Set out to visit the second set of historical buddhist caves and carvings on 6 September - the Binglisi Grottoes (炳灵寺石窟）. (First was the Maiji Mountain grottes). Turns out to be a really long and dull car ride from Lanzhou to a dam along the Yellow River, and then a 50 minute speedboat ride to the Binglisi site. The dam, of course, in true Chinese style, has expanded its business to include offering leisure trips to Binglisi in addition to their "core business" (keeping the Yellow River from overflowing and supplying hydroelectricity for the people).
Binglisi is only able to be viewed during the dry months as, during the rainy season, it is impossible to alight from the boats and land at the pier at the Binglisi site. In case you want to know, no, the speedboat was not particularly seaworthy and I don't think knowing how to swim would have helped if one capsized into the Yellow River. Still, as I am writing to you now, you know I survived.
The good thing about Binglisi is that there aren't a lot of mainstream tourists. Mostly Korean and Taiwan monks and nuns it seems (and me). The bad thing is that because it isn't that famous, it doesn't seem to have received sufficient attention in terms of preservation. It's a pity because the entry into the Binglisi area is quite impressive: through a narrow stretch of the Yellow River flanked by tall cliffs with strange rock formations to which residents have given names that are supposed to describe the rocks, eg The Camel, The Brother and Sister. (see photos) Except for a few carvings, most of them have eroded quite badly and the biggest buddhist carving is now under repair. (see photos)
After Binglisi, it was another 3 hour car ride to Wu Wei (武威） and easily the creepiest hotel so far on the trip. Typical Chinese 3 star (1 star by other standards). Around the hotel were a few "establishments" illuminated by flashing red and green lights supposedly offering haircuts and snacks (but it seemed to me that they may have had far more "interesting" offerings. In HK, we would think they are some sort of 架步).
Being on a work call, I couldn't have dinner till 9pm and of course the one hotel restaurant had already closed (stupid me - this is a small town in China, I should have remembered). So I walk out of the hotel hoping to find food nearby (or instant noodles as a last resort). My hotel was opposite the train station and there were a few restaurants nearby. Wanting to try something out of the ordinary, I pick a Muslim restaurant 清真馆. It was probably a typical "fast food" place serving train travellers, with around 4 tables, dim and lit in green lighting (the holy colour of Islam - I know this from a previous trip to Iran where all of the minarets are lit up in green at night). In truth, the whole setting was a bit creepy but I was quite hungry and they served beef pulled noodle soup 牛肉拉面 which I did want to try, being a typical dish in the northwest of China. The beef noodle soup in this part of China is not like (say) the beef noodle soup in Taipei. Here, it is pulled noodles in a clear beef consomme with almost no beef! I rather enjoyed it, but maybe it was the hour. More tomorrow about the phenomenon of "no meat".
