Thanks to those of yall who participated in the little contest we had on this photo: We got a lot of great guesses. The closest one was Anna from Germany. In fact, it is an advertisement for an abortion clinic. Here is a mostly complete translation of the ad that I put together: Xining Family …
Can anyone guess what this ad is about? It’s not at all what you are thinking. Leave your answers in the comment section. If you can read Chinese, please don’t spoil it. Check back in tomorrow’s post for the answer. We’ll send a postcard from our next stop to anyone who gets it right (and …
Xining has a very Silk Road feel to the city. Qinghai, the province of which Xining is the capital of, is largely a Tibetan land, underpopulated, with vast stretches of wild, high deserts pockmarked with many mountains and almost no cities. However, Xining is dominated not by Tibetans but by Hui Muslims, the Chinese speakers …
We never originally planned to come here to this city on the northwest edge of the Tibetan plateau, yet we’ve been resting in Xining for several days. Our Tibetan friend has been wanting to start a business that would help young women in her community get involved in entrepreneurial ventures. Unfortunately, there is not much …
Here is another thing I love about China: Single-Wide Trailer Barbecue Shack. Got to love it.
Note: Though we normally avoid foul language in this blog, this post does contain a fairly provocative word. In order to faithfully record our goings-on, I have decided to leave the word in, only partially censoring the word. We were coming into Xining. I was in the passengers seat. A stranger pulled up on the …
Tiantang Si, or Tiantang Temple was a tiny town grown up around a large Tibetan temple nestled in a mountain valley separating Gansu and Qinghai Provinces. The day after having climbed Maya Snow Mountain, we took a bus up to the temple, a three hour journey up dirt roads. The temple glimmered atop the town, …
While we were sweating our way up Maya Snow Mountain, the clatter of the baahing sheep enveloping us as a herd passed by, I asked our Tibetan friend, “Other than herd animals, are there any wild animals up here?” “Oh, yes. They have bears, wolves and a kind of leopard. In fact, just a few …
If you haven’t already checked out Part I or Part II of this series, take a look at them before reading this post. In the 1990’s, our Tibetan friend had once done the hike we were doing, though it was different. Back then, they had travelled on foot from their village for two days. They …
Continue reading ‘Hike up Maya Snow Mountain – Tibetan Gansu Part III’ »
Note: If you haven’t already read the post about Huazangsi, click here. We were moving up out of the city and on the mountain road by 5:45. Though the sun had not yet risen, light illuminated the brown, scrub-less hills. The air had not quite dropped to freezing where we were, but, in the mountains, …
Continue reading ‘Approach up Maya Snow Mountain – Tibetan Gansu Part II’ »