LUXURY IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE../ Yellow Sheep River Town / 6.7. 2007

The road just goes up and up. It’s dark and late. Again, this was supposed to be a much shorter distance.. In this light it sure is difficult to holes in the road. I hope we will find the hooves smiths place soon.

We stayed in Wuwei for a few days – this old city looks again like most cities here. Hundred years ago it was known as Liangchow. In 1969 this city become famous because of the discovery of the “Flying Horse of Gansu”, the 25 cm high bronze sculpture - a horse in full gallop with one leg on a flying swallow. It was found in a tomb that had been used for ages a storage place by local farmers. 0ayde they knew, maybe not that this “storage place was just the entrance to something much bigger. This tomb is in remarkably good shape – it is the tomb of a Han dynasty general. Exactly who he was is unclear but he must have been a person of great importance. The flying horse is a beauty and as it happened it was on a short visit to the local museum next to the tomb. Otherwise it is exhibited in the museum of the provincial capital Lanzhou. Above the tomb is a restored Taoist temple. The tomb itself is empty – the main dome still has traces of a good-sized hole. Somebody new what was here and decided to collect some memories.. Wuwei was a part of the Xixia kingdom and a very important city The Mongols swept through in the 13th century and destroyed both the city and finished the Xixia rule that had lasted for over 200 years. Xixia had their own language developed from Chinese – a big stone with Xixia characters. ----------------------------------------------------------------- “ Liangchow 21.1. 1908 …among the sights one can find an old stone, with inscriptions that are said to be in the Sisia language. They look much like Chinese hieroglyphs, but the Chinese can not read them. Mr. Bonin did not succeed in taking photographs of them. But upon a request of the French Minister in Peking an n imprint of the text exists. We worked for two days to get a proper imprint on cloth – but all in vain. Finally I decided to have stone painted with white color and then photograph it – this after a whole night of hard labor. Hence it is possible that some mistakes occur because this work had to be done in very limited light. The next day I did visit monsignieur Otto – the Bishop of Kansus Catholic Church. The 9-mile journey to the Bishops residence was done in company of the local missionary Mr. Kerkhof - a very nice person with whom one could have a decent conversation. Something one is not spoilt with in this part of Central Asia… “ ------------------------------------------------ This stone – “the Xixia Tablet “ is now in the Wuwei Museum and it was declared “National Treasure” in 1961. It considered as a main source for comparative linguistic studies both in China and Japan. The inscription praises the ancestors of the Xixia state and gives details of its economy and history. It felt a bit tiresome to leave the comforts of a hotel to get back on the road – a road thorough farmland and also some desert…. not sure of which is to prefer. Every possible dot is farmed – and that means it is a no-no zone for our horses. They see the grass all the time. But no. This whole area would be desert if not for the extensive watering systems. This is something that the Chinese are good at. They keep the water channels or the aryks in good condition. Almost in an impeccable condition. Something that is very rare here. The village’s looks and smells like shit. Without exception. But the farmed area is a well-maintained – green field dotted with mostly women working out there. Their heads covered with colorful cloth – the typical Chinese straw hat is also common. We decided to go as far as possible – we wanted to finally leave the Gansu corridor behind. By sunset we did reach the town of Gulang. And that is the end or start of this 1200 km long rough corridor. It is also its most narrow point. Our horses were in need of shoeing and our local guide said that from a village not so far away there is one. He said he knew because it was his home village – just a few kilometers up in the mountains. Sure – his estimations had an accuracy of I do not know what. But we decided to have a go. Not many other good options were available. I was wondering…where the hell were we going. Few houses here and there – then suddenly some ugly concrete blocks, houses built in the sixties probably. Must be some coalmines close by? We continued for a while and I looked at the altimeter – over 2400m again. Then suddenly big gates of decorated iron were in front of us. With big Latin lettering -YSRICC A Taiwanese millionaire who wanted to combine his affection for this area with business built Yellow Sheep River International Convention Center a few years ago. A huge complex of buildings in contemporary style – hotel, swimming pools, Jacuzzis, Horse stables etc As the gates opened a smiling manager welcomed us. This was a surprise. No conference going on – so no guests. Only a staff of 100 and then us. A good place to camp. But no hooves smith in sight…?

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