........ of selected sights on The Silk Road

These are some interesting sights on The Silk Route of North-western China.

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) is posing in front of a unique mosque in Turpan. No Arabic resemblances but a mixture of Mongol and Ming architecture. Who says that a mosque must look Arabic ?


This is the Er Dao Qiao or the Grand Bazaar of Urumuqi. Better organised than the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, Turkey. Here, you can buy anything under the sun. Ar but then, you might die haggling before you expire.

This is the skyline of Urumugi, the capital of Xinjiang, from Hong Shan (Red Sun) Park.

Picturesque and placid " Heavenly Lake" , a glacier lake, atop Tianshan Mountains. 1980 meters above sea level.

The alpine view from the "Heavenly lake."

This is another unique mosque, the Emin Minaret in Turpan.

This is a stream which flows from a Karez, underground stream that conveys water from the aquifers in the snow capped mountains.
The Magoa Caves or ' Caves of A Thousand Buddhas' of Dunhuang . Its numerous grottos are full of ancient Buddhist statutes and relics.

This is the Flaming Mountain, the hottest part of China - barren, eroded, sandstone hills in the Tian Shan Mountain range in Xinjiang Province.

This is the ruins of Gaochang ancient city of Turpan in the Gobi Desert.

The southern Balikhun pasture of Nan Shan in the Kelawucheng Mountain range. The Kazaks still live in such abodes and herd sheep, cattle and horses.

A common sight in rural China - Public transport.

This is the scenic Crescent Lake oasis. It springs up right in the middle of the desert.

The is the Grand Gate of the western portion of The Great wall of China at Jiayuguan Pass i n Gangsu. This portion marks the end of the Great Wall. In front is miles and miles of desolate Gobi Desert.

Y S has a better understanding of an oasis.

The oldest and original western portion of The Great Wall at Jiayuguan, Gangsu. It is awesome and totally constructed of earth !

Y S studied about the Yellow River of China in Form Two. Y S was thrilled to see it and touch its water. The Zhongshan Bridge is the first bridge built across the Yellow River in 1907.

This is the Yellow River Mother Statue - photography spot.


A 600-year-old water mill is still in operation, grinding corn for as long as the river flows.

The South Gate of Xi An City Wall - massive and strong.

The big Wild Goose Pagoda.


This is the "Tut Tut" of Xi-An.

Claimed to be the statue of the renowed Yang Guifei ( 719 - 756 AD) , the prettiest woman of ancient China " who would shame any flower on earth" at Huan Garden of Huaqing Palace. ( Y S wonders whether ancient Chinese women were that proportionately endowed ?)

These are the famous Terra Cotta warriors' massive excavation sites.

This is claimed to be the emperor's bathing tub.

The Hua Qing hot spring - picturesque and serene.

"Happiness is to see the world. "

..... of food and drinks on The Silk Road

Of course, Chinese food predominates The Silk Road and there is little difference from those available at home. So, Yours Sincerely wants to blog about the food that I find interesting. Lamb is the main meat eaten all along The Silk Road, and its also happens to be Y S' favourite.

Huge chunks of lamp are being cut, heavily seasoned with spices and skewed through long bamboo sticks to be barbecued over slow fire. The aroma is very inviting and the taste is mouth-watering. Y S can make a do with 10 to 20 sticks in one sitting !

This is their giant nun bread which is heavily laced with sesame seeds. O la la when warm and moist and could be a little dry and dull when cold. 5 Yuans (RM2.50) per piece.


This is sort of rolled up "koeyteow" in black sauce.

This man is busy preparing "Ramen" or literally translated as "Pulled Noodles." It is served with spicy and oily lamp stew. Another O la la.

This is where the giant lamb " satays" are barbecued. There is a flat tray of spices for you to lace the "satay" with if you want it to be more spicy.

This happens to be the largest barbecue pit in Urumuqi or China. It can barbecue 10 lambs at one go. You can imagine the "lamby" aroma in the air. Enough to make you salivate. ( You see, the Chinese have to be the longest, tallestt and biggest in almost everything after the last Olympic !!!)

Of course, the proof is in the eating. Y S has a go with a lamb's hind leg and down it with Chinese beer. This is the BEST way to taste berbacued lamb. Hmmm !!! Never had so much and good before. O la la.

This nearly broke someone's teeth. This is camel's meat cooked among polished river pebbles. So, the darker pieces are not mushrooms but pebbles. They are heated and then used to cook the meat. A novelty !

Y S found this pieces of cakes along the Muslim Street of Xi An. They look like slices of melons and taste like jelly.

This is another delicious snack which tastes like persimmon found at the Muslim Street of Xi An.

Orchards abound all along The Silk Road. Grapes, oranges, apples and melons are in abundance and cheap.

This is "Ramen" prepared in a 5-star restaurant. Btw the one Y S had by the road side tasted better.
Y S had a go with all sorts of Chinese beer which is cheaper that Coca Cola or Pepsi Cola. This is astrange beer for Muslims in Uurumugi.

More beer all along The Silk Road.

More and more beer as you go along.

When you travel eat strange and exotic food.

Live and see the other side of the globe.

.... of tranportation on "The Silk Road"

Yours Sincerely ( Y S ) has always been enthralled by the travels of Marco Polo, the Venetian traveler who managed an overland caravan journey from Venice to the courts of the Mongol Emperor in China.

Images of the "ships of the desert" , the hardy, faithful and docile camels never fail to capture one's imagination when talking about "The Silk Road." Y S only wishes to highlight extraordinary, interesting and enthralling aspects of the journey which Y S experienced since factual expositions can be found all over the travel sites of the inter-net, like the Lonely Planet.


A big portion of The Silk Road now is traveled over road like this. Our coach overtook and was overtaken by countless over-laden lorries. The over-taking margin between vehicles is in inches !

Some parts of The Silk Roads are completely covered by the sand of the Gobi Desert.

Btw the the ladies are not mountain trekking but climbing over a ridge to ...............relieve themselves !!! You see, there is no toilet facilities all along the way. Somehow, the coach driver through experience could locate spots where these ladies could be shielded from the passing vechiles. As for the men....we....just........ let go by the road side. Well, in a way, we are helping to water some of the shrubs by the road side. LOL

The Chinese diesel train, disappointingly not the elevated ones that travel to Tibet, is part of the transportation on The Silk Route. The over-night 700km journey from Xi An to Lan Zhou in a cabin has just enough space for 4 travelers and could be quite claustrophobic for some. For those who are prudent and highly polished, they may not even dare to f a r t for it takes some time for the effect to dissipate in such an enclosed area and all the more in such cool and air-thin atmosphere. LOL

Y S and Better Half shared a cabin with another friendly couple. Somehow a small space becomes cozier with good people. Nobody snored, perhaps nobody dared to sleep and snore.

The donkey cart trip is to the noble ruins of Gaochong, the ancient Uyghur capital in the Gobi Desert.

This is the horse ride in the steppe grassland Kelawucheng Mountains. The Kazaks still live here with their herds of sheep, cattle and horses.

This is the cruise on a glacier lake, Heavenly Lake , in the Tianshan Mountains, 115 kilometres of Urumuqi. 1980 meters above sea level and is hemmed in by the towering snow-capped Bagda Peak. The water is emerald and crystal clear. Captivating scenery!

The camel transport is to the oasis at The Crescent Lake, south of Dunhuang city, in the Gobi Desert.

This is an ancient raft made of whole dried sheep skin whose body content has been "excavated" and human lung-blown into shape to float on the Hwang Ho River, "The Sorrow of China,"at Lan Zhuo. They still smell 'sheepy." It can easily take 6 passengers and can traverse white waters.
Without a few internal air transits in China, The Silk Road could be arduous. Of course, one isn't that eager to repeat the return journey so a flight from Urumuqi to Canton is very welcoming - 6 hour flight compared to 4 or 5 day dusty road trip plus 2 or 3 hotel overnights.

The numerous transportation makes The Silk Road interesting.