Magao Caves and Xi’an

Posted on by john

The pursuit of Polo continued but didn’t progress. Marco was still missing.  We did find some amazing caves, 492 to be exact, carved into the  hillside at Mogao China.

The Mogao Caves or Mogao Grottoes (Chinese: 莫高窟; pinyin: Mògāo kū), also known as the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas (Chinese: 千佛洞; pinyin: qiān fó dòng), form a system of 492 temples 25 km (16 mi) southeast of the center of Dunhuang, an oasis strategically located at a religious and cultural crossroads on the Silk Road, in Gansu province, China.

The caves were started by Buddhist monks about 366 AD.  The monks continued to dig caves for about 1,000. Years.

The Marco mystery continued in Xa’in, central China.  Xi’an was formerly the capital of China.  The Terracotta Army or the “Terracotta Warriors and Horses” is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BC and whose purpose was to protect the emperor in his afterlife.

Our attempt to solve the missing Marco extended to

Magao Caves exterior
Stairs up to Magao Caves
Inside a Magao cave
Inside another cave
Sleeping Budda inside Magao cave
Terra Cotta warriors at Xi’an
more warriors
more warriors
kneeling​ warrior
wall surrounding​ old Xi’an
some guy on Xi’an Wall
Kathy and friends riding on Xi’an wall

the wall surrounding Xi’an.  Although we failed to find Marco Polo on the Silk Road we did find some great memories

Silk Road

Posted on by john
We didn’t see Marco Polo but Kathy & I saw many interesting people and sites as we traveled down the Silk Road area last October.  Our group of China Teachers from BYU started in far western China, less than a day’s drive from Pakistan on the south and Kazakhstan on the north.
The Gobi Desert, not quite what we expected.   There were 100’s of wind generators.  The Moslem influence is so strong the signs, government & business, are in Chinese and Arabic.
The desert is so dry the Jiaohe Ruins near Turpan City still exist after being abandoned about a 1,000 years ago.  Jiaohe was a military outpost that marked the beginning of the Silk Road in China.
The Uyghurs created a way to beat the desert.  They dug underground canals from the mountains surrounding Turpan.  Evaporation was greatly reduced by remaining underground.  The Uyghurs dug over 1,100 shafts into the canals to supply water for travelers and to furnish water to grow crops.
The water still flows and is quite cool despite being in the middle of the desert below sea level.
Turpan is now the grape capital of China, and some (Chinese) say of the world.  The grapes are tasty.

The door is an example of the Moslem influence in the area.  I don’t what the guy arm wrestling is an example of.

Orange Crate Gang

Posted on by john
China has already corrupted me.  I’ve joined a Chinese gang, the Orange Crate triad. Here’s a pix of me & my new “convertible” with my gangsta’ friends.  Also another pix of my “convertible”.
Finished my first week of classes, so it’s an easy day today.  Been pretty hectic getting ready for what was essentially an unknown.  It went well.  Some of the students are quite remarkable, very intelligent and capable.

There is a lake at the center of campus.  These are some pictures from around the lake.