ready to roll

Tianshui has a strange layout. It is almost like two towns joined together. The bus dropped us all off in the western part, but my hotel was in the eastern part! Unfortunately Didi (like Uber) was useless to get out of this part and on to where I wanted to go. (Most places Didi worked really well, but I did not have a lot of luck in many parts of Gansu Province)
Luckily was able to find a cab. Looooong ride to get to my hotel.

I had already committed to meeting up with a friendly front desk clerk from my Linxia hotel. He he wanted me to try local specialty mutton. In American English “mutton” seems such an ugly word, and conjures up thoughts of terrible British food.
He told me he was taking me because he wanted to practice his English. But I think it was actually that he was a very nice guy.
After I had gotten back to the hotel (he was off today) I texted him to see what time he wanted to eat.
What I was thinking was that there were a couple sights I wanted to see. And if he was going to be delayed I’d go see them first.
But, he said hey, he’d like to go see those places too.

We went to the first on my list, which was the oldest mosque in the city. We arrived and I was asking him about the history of the mosque, when a young guy nearby inserted himself into the conversation.
The new guy (Ali) spike English pretty well (better than my new friend Junhua from the hotel) and we all decided to visit the places together.
Ali is Muslim and spoke to an old guy with a big beard to help get info.

After learning a bit about this mosque we went in to a Daoist temple and then a Sufi mosque. Ali was great and explained some things about the difference between Sufi Muslims and some other groups.

Then the three of us went to eat dinner before moving on to the “8 squares and 13 lanes” city landmark.
The restaurant that Junhua had chosen was phenomenal. The food was delicious, and to start things off we had Ba Bao Tea (eight treasures tea). Ali mixed the ingredients up for us from bowls of the individual components, talking all the while.

All three of us had a great time, and then moved on to the landmark neighborhood of “8 squares and 13 lanes”.

Linxia was truly a wonderful and interesting city! I’d really like to go back there sometime soon!

I planned a brief walkabout this morning, then arrival at bus station ah hour before departure to be sure to get s seat. A woman from the hotel had offered to accompany me to the station since I didn’t know exactly where it was. Well, getting there an hour early wasn’t good enough. All the tickets for the 12:00 bus had already been sold. The next bus was at 2:30-3:00… Crap! We moved away from the counter to consider options. The lady from the hotel asked if I wanted to consider a private car. I said I would consider it, depending on the price. (My mention of cost was gratuitous. My little remaining time in China was precious!)

She made some calls and waited for response on price. The she heard back: 350rmb (about 65 bucks or so) She said to me: “I think the price is too high.” As context, the bus ticket would be 35.
Well I wanted to get back to Linxia as soon as possible and see some more things! It would be my last opportunity.
I told her that although yeah the price was high, I wanted to do it. She didn’t judge me and spoke to someone on the phone.
OK she said, lets go meet the driver. As we left the station she told me she had “argued the price down 60”.
Well, anything helps!

After we gotten a bit further I decided i’d better make sure I understood and got the math right. “So the price will be 290, right?”

“No, 60”.
OMG! She had gotten the price dropped from 350 to just 60. Indredible!!
What an angel! From that moment on, I thought of her as the “Hotel angel”.

We met up with the driver, and the car already seemed full .. multiple riders I supposed.
A lady in a hijab got out of the passenger front and insisted I sit there. Well, it transpired that she was the driver’s wife, and the car was filled with their kids. I conversed a bit (using translator device) with the wife and with the older daughter who was behind the driver.

They were all super nice and friendly, and curious about who I was and why I had been in Xunhua. I gave my stock answer which interested them a lot.

Turned out the family was getting dropped off at their home, and only driver and I were going to Linxia. As the family got out of the car they were all warm smiles and waves.

As the driver guided the car through the city and onto the highway the diver and I got into a lengthy discussion about Islam, the troubles in the world, and my experiences teaching English to immigrants of diverse origins.

He was a super nice guy and we got along really well.

As we got onto the superhighway and we had to back off a bit our communication via translated text. But he wrote to me again, saying that I was a good person, clearly a great educator, and that he had admiration for me. (I also admired him from our short conversation)

OMG sometimes I want to cry. Really I am just a schmuck, but people are really nice.

By the time we were in Linxia we were good pals and had exchanged Wechat contact info. And yes, it really was only 60 RMB fir the ride.
People really do make the difference!

After checking into the Jinheyuan hotel (AKA the Rezen Select Hotel), I took a cab to a nearby Salar (Muslim minority group,) village.

{What I thought was) the community exhibition center was closed for siesta.

So I wandered until I found a restaurant. Lovely place with a peaceful courtyard.

I ordered some food and a woman brought me a gaiwan (special tea cup like the ones Bamboo sent with me on my last trip.)

The tea (leaves) were already in the gaiwan, and then she added hot water from that huge thermos shown in the photo.

mmmmmm ba bao tea! (and it was GOOD!)

You may remember that the reputed origins of ba bao tea was Muslim merchants trading along the ancient silk road. Well, Lanzhou is situated where the silk road intersected the Yellow River, And both Linxia an Xunhua were important Silk Road towns! The legacy of the Silk Road and all its magic are very strong in these cities with their large Muslim populations! (over the centuries Muslim traders were a crucial component in Silk Road trade!)

Some random photos from Xunhua:

Footnote: Did I mention that my hotel in Xunhua was luxurious?
Did I mention that my room is huge and has all kinds of cool extras and classy touches?
Did I mention that its price is $37/night?

Truly the biggest factor in hotel prices is the city the hotel is in…
Big famous, well traveled cities tend to have higher prices.
But it is still possible to get good comfortable lodging at a reasonable price even in places like Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an..

One last note about the details of this hotel-

Although of course the rooms have glass- drinking glasses to use with the bottled water. But they also clearly think some people might plan on steeping their tea “to go”. So they provided slightly heavy duty take out cups

Pre-loaded with a “lite” dose…

of ba bao tea! (Some people will do anything to get out of springing for teabags!) 😉

OMG- What a highway! To get over a range of mountains this modern highway gains altitude coiling its way through a tunnel inside the mountain!!

And as we emerged from the tunnel we were inside a cloud!

Sadly it was essentially impossible to get photos of anything. It was cool/ cold outside so the windows were foggy and even if you tried to wipe them enough for the camera, they fogged tight back up!

And after bursting out on the other side of the mountain, the highway began a steep descent. At these high altitudes, sheep were grazing on slopes that looked to be at a 40 degree angle.
And now as we dropped down a bit- herds of yaks! chortens! Tibetan temples on the hillside! Prayer flags! As we the bus descended and near enough to see some sheep up close, you could see they had horizontal twisted horns jutting out to each side.

As we dropped yetlower, villages and agricultural fields appeared. And the population was once again Muslim. By their appearance they looked Hui. Women with head coverings and the men wearing either skullcaps or the kind of short flat topped beanie that is usually white, though some are lavender.

And finally are descent was complete as we were once again along the Yellow River.

There were still some Tibetans here and there though.

When we finally got to Xunha, I checked into my room. Luxury!!! An angled view of the mountains. OMG, when you approach the toilet the lid opens itself. (After some discrete interval, the lid closes itself. Bidet with wall controls. OMG! I’d be more than willing to “slum it” in this room for a week and enjoy myself without even leaving!

But, no rest for this old man. I need go poke around and see what this down is like!

Many are electric, although the small white car in the foreground is probably gas, based on the color of the license plate.

With a couple of my Daoist homies

Dinner

BTW, yesterday when I chatted with a few young Hui men as we stood on top of a pedestrian overpass. While we were talking, a group of about a dozen young men all dressed alike filed past. They wore head coverings quite different than the Hui. I later remembered that there are also Sufis here in Linxia. “Dervishes?” They seemed to be some sort of novices or students.

The famous Buddhist site of carved statues known as “Bingling Grottoes” is usually accessed from Lanzhou. But the site is actually much closer to Linxia. so I thought I’d be able to get to it more easily after arriving in Linxia. Well, although clearly you *should* be able to ferry across from a point near Linxia, I ended up on a bus that took me practically back to Lanxhou before then negotiating a cab to take me to the grottoes. There are boats, but I think I was sort of swindled into the cab thing. It was OK though, the driver was nice.

a cool, rainy day BTW!

Even the Buddha is wearing galoshes!

On the one hand, one might consider Linxia to be an off the beaten path, obscure destination. But back in the heyday of the Silk Road, this was an important trading town.
And today? I suppose due to the heavy concentration of Hui Muslims, it is known as the “Mecca of China”.

My focus on this brief trip to China was meant to be more about the people (especially ethnic minorities) and less about “famous landmarks of China”.

Well, on this first day in Linxia there was no shortage of person-to-person interactions!

After checking in to the hotel, I decided to look for some lunch. Down a nearby alley, I saw a “hole in the wall” restaurant and was coaxed inside and encouraged to sit down. The only unoccupied table had not yet been cleaned off. But a middle aged guy invited me to sit with him. What he was eating looked good, so I ordered the same. (I learned the technique of asking for “what he is having” from my friend Marlene!)
It was simple fare, but indeed tasty.

Broth, chicken pieces and yummy square cut noodles. While my bowl was being prepared the cook was chopping up some peppers. The combined aroma tantalized my nostrils!

After eating I took a short nap and prepared a map of about eight places more or less in the neighborhood, that seemed to possibly be interesting. First on the lust was the ‘White cloud temple”. It wasn’t too hard to find, and was an ornate Daoist temple. Having gotten permission to take some exterior photos, I snapped away.

While admiring the temple, a young man came over and struck up a conversation with me. Then he invited me to go sit and drink some tea. Soon there were about six more sitting with us, and we all chattered away. Among other topics, I mentioned that as a young lad I had collected coins. Of course these days in China very little actual cash was used, having been replaced by Alipay and WeChat pay on phone devices. One guy slipped off and returned with 5 or 6 current coins. Nothing unusual or special about them, but I thanked him with sincerity.
Well, in addition to the coins he gave me two tiny, prized shells. They *were* special. So cool!

We all probably chatted for about an hour, but then I apologized that I had to go, and I took my leave.

At the Nanguan Mosque, after asking permission I took some photos. Three young Hui Muslim guys came over to me and we had s long chat .

It was aleady dark by the time I reached the “8 squares and 13 alleys” neighborhood. This essentially is a labyrinth of alleys with lots of shops. Apparently this was the historical locationwhere silk Road traders had met up hundreds of years ago.

Lots of smiles and greetings from people. Then a group oy young Hui women passed. One doubled back and wanted a selfie with me. Soon her friends decided they wanted photos with the weird guy too. Then various iterations of group pics as they giggled away.

OK, super tired. I have a long day ahead tomorrow!