Upon arrival in Jiayuguan, we were met by our new guide, who uses the English name of Helen. We spent our morning exploring the Jiayuguan fortress and climbing an odd bit of the Great Wall.
The fortress and the museum gave us a much clearer picture of the Great Wall, the timing of its construction, and its purposes. There are various Walls and they had various purposes. Prior to lChina's unification in 221 B.C., walls were an effort to protect small kingdoms. The unifying Emperor Qin Shihuangdi undertook to link all these kingdom walls together to build a Great Wall. The newsly unified empire stretched west as well, struggling against the nomadic Hun people of Turkic descent. By the time of the Han dynasty, 206 BC - 220 AD, the military pressed to strengthen the Wall. At the same time, the development of a growing Silk Road commerce led merchants to seek protection of the route from the government. The Wall thus has themes recognizable today: a project to build and broadcast national pride; a new national defense project (expensive and requiring a big investment in generals and men); a jobs project; and an anti-immigration push to assure that Han people control the eastern end of the Silk Road, a growing and rich trade route.
The Wall was considerably strengthened in this part of the world during the Ming dynasty, 1368-1644. The empire at this point was much more inward looking, and increasing amounts of trade with the west were going by sea. The comparative importance of the Silk Road was reduced, although it still continued to provide overland transport, as it does today. The Jiayuguan fortress, "The Greatest Pass Under Heaven" was built at this time. It sits midway between the Black Mountains and the Snow Mountains, in a narrow 15-kilometer-wide pass. It is a large and imposing walled compoud, with a sand moat, inner and outer walls, gate towers (beautifully painted three-story pagoda-like structures) and turrets for bowmen and watchmen. A portion of the gate tower function was strict control of wooden passports, examples of which are in the museum. The view toward the west of gray desert sand is evocative of the end-of-empire feel that must have dominated the Ming era soldiers who lived here. (That feeling was only slightly mellowed by the half-dozen camels available for rides outside the gate and the two noisy gas-driven parasails, also available).
We travelled then to a bit of the Wall, called the Hanging Great Wall because of its steep trajectory off a ridge. This bit has been restored and has a Disneyland feel. Bill climbed to the top of the ridge, where an original watchtower rewarded his efforts. He then returned past the life size, outdoor diorama of camels, traders, and two princesses riding along the Silk Road.
We then undertook a five hour drive across the fearsome Gobi Desert - and it was a complete surprise. There are indeed miles of featureless gray and tan sand, the distant mountains hidden behind a haze that is blowing dust. There is, however, a river that runs through the desert, linking oases. Some of these are more than 20 kilometers long, with rich farming areas. There are huge wind farms, and a constant stream of new windmills arriving by truck. There is a new high-speed rail line being built, and natural gas wellheads. The mountains are being mined for iron, gold, and a long list of other resources. This is more Imperial Valley than trackless waste.
We are to spend the night in Dunhuang, and spend tomorrow climbing through caves and grottoes.
No comments:
Post a Comment