K C in Honkong wrote:

 I was doing a bit of travelling in Mainland China and have just come back from the Silk Road

I will post a couple of photographs of each place I have visited

 A  whole sheep-skin is used to make a balloon with a dozen of them tied up to a bamboo framework to build
the raft. They are no longer used for transportation as boats with outboard engine or hovercraft are available

for crossing the Yellow River. But tourists like to take a ride on it for fun at several scenic spots.

The pictures showing the twisting road and cable cars for going up the Heavenly Lake; the lake with Bogda Peak

 at the far end and the temple in memory of the West Queen who had fell in love with King Wu at this very place

Nanshan Scenic Area, also called Southern Pasture, is located 40-60 km south of Urumqi on the northern side of Tienshan

Urumqi is now the regional hub of western China and the city has the largest bazaar in the world. The Graand Bazaar  is a

maze of stalls selling raisins, dried dates, herbal medicine, jade ornaments, carpets, Uigur musical instruments and daggers

The stalls in the Bazaar

The International Grand Bazaar

 Uigur dancer at Heavenly Lake

Policeman at Grand Bazaar

 A young woman at Grand Bazaar

The night market must have over one hundred food stalls on both sides of the street selling not only ethnic snacks

such as roasted whole lamb,shish kebab, baked fish, baked nang, hand stretched noodle

A street of the night market

A choice of two kinds of melon

The food on display are not found in Xinjiang

Roasted whole lamb and shish kebab

The depression of Turpan is famous for its hot and dry climate. The environment is favourable for

 growing fruits and melons. It is also the place with very strong wind.

The largest wind power plant in Asia is built here to  supply electricity to many parts of Xinjiang.

The wind mills on both sides of the highway

Wind mills are seen all the way to mountain side

The burial ground is located not far away from the ancient city of Gaochang. Now there is a park with a

watch tower, a statue of the Nuwa and Fuxi, represented as half-snake and half-human creatures.

The Flaming Mountain is situated in the Turpan Basin not far from the Bezeklik Thousand Buddha Caves.

The area is composed of arenaceous rocks and mudstone. When the sun’s ray beats down on the purple

 coloured mountains an intense red glow is reflected resembling a roaring flame

There are many trucks travelling back and forth along the

National Route 312 between Xinjiang and China’s coastal cities.

Half a dozen inns for drivers coming from different provinces

A room with four beds and a heater at the centre

 The lady inner keeper preparing hand stretched noodle

 Four bowls of boiled noodle and the dishes of food

Mode of transportation:  Tourists can have a ride on these exotic carts pulled

by donkeys or goats and travel on camel and horse back in the desert     36-37

Scenes on the Highway   38-41

Road block for entering into a village

A toll station on Route 312

Soldiers at the border of Xinjiang and Jansu

Policeman weaning bullet-proof vest on the highway

The first city visited in Jansu Province was Dunhuang which is a big oasis about 120 km due south of Route 312.

The famous Singing Sand Dunes are visible on the high street and can be reached within 10 minutes by bus   42-45

 A ride on camel back across the desert to the lake

Ancient pagoda and the residence of the general near the spring

These buildings are now a museum for tourists

The golden sand dunes of Mingsha Shan at sunset

From Mocao Caves in Dunhuang I travelled further east to the Jiayu Pass where there is a massive fortress

surrounded by a defensive ditch constructed in the Ming dynasty at around 1372 and enlarged in 1539     46-50

The wall and the defensive ditch from a distance

The gate and high tower with flying eaves

The ram for horses and soldiers to go up to the wall

The watch towers of inner and outer ramparts

Snow capped mountains beyond Jiayu Pass

Jiayu Pass is located at the narrowest strip of Hexi Corridor between Qiqian Mountains to the south and Mazong

Mountains  to the north. The fort was built as a garrison for keeping the Mongols out beyond the Great Wall   51- 55

#0133 - The Great Wall outside the fortress

A chamber inside the courtyard

The stone slab with the inscription "Greatest Pass Under Heaven"

Temple of Guan Yu (god of war)

Theatre for the garrison

The Mogao Caves in Dunhuang is the world’s richest treasure-trove of Buddhist manuscripts, wall paintings and

statuary created over a thousand years across nine dynasties on the cliff of a valley.    56 -

#2697 – The honeycombs on the cliff are the caves with wall paintings and statuary

By Ivy Lai – The cave housing of the Giant Buddha - tallest in China

The gate of Mogao Caves

The rectangular caves connected by walkways and ladders

From Jaiyuquan Fort travelling 20 miles east is the city of Jiuquan (Wine Spring) which is also a name for the prefecture.

The name is derived from the story in which Emperor Wu of Han dynasty, wishing to congratulate General Huo Qubing

upon his victory over Xiongnu, sent him a present of excellent wine. But it was not enough for all his officers
and soldiers, the general poured the wine into a spring so that they all could share.

The Chinese Space City is just 144 km away

 A river is passing through an oasis from Qilian Mountains

The land is more futile as it approaches Wuwei

The snow covered mountains in the desert

From Juiyuquan to Zhangye and Wuwei the landscape is changing from barren deserts with an occasional oasis on 

the plain to grasslands and then to fertile fields of grains and vegetables. No more high mountains covered with 

snow and the land is more suitable for agriculture. Wuwei was a commercial and political centre with a diverse

 of population of Chinese, Central Asians, Tibetans and Indians. 

The sculpture of the Flying Horse stepping on a swallow

The terrace of a Daoist temple with a Han Tomb beneath it

The old tree is still alive

 The hills near Wuwei

A temple in a remote area