of animals. And with that, Tiffany sealed their fates with a firm, "It's GO time." The decision was made to "just hike a few more hours until we see some cute animals, then go back..."

They would never come back that way again.

As it turned out, they hiked along the high trail until reaching a mountain lodge guesthouse in the afternoon. Three beers later at around 10,000 feet altitude, and there was no more talk of returning that day. In the great economics of rural China, those drinks, the ensuing dinner, one night's lodging and the following day's breakfast cost our two hardcore backpackers an astonishing $35! Instantly, talks of retiring on the spot broke out, and after heated discussions, the idea was firmly placed into the "maybe later" category.

The rest of the trip was exactly as the prescient Israelis had foretold. Stunning scenery, mysteriously carved cliffsides (in the picture below, look for a broad-nosed man and veiled woman), spring flora and incredibly friendly, hardy local Naxi farmers along the way. Oh, and some animals.

A Land of Contrasts

After spending 2 months, the longest consecutive amount of time outside of China in three years, in English-speaking countries, we were eager to come back to China. But, we were a little worried that we had gone soft. Had all those meat pies and western exposure spoiled us? Would we be able to stand up to the bustling crowds of millions we were sure to encounter? Would our stomachs still willingly accept the masses of MSG that would surely re-enter our diet? Aside from a bit of stomach protests, it's as if we never left.

Our first stop was Kunming, home to a paltry 5 million. We were greeted with many sites that made us feel right at home, such as....

Massive construction sites!
Dried meat hanging in the streets!

And other familiar scenes, like husbands lovingly cutting their wives' toenails in the town square, small children pointing at Tiffany screaming 'laowai' (foreigner), and locals befuddled that Zach doesn't speak Chinese fluently. It kind of feels like we never left!

After 2 days in comfortable, modern Kunming, we headed to a part of China we've rarely seen, the rural part of China.

Our first stop was the old town of Lijiang. The town was filled with old Naxi architecture and the streets were mazes of small cobblestone streets and quant streams and bridges. Here's Zach relaxing in our zen hotel courtyard.

After wandering through the quaint maze of streets in old town, we hopped on bikes and cruised around the surrounding farmlands.

We didn't get far before getting caught in some rush hour traffic...

It was amazing to bike by farmers working the land as their ancestors have for probably hundreds of years. It's about as far away from modern China as you can imagine.

The farms were so beautiful and surrounded by mountains. And the people we ran into were so friendly and nice, and they were quick to wave and smile at two random foreigners biking around their farms.It was such a peaceful and reassuring re-entry into China, and also fun to see such different sides of the country.

Home Sweet Home

We safely made it back to China, and from the looks of this picture, SOMEONE sure missed her Chinese food! We're currently in Shangri-la recuperating from an intense 2-day hike through Tiger Leaping Gorge and will post more pictures soon!

Finishing Australia

We finished up a great stay in Sydney and spent our last days walking as much as possible through this beautiful city. Lots of beautiful buildings, like St. Mary's Cathedral, above, left us in awe of this city which before now we'd known very little about.
Certainly the quality of food didn't hurt, either. Our favorite pub, Lord Nelson's, featured one of Australia's signature dishes, meat pie, and was adorned with smashed peas, mashed potatoes and a delicious gravy. This savory treat had us coming back time and time again, and was equally enhanced by the six different beers that were brewed on site. Ahhh, beer and meat pie; life doesn't get much better!
We spent the final leg of our Australia trip in Cairns, home to the Great Barrier Reef. The Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the world's biggest single structure composed of living organisms, and most importantly, was the site of Zach's first scuba dive ever.
Here is Tiffany with the Reef in the water behind her. Just days after our trip, we read about a couple that had been lost at sea for 19 hours after getting left behind on a scuba dive. Thank god I didn't read that before we went, or else I'd never have gone! The scuba diving experience was amazing, I have to say. It is such a strange sensation to be breathing 20-30 feet underwater with ocean life all around you. I only freaked out once, when I started thinking, "Wait a minute, I'm not supposed to be down here. I can't breathe underwater, what if my oxygen tank breaks?!" After a brief moment of terror and incontinence, I calmed down. Luckily, the beauty and breadth of underwater life at the Reef is such that I was quickly distracted from my fears. It was amazing to see the variety and combination of colors, which almost seemed impossible in their bright vivid streaks and gleaming florescence. The Great Barrier Reef was one, big underwater disco costume party, apparently.

We passed our last few days in Cairns relaxing at the beach, and enjoying nature at its finest. Our daily walks were definitely enhanced by the opportunity to witness some of Australia's unique wildlife! As we reluctantly leave our new favorite country, we are getting ready to re-enter China, the chaotic, exciting country we've called home for the past 3 years. With the unfortunate situations in Chengdu and Tibet, we're shifting our trip to Yunnan, the most southeastern province of China and home to Shangri-la. We're winging this part of the trip, so it will be interesting to see what kind of adventures (and in Tiffany's case, exotic animals) we can find! Stay tuned...