Photos and videos at the end.
Today I say goodbye to Shanghai and fly the 2,220 km to Xining in the western China, where I’ll board the train to Lhasa tomorrow. I’ve started on my Diamox to prevent altitude sickness. I’ll go from sea level this morning to 5,072 m (16,640 feet) on the train over the Tanggula Pass in a few days time.
Xining is the capital and most populous city of Qinghai province and the largest city on the Tibetan Plateau with just over 2 million inhabitants. Xining has a history of over 2,100 years and was a chief commercial hub on the Silk Road’s Hexi Corridor caravan route to Tibet. Local traditions and customs are influenced by the Tibetans, Monguor, Muslims and Han Chinese.
It was an early 5am start in Shanghai. Time is of the essence when travelling. We know this. I know this, but still time sometimes leaks away and it got tight. I left the hotel at 6.15am but I was one of the last to board the plane for my 8:45am flight to Xining at 8am. I had worked out travelling time from the hotel to the airport based on departure time not on boarding time, so a rookie mistake there. And I couldn’t get AliPay to work at the metro (turns out my VPN was on) so mild panic there too. Luckily Wendy had given me some Chinese cash before I left Wellington so I could use that. Otherwise I would have been buggered. I had tried to take cash out for the first time at the ATM at the hotel but that was denied. I’d not used cash yet in Shanghai so cash wasn’t top of mind. On the plus side, I was able to get change in small bills I’ll likely need in Tibet.
The plane was full. Again, I’m perplexed by the lack of western travelers. I noticed only one other in the airport and none on the flight to Xining. It has been a very easy experience for me so far, even as a lone traveler, so I encourage anyone thinking about it to come to China. It is cheaper to fly to Shanghai from Auckland than to fly to some Australian cities.
Xining was overcast when we arrived, and soon started raining. It was miserable and cold. I was still in my clothes for sweltering Shanghai. It is so different here. The airport is around 30km from the city centre. I gave up on trying to figure how to buy a ticket for the airport bus and went to get a taxi instead. Lots of grunting and gesturing until I started to use the Translate app in earnest. But we got there.
It was early afternoon when I checked into the hotel, but my booking payment via hotels.com hadn’t come through. After sorting that out, the rain had stopped, so I decided to go wandering. When I left the hotel, I experienced real culture shock. Shanghai had a ring of familiarity, especially close to where I was staying, with familar western brands. Here was a confluence of Chinese, Islamic, and Tibetan cultures with different faces and dress. I was hungry, but was intimidated by not comprehending anything. I decided to head in the direction of the Dungguan Mosque and found an Islamic street restaurant lovely family vibe where I had lunch. I have no idea what I had was called, but it was delicious. And so was the tea.
Dungguan Mosque was originally built in 1380 and has colourful arches along the outside of the wide building. It is still used for daily worship and covers a large area in the centre of Xining. Non-practicing muslims are not allowed inside but there was plenty to see outside.
In the area around the mosque was a large Islamic market covering may streets and alleyways. It was fun to take in the huge variety of food on offer.
I wandered back to the hotel by way of the imposing Xining Railway Station where I would catch my train tomorrow evening. I still didn’t have a ticket for my train trip to Lhasa. I will get that from a dealer at entrance #4 anhour before departure. I tried to go into the station to see what it looked like inside but was not allowed. Security to travel to Lhasa is very tight.
As I mentioned before, permits to enter Tibet are only issued 3-7 days prior to travel. Fortunately, I had confirmation that a permit had been issued for me two days before I left Auckland last Friday. Leap of faith indeed. Let’s see what tomorrow brings. I’m confident though. Gigi, from the Tibetan tour company Tibet Vista I’m using for the Mount Kailash trip, has been very communicative and helpful and has arranged my ticket.
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