Victory Hotel Xining

... the poplars that line the majority of the roads had all turned a fantastic yellow colour, picked up even more in the early morning and evening light. Pottering down the road, small terraced fields stretched out to the horizon, with a seemingly endless number of peasants tilling the ground, collecting corn, or riding around on tractors. Every hard surface is used for drying corn, which at times leads to a rather surreal sight of a yellow roof, or simply a ...

... is non reimbursable, we decide to go and ask Nishi to get a train 2 days later as the 4 of us (under the same permit) need to be in Lhasa to continue the trip.<br> <br>The train is now leaving in 2 minutes (Chinese trains are very punctual), I run with my bags, Wacky following me and Jordi behind. Sweeting and blowing like a horse after a gallop, I jump in our coach (with Wacky at sight) and go toward our cabin to unload our bags. Then I turn back... No Jordi!! I ask ...

Viimeisenä päivänä Xianissa lähdimme Hua Shanille, joka on yksi taoismin viidestä pyhästä vuoresta. Alkuperäisenä tarkoituksena oli patikoida ylös vuorelle ja samalla kohottaa kuntoa ennen Tiibetiä. Aikataulullisista syistä jouduimme turvautumaan köysirataan, jotta ehtisimme nähdä alueesta mahdollisimman paljon ennen lentoa Xiningiin. Hua Shan osoittautui odotettua jylhemmäksi kalliomuodostelmaksi. Valitettavasti my ...

We didn't have too much time to spend in Xining as we arrived around 1 am due to the late flight, had a meeting with our travel agency at 9 am and our train departed at 11.30. So we didn't actually see anything in Xining, though it didn't actually matter as we were already looking forward to taking the train to Lhasa. In fact, I ...

Sorry for the silence. Jessica and I have been super busy but the past few weeks have been quite a learning adventure. Our hosts have been warm and friendly and we have seen lots of places, met lots of people, and learned about Tibetan medicine which incorporates prevention concepts innclduing nutrition! Today, we met a group of medical students from the States including from Standford (Laura: I told him to find you when he does his Peds rotation). <br ...

... of minority peoples here. <br>Yesterday we went to the Tibetan Medicine Museum of China, which has<br>the world's longest Tangka, by Guinness Book of World Records<br>standards, measuring in at 618 meters long! A Tangka is an<br>encyclopedic picture meant to depict the history, culture, religion and<br>folklife of the Tibetan people. It is, honestly, one of the most<br>spectacular things I have ever seen in my life. It took 300 artisans<br>to ...

... the size of it until you walk alongside the whole thing - there is so much detail on it - I was amazed. My other objective in Xining was to extend my Chinese visa - my month was running out fast, and I needed some extra time to arrange my permit to Tibet. To extend it in Beijing you had to open a Chinese bank account, then in Xian I was told we needed proof of transport out of China, proof of sufficient fund in my ...

... I had a small problem going through security. This is because the Chinese Government or a visa holding office has my passport because I need to change my visa. The person had a problem when I tried use the receipt like Josie said I could. Liu Laoshi came over and helped me get through security. I was really glad that she was close enough to see that I needed help. The flight was pretty uneventful until we came in for the landing ...

... a desperate attempt to make sure even if i get abandoned, i can survive (sort of). Well, if all else fails, Yenhao's Dad is based in Ulaan Bataar. I guess I can kinda hope he helps me in event of emergency. Eeeks. Well then, i need to go pack and get ready for bed. You all take care, and i'll try to post again tmrrw after I get stuff settled in Beijing. Hope Thai Airways is nice to me. - Feil "Hoping for the Best" Wong

... means that not quite every conceivable spot is used for cultivation). Also, the crop of choice wasn't rice for a change, which meant that the aesthetic symmetry from hills perfectly horizontally terraced was lost. It was also rainy with low cloud. We were entering China's penal colony. Short historical note: Qinghai Province is a recent addition to China - nicked off Tibet about the 18th century. Because of this, it has a ...