Xining

 Xining

I had half a morning free to walk around the central park and the lake in Lanzhou. Parks in China are always busy in the morning as people get up early to take sone exercise, perhaps just walking the dog or a jog but also dancing, singing and exercise classes. 

Then we got on a bus to take us to the railway station. It was the same railway station that I had arrived in the city the day before from Lanzhou on the high speed network. This time I was heading to Xining.

We soon picked up speed and were in the desert in no time. It was much as it was the day before with mountains on one side and flat desert on the other except where there was water and there might be some green fields and a few trees.

Alongside much of the route was a motorway and the old railway line, now used mainly for freight. There were long freight trains in both directions. We passed many freight trains as they are slow in comparison to our average speed of 190 kph. 

There were plenty of fields and in some places, there was also natural scrubland. In the distance at several points along the way, ther were large industrial complexes such as oil refineries, cement plants or other sites processing or producing heaven knows what.

We slowed after a ride of three and a half hours to pull into Xining. It was much like many other cities with its skyline dotted with multi storey offices and apartments. We caught taxis to get from the station to our hotel.

We were nearing Tibet so it was no surprise to see some Tibetan monks walking the streets in their traditional robes.

Just around the corner form the hotel was a street market and a night market with all sorts of local fast food on sale. The entrance to the market, as as befits ant city on the Silk Road, there is a statue of a cartin the centre under the arch laden with boxes, although there is no camel nearby.

Although there are no camels or horses, the animals traditional used for transport along the Silk Road, the entrance is marked by two Dogs of Woe, the lion like statues on either side of the arch. They always appear in sexed pairs. The male has a ball under one front paw and the female has a cub under a paw.