Destination Kucha

Tracking Buddhism on the Silk Road. Kucha or bust!

The sleeper has awakened

I echo the same sentiments uttered last year regarding the showdown with time.

As the blog has been silent for a while (which is convenient when you go to Urumqi and disappear off the face of the world), now that I'm back in Shanghai it will rise like a phoenix from the ashes. Funny how once you stop it's hard to get back in the swing of things; but I will not succumb. Non ducor, duco.

Time for another chapter, Shanghai II.

California

I was converted to the other side
From the day I'd gotten there
I met a girl who took me on a ride
I was young I had no cares

When I moved to California
California

She played me records I had never heard
While we toked on purple hairs
Who, Zeppelin, Beatles
Kiss, The Rolling Stones
While we played guitars in air

When I moved to California
California
California
California love !

Runaway truck mows down sheep in Xinjiang; kills 110 animals

A heavily laden cargo truck plowed through a flock of sheep crossing a highway in China's remote western region, killing 110 animals and closing a highway for eight hours, state media reported Saturday.

A shepherd was also seriously injured when the 50-ton truck loaded with coal ash suffered brake failure and was unable to avoid smashing into the flock, which was being taken to pasture, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The truck eventually ground to a halt because of the massive pile of sheep carcasses in front of the vehicle, it said. It took police eight hours to clear the carcasses off the road, it said.

The accident occurred Thursday in the far western Xinjiang region's Yili district, it said.

The report said the shepherd was hospitalized. (source)

Absolutely ridiculous! I'm certain the above article will surely make a few people chuckle but it's actually quite sad; several families livelihood is completely destroyed without compensation.

hot hot hot!

Westernmost China's Xinjiang region was under a blistering heatwave Sunday, with the mercury hitting as high as 44.8 degrees Celsius (112.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in Turpan city, a local official said. (article)

Yikes, it's getting too hot too soon... normally the temperatures don't go up that high until July. I'm working out of Shanghai for this month but it's not much better here; muggy, humid and oppressive. Perhaps Xinjiang has grown on me too much.

China's "Austria"

There are some things that make us all need a brief escape; in my case (besides an intense new assignment at work -- they must be putting something into the workahol) the first step was having my house raided by the po-po. Then a few days later an apartment official came to "inspect the gas" at 11pm, and then swiftly left without inspecting any other flats (I was later informed she's our friendly neighborhood spy). The final straw was getting my internet cut (no they don't send you bills here, they call you... if you don't understand what they say on the phone then it's tough luck). Not to mention I was already annoyed at flickr getting blocked in China but bless Firefox for their problem solving extensions. I must admit that the internet is the only modern amenity I can't live without.

Well when the going gets tough, the tough get going. One of my favorite things about Xinjiang (besides the people and the food) is that nature is near; and nothing quite able to boost one's spirits as a weekend in the beautiful surrounding hills. On a rare clear day one can see the snow capped tops of the Tian Shan mountains in the distance, elegantly stretching for the heavens; it makes one want to laugh and sing all at once.

China's "Austria" as Nanshan was named during the nomadfest is only about 2 hours away by bus. The bus fare is 9RMB while the park entrance fee is 10RMB; they have no shame as they ask for the "entrance fee" with a wicked toothless grin, the bandits! Of course there are ways around it; one just asks the bus driver to stop a bit before the entrance to the reserve, leaps across the creek, clambers up a hill and voila, there you are at "Kamil the Kazakh's" little village house. We refer to him as "Gollum" however, never mind that he has a heart of gold. He always treats us to some dish which is mostly meat, and will also provide ample quantities of his salty milk tea and hard bread one becomes quickly accustomed to. This time he taught me how to make cream from milk and also served the best homemade yogurt I've ever tasted (the cheater milks his own cows though). His wife is twice his size, but can't live a minute without him... what a guy. :)

The landlords' came too; and after getting tipsy off spirits the Uyghur and Kazakh engaged in the most ridiculous historical debates (both of which having a very distorted view thanks to the different communist systems they were both brought up under), which had me laughing so hard two drops of pee escaped. They found the common ground by teasing me and trying to drop chunks of butter into my soup when I wasn't looking. The food gives one strength though, or perhaps it was the beauty of the scenery that inspired hours of hiking.


Now that I'll be working out of Shanghai for the next month I'll certainly miss the people, the food, and the ability to escape the city to lose myself in nature. On the other hand the sea is indeed closer (not that one can swim in it)... I might just find myself in Hong Kong again.

I used to be a scoffer...

... but it's true. In some parts of the world the internet really slows down when it rains. Forget slowing down, it CRAWLS!!! In fact it is safe to say that it practically doesn't work.

This is one of those rare occasions that you are aren't thrilled about rain in the desert... that and when it interferes with the weekend plans.

Coffee is for closers

Well I got a few questions so I might as well set the record straight.
Yes, I've entered the wonderful world of hard core forwarding sales. Technically this should mean that I don't have any more time for a blog. A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Not that I've been so good at blogging since I moved to Urumqi, but never mind that now. Anyway along those lines the word on the street is that I'm moving back to Shanghai by the end of the year, but then again I'm always the last person to find out about such things.

In the mean time I get to work longer hours under more pressure and with of course the "cream of the crop" of both China and the East Med region. A-I-D-A.
Fun times ahead, TCB baby!

Put...that coffee...down!

Good thing I'm not much of a coffee drinker anyway... I prefer tea! :)

Flaming Mountains and Monkey Kings

Today I saw a completely unrelated article which mentioned Sun Wukong, the Monkey King from Journey to the West. In this classic novel of Chinese literature, the Flaming Mountains of Turpan are mentioned... just remembering a visit to the famous mountains I felt inspired to kill some of your precious time.

The Flaming Mountains is one of the hottest places in the world, and the hottest place in China. Not a single blade of grass grows on the hills of Flaming Mountain and there are no traces of birds or animals there. When the July sun heats the bare rocks, the blazing air current rolls up like burning flames. In the summer, the region gets so hot that you can "hard boil" an egg by burying it in the sand for just a few minutes. With strong direct radiation from the sun, the temperatures can reach 49 degrees Celsius and the earth's surface temperature can top 70 degrees. From a distance, at the foot of the mountain, dozens of the red rock hills look like flaming fireballs under the blazing sun - hence its name, Flaming Mountain.

So during the nomadfest we figured we'd check it out, right? Wrong! I've seen a good amount of places in China and I'm already used to extreme commercialization of anything that has touristic value. Quite frankly the whole super-tourism is a very big put off, but this was probably the last straw.

Basically you approach the mountain, you can see it, but you can't touch it. The whole mountain is walled off with a fence. There is an entrance which you can enter in (for a ridiculous admission fee of course) and that gets you into an artificial chamber which holds some stupid statues and giant toys (no I'm not kidding), a couple sickly looking camels that dumb looking tourists can hop on and get a photo taken (for another ridiculous fee) and take a glimpse at a giant thermometer that rises out of the desert like what the French call a certain... I don't know what.

It was seriously the final straw I've had of mainland tourism. Standing over the entrance to this tourist trap was a statue of Sun Wukong, so unfortunately he gets to become the symbol of my displeasure with mainland tourism. From now on each time I see a picture of him or hear his name, I'm just going to think of Flaming Mountains and get pissed off. Basically the entire group was so pissed off that we took a group photo under the Monkey King with our middle fingers extended, decided that the Bezeklik Caves would be another tourist trap and headed back to Turpan to chill out under the shadow of the grape leaves. I'd probably be better off visiting a museum in London or Berlin anyway as the caves were badly pillaged and most relics stolen by Europeans.


Seriously, if you are ever in Turpan and consider visiting the Flaming Mountains, don't. If you can make it there without the wind knocking over your car on the way, you are best off snapping a photo from your car, and then turning around and driving back. Don't even bother to get out.

I don't know why it would just not be possible to go up and hike the mountain like any other mountain (it's not that high). I'm so sick and tired of mainland tourism that I'm tempted to start a blog about it, invite anyone else who feels the same way to join me as editors, and hope it will get noticed by the authorities resulting in something positive being done about it. On the other hand it will probably only get banned here. Seeing that I had my house raided by the po-po last night at 11pm makes me wonder if that's a good idea after all. So since I'm not willing to risk my working permit on the improvement of tourism here, the Monkey King gets to be the slapping boy.

Thanks a lot Monkey King, you ruined Christmas! You're on my blacklist together with Ronald McDonald (I hate that clown!).

China college scraps mandatory pregnancy tests

A vocational school in northwest China has scrapped compulsory pregnancy tests for students due to concerns for their privacy, state media reported on Friday. The college in Urumqi, capital of the far northtwestern region of Xinjiang, had defended its policy of testing students as a responsibility to them and their families, but it pulled back following media reports that questioned the rule.

"This rule is intrusive, insensitive and old-fashioned. Why not just make girls captives in their own houses?" Xinhua quoted a female student as saying.

The agricultural college, where 17 and 18-year-old girls make up about 80 percent of new students, had previously gathered whole classes of girls into the hallway to give urine samples to doctors, media reports said. Some had borrowed classmates urine to avoid the test.

Economic reforms have loosened state control over people's personal lives in China, but birth out of wedlock remains taboo, especially in light of strict family planning policies that limit most couples to one child. (article)

In the more rural areas I have heard of random house searches where women were checked for babies. Interestingly having more than one child is a form of passive resistance and assertion of self identity for some of the minorities here. This is a very positive development though, it's nice to read some good news.

Comparing news perspectives

The Opposite end of China again has a good article on different spins the media has on the regional economic development and the "war on terror". Its a good testament to the possibilities that come with the beauty of media propaganda while readers around the world who are not familiar with a particular area gobble it up. I'm noting also similarities in western media with the Somalia situation.

A particularly interesting article is their take on Xinjiang 2021, despite the fact that the "local resistance factor" is a bit overblown (most "separatist" movements would happen in areas flooded by Han by marginalized local population, not in areas they have majority) as most Uygurs are very moderate and civilized, not the violent extremists the media paints them to be. Another interesting assumption is that China could occupy part of Afghanistan (dating back to Alexander the Great, history teaches that nobody wins a war in Afghanistan).

Anyway, it's nice to have a refreshing mix of relevant news of where I live, coupled with a good dose of cynicism. If these guys keep it up I might have to become a regular reader.

I do wonder if any of the authors who are so enthusiastic about the prospective economic impact Xinjiang could have not only on China but also on Central Asia will ever take a deeper look at the growing economic dualism and who the ones are that all the benefits are going to. As usual, my own observations and comments on such issues are not material for my blog but for personal conversations with friends. All that glitters is not gold however.