As more people come to our site after we have finished publishing, I wanted to give people a way to access the best posts that we had done. If you like the photos you see and the stories you read below, please feel free to explore more.

Top Posts

– Drink Horse One Army – This post, actually two posts, follows the story of two families. In the first post, you’ll see how China’s economic opening has allowed a single family to go from dirt poor to owning a small factory and sending their daughter off to college. The second post is the dark story of the next door neighbors, those who were left behind as the economy required hard work. Make sure to read Lily’s Family before reading Lily’s Neighbors; the juxtaposition of this happy and sad tale right next door makes for chilling reading.

Lily’s Family

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=819

Lily’s Neighbors

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=821

–  Camping at Mogao Caves – We camped out in the desert surrounding the incredible Mogao Caves, some of the world’s most amazing Buddhist Silk Road remenants and the site where the world’s oldest printed book was discovered.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=913

 

–  Midnight Climb of Mount Hua – Without sleep, we did a five hour, 6000 foot climb up the granite peaks, along with several thousand mostly young Chinese folks, just to get a glimpse of sunrise from its famous East Peak. This is one of the quintessential Chinese hiking experiences.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=261

– Red Flags and Lemonade – A great story of discete or miscommunication, Red Flags and Lemonade is our best hitchhiking failure, and includes a video of the crash and burn.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=429

– Hitchhiking with Tibetan Cops – After hitchhiking with two Tibetan cops, they dropped us off at their grandfather’s place, where we camped in his traditional Tibetan tent, did shots of Tibetan moonshine and chatted with yak herders on the edge of Qinghai Lake.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=667

 

– Volleyball at the Edge of the World – Playing Volleyball on China’s Road to Pakistan, the Karakurom Highway.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=2235

– Mummies of Turpan – The Mummified remains of the world’s oldest drug dealer, and the history of the area around Turpan.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=1260

– End of Ramadan in Kashgar – The celebration of Eid al Fitr in Kashgar. We watched the ceremony at China’s largest mosque, just the day before we almost witnessed the assassination of its head cleric outside the mosque. We also witnessed the huge military presence threatening the worshippers.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=2090

– A Man and His Grapes – Making friends with local Uighurs as one of them shows us around his grape farm.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=1603

– Tianchi Lake – Another two posts that are really a single post, these are about the nature of nature in China, on weddings and wild places.

Part I

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=1151

Part II

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=1154

– Climbing a holy Tibetan Mountain – While climbing Maya Snow Mountain, a holy Tibetan mountain where two important fairies in Tibetan mythology live, we find how race, culture and the natural world intersect in China.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=491

– Camping at the Bezeklik Caves – Camping in the valley just upstream some of the world’s most important Buddhist artwork.

http://www.silkroadhitchhikers.com/?p=1434