-- From Ürümqi to Lanzhou

The road tracklog 
from Ürümqi to Dunhuang 
from the 08/07/2006 to the 11/07/2006 

The 08/07, we left Ürümqi to Turpan where we arrived after three hours of a 196 km highway which falls under the project to connect Beijing to Turpan by the “Silk Road Highway” in 2010.

Highway from Ürümqi to Turpan
08/07/2006

Turpan, the large village visited in 1982, became a modern city with the Chinese standards of more than 500,000 inhabitants. It is known not only for its historic sites, the old city of Gaochang of the Road of Silk, the Caves of the Miles Buddha and the mosque with the Emin minaret but also for its landscapes and its various varieties of grapes. We made a wine tasting to various savours, grapes of tables and grapes dry. The surrounding hills are covered with grape driers.

Flaming mountains 
Turpan 
09/07/2006 

Gaochang 
Turpan 
09/07/2006 

Emin minaret 
Turpan 
09/07/2006 

Grape driers 
Turpan 
09/07/2006 

Hami was a stage city towards Dunhuang. It counts approximately 750,000 inhabitants. Entirely modern, it presents the Palate and the Tomb of the Uighur Kings of the city as well as a very beautiful mosque with a room of prayer supported by pillars out of wooden of fir trees of the area.

Tomb of the Uighur Kings 
Hami 
10/07/2006 

Dunhuang, the caravan city became a city of almost 500,000 inhabitants. Of course I didn't recognized it. Only the site of the Caves of Mogao had not changed for 1,200 years although infrastructures were built to accommodate the 15,000 Chinese visitors per day. Chinese mass tourism is a reality.

The cave of the Buddha 
Dunhuang 
12/07/2006 

The 13 and on July 14 we did lot of mileage from Dunhuang to Zhangye with a stage in Jiayuguan.

The road tracklog 
from Dunhuang to Zhangye 
from the 13/07 to the 14/07/2006 

Jiayuguan was a stage city to visit the fortress. The road was excellent until Anxi then it was a track skirting the future highway with an important traffic of vehicles in all kinds. It took eleven hours to cover the 409 km stops included.
The pass of Jaiyuguan is the most western point of the Great Wall of the Ming time. The fortress built in 1372 kept the Hexi corridor between Qilian Shan and Hei Shan.

The Fortress
Jiayuguan
14/07/2006

Zhangye was also a stage city to visit the monastery with the greatest Sleeping Buddha in China, 34,5 meters length. Unfortunately the main temple and the Sleeping Buddha were under restoration and under scaffolding. The adjacent buildings present interesting collections of objects and paintings.

The temple of the Great Buddha 
Zhangye 
15/07/2006 

The 15/07, we left Zhangye to go to Lanzhou via Wuwei. Lanzhou was the starting point of an incursion into Eastern Tibet to visit two of the most important Gelukpa monasteries. The outside temperature was of approximately 34°C during the day and 26°C in the night.
Lanzhou is an industrial town built on banks of the Yellow River. At the fallen night, the Chinese came in very great number at the edge of the river to admire the ballet of the water jets.

The road tracklog
from Zhangye to Lanzhou 
15/07/2006