Rain Rain Go Away

After three months of almost entirely dry weather in China, I have really arrived home to Wet and Windy Wales! For non UK residents who are unaware of the battering and swamping from gales and floods we have recently been suffering, this has been the view from my bedroom window for much of the last two weeks. Luckily I managed to wean the last little colt foal just before the weather set in with a vengeance, and he is now dry and warm in a stable.

Added to this I have been laid up with a nasty bout of flu which partly accounts for the gap in posts. But I am feeling much better, and today was interviewed by old friend Shan Cothi for her show on BBC Radio Wales. Below is a link to iplayer recording if you are interested - it should be available for the next week. The interview is towards the end of the programme.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00nzvf3/Shan_Cothi_22_11_2009

The Snow Makers

There was always a lovely view of the Bell Tower from my hotel bedroom window in Beijing, but I woke up last Sunday morning to the following magical sight.



An unprecedented 1st November snowfall had enveloped the city and its surroundings. My jeep is falling apart at the seams, but Peng and I were still able to take the opportunity to have a little jaunt out to the Ming tombs in the afternoon - the snow added an extra sparkle to the ancient buildings.

Unbelievably it transpired the next day that it was all the fault of the Chinese authorities!
A drought in North China just when the farmers were due to sow their winter wheat had led the powers that be to fire a few missiles carrying silver iodide into the sky in an attempt to seed the clouds and make rain. But they had not accounted for an advancing cold front which caused the resultant precipatation to fall as snow. It caused a few plane delays, but the farmers were happy, and everyone else seemed to rather enjoy the unseasonal surprise.

In the evening I went for a farewell dinner with Wutzala and Kubi of the Chinese Equestrian Association and Harry Tse of the Chinese Horseball Federation. Old friend He Guo Sheng, who was our indispensable ride manager on the first trial leg last year, also came with two TV reporters, and very generously treated us to the meal. Unfortunately, apart from Peng, the other members of our 2009 team had already dispersed homewards and were unable to be present.
As it was the first snowfall of the year, the meal had to be hotpot. In this case rather than one communal steamboat, we had individual hotpot burners containing the spicy simmering soup into which we dipped and cooked paper thin slices of meat and vegetables - warming and delicious on a wintry evening.

Replete after the meal. L to R. Guo Sheng, Peng, Kubi, Wutzala, Me, Harry.

Before leaving Beijing I was interviewed for the China based newspaper Global Times. Below is a link to the article on their website.
http//www.globaltimes.cn/www/english/metro-beijing/people/profile/2009-11/481976.html

I am now back in Wales after flying home on Tuesday, and hope to return to China at the end of March to set out again across the Gobi at the beginning of April.
Keep reading - I intend to keep posting at regular intervals - not only ongoing developments, but photos of the Great Wall stage that I did not have room/time to publish before.

Beijing Hikers

As I have had a week kicking my heels in Beijing, I spent one day kicking them in the hills with Beijing Hikers. If you are visiting Beijing or are a newly arrived resident, their well organised hikes are an excellent way of experiencing the lovelier parts of the surrounding countryside, and also meeting people. The variety of off-the-beaten-track hikes are all well away from the tourist trail, to the extent one may need to beware of scratches from pushing through bushes on steep hillsides!

The walks are graded for difficulty, and on this leisurely mid-week Grade 3 hike, we climbed up a pretty wooded valley through old terraced apple orchards to a section of ancient Qin wall on the ridge above.

After admiring the views, which included a stretch of the Ming Great Wall (running along the horizon in the photo above), we scrambled down via a small gorge to a very tasty late lunch at a local farmer’s house, in my case washed down with local beer.

For details see their website www.beijinghikers.com

Desert Diversions

On the three day drive back to Beijing, we spent a day crossing the Tengger desert, although when we struck off the main road into the desert hills, it was not long before we came round a corner to the following sight. With the Chinese eternally reconstructing China from dawn till dusk like busy bees, this sort of setback is a constant danger. But not one that created problems when we were on horseback. Hua looks on while Peng susses the situation.But it was a matter of minutes for the digger to clear a path for us. The Tengger has some varied and beautiful scenery – Hua illustrates rocky desert while I model the sandy alternative.
The first sight of camels actually in the desert generated a ripple of excitement, but this soon wore off after the 20th sighting. But you must agree that they are rather picturesque. The camels in China are of course the two-humped Bactrian - the type used on the Silk Route for centuries.
We did not make it across the Tengger the first day, and ended up staying in a tiny settlement in the middle of nowhere, all squashed into one sparse room with a single candle for light. However the next morning we were able to have a proper breakfast for the first time in weeks. Here is our breakfast steaming away outside the eating house at the next village.

And here is Peng limbering up with chopsticks ready to tuck in to mutton and potato dumplings – delicious! As this was a Moslem establishment, pork dumplings were not on the menu.

The End of The End

Jiayuguan fort is usually touted as the official western end of the Ming Great Wall, but the wall in fact continues for a few more kilometres to a beacon tower in a spectacular location on the edge of a river gorge. So this morning Hua and I quietly rode there on Zorbee and Shandan to reach the very end of the end of the Great Wall. It was not as easy as we had anticipated as our path was almost immediately blocked by the railway – not a problem in itself as we have hopped across railway lines with the horses before, but this time there was a large fence, no doubt to deter wall followers such as ourselves. We eventually found a floodwater underpass with just enough head room to lead the horses through, and then a bridge to cross the new expressway which also cuts across the Wall. I am sure the Mongols never had such difficulties. Here are Hua and I having successfully reached our objective – you cannot see the gorge cliff which is behind the beacon tower.

Made It!

Here is Peng and I on Zorbee and Shandan, outside Jiayuguan fort which is the official end of the Great Wall. We were met there by local TV, and were allowed to take the horses right into the fort – clattering through the archways and across the courtyards to the bemusement of the visitors. Here I am being interviewed in the central courtyard.

Tomorrow the horses are being trucked back to Shandan stud for the winter, the trailer is being stored in a government yard, Li Jing is taking the train, and the rest of us are driving back to Beijing in the jeep.

Drinks All Round

We have arrived at Jiuquan, which intriguingly means wine spring. In a variation of the water into wine bible story, legend has it that a Western Han general was granted imperial wine by the emperor. Wanting to share it with his troops, he poured it into a spring which conveniently turned into wine. No doubt we will also share a drink tonight as an early celebration in anticipation of reaching the end of the Great Wall in the next couple of days. That is assuming I do not fall off again, though as the whereabouts of the spring now seems to be a closely guarded secret, it will certainly not be in an alcoholic haze.

We have had quite a bit of media attention recently, with a sizeable slot on Zhangye TV news – Bajiu providing light entertainment by knocking over his water bowl – and a troupe of pretty girl reporters from Jiaquan Weekly who considerably brightened up the day for the ‘boys’.
A year ago we were being hounded by the police to move out of our lodgings and drive 40 miles to the nearest ‘foreigners hotel’. With official certification and increasing publicity, things have changed, and now they even appear to want to join us. The photo below shows me giving pony rides to a charming young Jiaquan policeman.

Everyone is amazingly friendly, and we are often given things to eat and drink - from bottles of water to sunflower seeds – yesterday a guy rushed up and shoved two large onions into my hands! Below is Li May holding a box of apples presented to us by the delightful elderly couple we stayed with in Xinhua.

Some cute kids at Qing Shui.