Dawukou, Ningxia...China

   While pondering just what travel story to post in this blog I turned to one of my 5 journals that I scribed while in China. I chose my tremendous experience in the mountains around Dawukou which is just over one hour north by bus of Yinchuan, Ningxia. For those that do not know exactly where Yinchuan is, it lies about 950 kms north west of the famous Xian (Terra Cotta Warriors). My definition of "my tremendous experience" may be a little different than others, I will let you be the judge.

  I woke up at my hotel in Yinchuan at 6:30 am and had planned to get to the Juicai Gou section of the Great Wall, which is one of the original sections of wall from the Qin Dynasty (220 bc) era. These first sections of the Great Wall were made of packed dirt and rock rather than the bricks used for the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) walls; most of these original sections have eroded away. Through much determination and many gestures, (with map in hand) I finally found out which number bus to take to get to the city of Dawukou. It was -10 degrees as I walked to the bus station; the bus to Dawukou was already fairly full.

   As the bus approached the city I could see that there was a lot of industry in the area, there were many stacks rising up from the ground. Once we got into the station it was hopeless for me to convey to anyone where I wanted to go; I tried every form of communication, accept their language. I ended up messaging my friend who sent a Chinese message that I could show the people at the station. One lady who worked at the station was a blessing; she sorted out my destination with a taxi driver and the cost for the trip to the Wudang Monastery; which was where I would start my hike to the Great Wall.

                       

                       


 I checked out the fairly new edition of the monastery before I followed the river bed; through broken English the lady at the bus station told me about 6kms walk. As I trudged through the snow I was enjoying being alone, with no honking horns or droves of people.

  The wind was cold so I walked with my mouth covered; steadily I went up until I was pleasantly surprised to see 3 different groups of rams; one just does not see many wild animals in most parts of China.

                     

 After about 20 more minutes I found one of the least visited surviving sections of the Great Wall (Juicai Gou). Upon reviewing my photo's I found that the shots I took of this ancient defensive wall did not do the scene justice.

                     

                                     

                            

I was thrilled to have time to rest up on the mountain and take it all in, although ice was forming on my eyebrows. I felt it was too bad that I had nobody with me to witness not only the animals and Great Wall but the isolation I found in this most populous nation.

  I got back to the hotel in Yinchuan so exhausted from my lengthy exertion, I was "just beat". The  owner and his family seemed very happy, they were trying so hard to communicate, as was I. The nights sleep was not good and for the second time I would complain in my journal of the conduct of many Chinese staying in the hotel. I find it ridiculous how they yell down the hallways at midnight or constantly slam doors as if there were no one else in the building. I finally went downstairs to gesture to the owner to get them to be quiet and he came up...that quite only lasted about 15 minutes.

  I left the hotel again in the dark, at about 6:30 am, although I was very tired I was on a mission. On this day I wanted to see the Xi Xia Tombs. Most of us have heard of Genghis Khan and his grandson Kublai Khan, I have read books on these conquerors and was intrigued to be able to explore on some of their old stomping grounds.

  The day started out very confusing as I tried to find a taxi who would take me to Xinjue Square where I could take a bus the 30 kms west of Yinchuan to the Xi Xia Mausoleum. After some effort I learned that the bus does not go to the Mausoleum in the winter so I paid 80 RMB for a taxi and then 60 RMB to enter the site. All of the tourist shops were closed and there were just two workers in the museum/arts centre; the one man (boss) actually had a good command of English which was a nice surprise, especially after the struggle to communicate my last few days. The Western Xia Kingdom was established in 1038 AD and until it was defeated by the Mongols (Khan) in 1227 there were 10 kings; all of them, as well as other high officials, are buried here at the base of the Helan Mountains. There are 193 tombs, the larger ones look very much like an oval pyramid. In the 70's a tomb was entered and items displayed at the museum here, and some in Beijing were removed; after this the government drafted a law against entering any tombs. Officials are uncertain which tombs belong to whom, some are much larger than the others.

  I exited the Mausoleum and walked out into the frosty air, I could see a large tomb close by and many more scattered across the desert.

                      


                      

 After some photo's I walked across the desert in the direction of some other large tombs; there was not a person in sight and it was no wonder as the temperature was well below -10 with the wind chill.

                     

I spent a few hours walking out in the open with a scarf over my mouth, I still feel exuberant when I think about that experience.....again nobody else was there to share this with. I probably covered about 5 or 6 kms as I tried to examine most every one that was visible.

  My other plan for this day was to reach the Sanguankou section of the Great Wall which ended up to be another challenge. I saw a Mosque in the distance and thought that if I could get there that somehow I could articulate to a person where I wanted to go.

                    


    Within about 15 minutes I learned from a shocked attendee that I had to make it to the expressway, which I could see on the horizon, and he gestured pedaling a bicycle for 2 hrs. I made it to the expressway toll booth and I was welcomed by all the agents who were waving from their booth. I showed one lady Sanguankou on a piece of paper and she understood so I waited for about 10 minutes until there was a bus (that had came from Yinchuan), she asked the bus driver to let me on and I waved frantically at all the agents that were smiling and waving at me. We drove for about 10 minutes then the driver pulled over and I got out of the bus.

  Up on the mountain was a longer section of Great Wall than I had seen on the previous day so I covered my mouth with my scarf and started to climb.

                      

It was so cold that my camera lens would not shut after I took the first photo. Once I got to the top of the mountain I could see rams down in the valley below, they ran away as quick as they could. Again I sat on the top of the mountain mesmerized by the view, this was a very rewarding/ grueling day.

                      

                      

 I took in as much as I could while keeping in mind that I did have to get back to Yinchuan before dark. I climbed around for about 2 hours before making my way back down to the expressway to flag down a bus. I loaded on a bus fairly quickly and paid the driver 10 RMB to go the 50 kms back to the city, what an awesome deal.

   I felt so satisfied with my crazy couple of days in the mountains and desert outside of Yinchuan, to say that both days were grueling is an understatement. From the time I left the hotel in the morning on the previous day to my completion of my second day I believed that my experience was one of the best that I had in the country. It is very hard to explain a journey specifically enough to portray the satisfaction that I gained; for me the effort used to get to a place is almost as important as the site itself. Believing that I have to go the extra mile (go through hell) to attain a lasting memory is what keeps my experiences unique to me. I know (because I was there) that I got severe food poisoning that night that I returned back to Yinchuan but that is some drama that I will save for another blog post.