Yellow Rape Flowers by Qinghai Lake

Shan-ke (mountain music) was playing throughout our journey to the Xining train station. Despite the little sleep, I was excited and took the beautiful scenery in. It didn't matter how many times I saw the mountains, yak, farm houses and fields, I was happy beyond everything. Everything was so beautiful, simple and true, much unlike the world I live in.

The Qinghai Lake (Lake Koko Nor in Tibetan), which means blue lake, is the biggest salt water lake in China. There are three types of lake in China; salt water, fresh water and salt lake. It takes an entire day to go around the lake by car and 23 days by walking. The colour of the lake changes with the weather. Sometimes, it is in different shades of blue, green or even yellow. The lake is also a home for 60 types of birds and a popular produce of the lake is the huang yu (yellow fish) which has many small bones.

The grass orchards on the grassy hills are populated with short trees or shrubs. These trees have deep roots because rodents would damage the roots.


We passed several kilometres of yellow rapeseed fields by the blue lake.


Faster cars were overtaking while by the road side, we saw tourists making a stop for photos


We didn't stop as we were heading to a restaurant for lunch before coming back for photos. We had buns, meatballs and several other vegetable dishes for lunch. The food was good though the cooking was rather oily.


Meatballs


A potato dish stirfried with meat


Stirfried capsicum with meat


Stirfried eggplant with meat


Soupy dish with minced meat


Tents outside the restaurant where you can dine in


A little park






Back at the rapeseed fields


Beautiful blue Qinghai Lake behind the fields and the mountains are at a far distance


Some native people came towards us as we stepped out of the bus, asking if we would like to take pictures with the animals. They charge RMB 10 to 20 to take photos with them.


A girl with a young goat


Nomads lined their tents by the road


Tibetan nomad trying to persuade the tourists to take pictures with her mount


Others came with their vehicle

Getting to Qinghai Lake, Xining

After everyone in the tour group gathered, we set out towards Qinghai Lake. Everyone is Singaporean except mum, sis and me and all are ranged between middle-aged to elderly. What was expected to be a boring tour group turns out to be a group of fun and easy-going bunch! We exchanged pointers about purchasing items and places to wander off by ourselves.


A chinese gate tower


High-rise residential buildings


Man working with a big tyre


People walking about in the streets


Random street


Road works


Heading to the countryside with beautiful green grassland and yellow rape fields

"Situated 40 kilometers (25 miles) from southwest of Huangyuan County in Xining, Riyue (Sun and Moon) Mountain marks the boundary between the eastern agricultural area and the western pastoral area of Qinghai Province. From the top of the mountain there is a superb panorama of the beautiful landscape - both prairie and farmland. It is 3,520 meters (11,549 feet) above the sea level and is believed to be the only road to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Born with the name of Chi (Red) Ridge, the Riyue (Sun Moon) Mountain had been an important thoroughfare to western China for many years and a crucial link between Han and Zang (Tibetan) people. There is a legend concerning the mountain: In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the emperor gave in marriage his daughter, Princess Wencheng, to the leader of Tibet, Songtsen Gampo to improve the relationship between the two nations.

When the princess reached this mountain and took a break, she felt a surge of homesickness. She took out the precious Riyue Mirror given to her by her father because she was told that it would show her hometown while yearning for her home. But she resolutely threw down the mirror so as not to miss her country any more, and continued her journey to the west. The mirror was broken in two pieces shaped like the moon and sun. From then, the mountain got its name, Riyue Mountain.

The Ri (Sun) Pavilion and the Yue (Moon) Pavilion were built on each side of the mountain pass in memory of Princess Wencheng. Vivid murals are painted to re-create the scene when the princess enters Tibet and her life there. In the twin pavilions, the Yue Pavilion particularly depicts the great pomp of the cultural communication Princess Wencheng brought to Tibet, including crop seeds, technology, medicine, and Buddhism. It was she who brought civilization to Tibet." - http://www.visitourchina.com/guide/riyue_mountain.htm

"The Daotang (backflowing) River springs from the west of the Riyue Mountain flowing west to the Qinghai Lake (the largest inland salt lake in China). Again there is a well-known legend concerning the Princess Wencheng. When she passed by the mountain, her tears of homesickness dropped and became the Daotang (Backflowing) River. Its flow westward symbolizes the princess’s resolution to never return. In fact, it is the only river flowing from the east to the west in China." - http://www.visitourchina.com/guide/riyue_mountain.htm

A tent, a yak herder and yaks. You will see a lot of yaks in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau.


Man on a horse


Dirtiest toilet I visited during my trip. The smell was the most pungent ever. The flush did not work. I supposed China's public toilets are infamous for their cleanliness. All of us who visited stayed outside until a cubicle is free. Then, we'd dash into one to execute our business. It took me a while to get used to visiting toilets that are extremely dirty and smelly. The condition was so off-putting, my system had difficulty adjusting initially and the business took longer than usual.


Store selling yak jerky. Photography was not allowed but I sneaked a shot. Fresh toothpicks were available for you to pick bits of the dried meat for trial. If you fancy a purchase, you can call one of the attendants. They will come with a bag to scope the meat in before weighing them. Some stores we went to in Lhasa vacuum-packed the meat for you. That way, you do not have to worry about smell or custom issues.


Outside the store


Xining woman in traditional attire


Xining farm houses


Religious building in Xining

Reunited at the Great Mosque of Dongguan, Xining

After three connecting flights, I was reunited with my mum and sister. I was extremely tired as I slept little in the plane. I have been flying since 7pm of 29th June to about 9am of 30th June. I was relieved to see the tour bus and had our guide at Xining telling me where my mum and sister was. Right in front of the Great Mosque of Dongguan was where I was asked to wait and while so, I took in the surrounding of city. Muslims and visitors were coming in and out of the mosque. The day was sunny and beautiful, and the city paced with life.






The women wear their headscarves differently, as compared with those from Brunei.


Drivers were chatting


People were busying about with places to go and things to do

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane: Chengdu - Xining

As the plane was touching down in Xining, I could see the mountains by the pastures and farm houses. The view was spectacular.


Patches of farm produce by the mountains


Nice terraced farm plots




The driver which CTC Holidays had arranged to pick me had my name plague shown. Much to my amusement, my surname and middle name were misspelled.


I was asking the driver if the construction by the mountain was a railway platform and he explained in such fluent Chinese that I could not understand. It is not a railway platform, was all I gathered.


A dam with Chinese architecture


A street of shophouses




A mixture of traditional and modern houses


Great Mosque - Dongguan Qingzhen Dasi

Nothing can keep a bird from flying: Singapore - Chengdu

Wee! I could fly again! I was supposed to fly on the 27th June with my mum and sister to follow a tour to Tibet. Unfortunately, I spilled coffee a few days earlier without realising that my passport had been left in my bag, from my previous trip to KL, to be soiled by it. At the check-in counter, I was stopped from boarding the plane due to the "damaged" passport. Despite my pleas and justifications of a perfectly fine particulars' page, the ink that was smeared across most of my passports' pages could not escape me from my predicament. I was later taken to meet the head of immigration and nothing I said or suggested could change my fate. It was a difficult lesson for me to learn that a wet passport is considered damaged. The ink from the stamps ran across pages and some of the pages were stuck together due to the sugary spill.

I stood with disbelief and shock as though a joke of life was played at me when the check-in staff told me that I was not allowed to board the plane. You have got to be kidding me to tell me that I can't board the plane! Thinking back now, I thought I was really silly to have almost cried. It was hard to accept that I won't be going to Tibet with my family. It's TIBET, we're talking about!

Next, phone calls were frantically being made to Singapore, where our tour agency is located. There was nothing I could do but to renew my passport and hope that the tour agent could get me the next flight to catch up with the tour. With the weekend just starting, the waiting was unbearable! I hung out with friends to get rid of the disappointment. They tried to get me to laugh it off and I did! It's just Tibet, no biggie. It's really just Tibet, I can do it another time. RIGHT!

On Monday, I had my passport made within an hour, thanks to the immigration officer and staff members whom I have explained my situation to. The agent in Singapore was busy the whole day corresponding with me and trying to get me connecting flights to catch up with my family. Time was running out when no confirmation came at about 2pm. Royal Brunei Airlines closes at four in the afternoon. Then, the phone call of my life came! CB, the agent, told me to get a ticket to Singapore departing on 30th July at night.

I rushed to RBA plaza instead of the nearer airport branch after some prior enquiries I made while waiting. The Airport branch does not offer promotional fares, unlike at RBA plaza. After the purchase, I got home relieved only to have the next panic attack. All the while, my mobile phone had been accidentally left at home and the agent had been trying to call me. It appeared that I am to fly on the night itself. I rushed to the airport to get the changes made. It turned out that I have also purchased the wrong ticket for Tuesday. I had purchased the morning flight instead of the night. What is wrong with me?! The good thing was that I was able to get the earlier flight at the check-in counter. So, I rushed home, got my bags which I had left untouched since Saturday, my supposedly day of departure, and dashed to the airport. Poor Dad, he's been running up and down with me so that we didn't have to find parking spots. And, he made sure he stayed longer this time to ensure that I will have transport home if I didn't make it again. He was at church during my last attempt at this trip and I had to get J to get me instead, which turned out to be a heart-lightening event.

So, I flew to Singapore where I waited at Changi Airport for four hours for my next flight. I have my travel agent from CTC Holidays to thank for making my Tibet trip possible, as well as the Passport Unit (Department of Immigration and National Registration Headquarters) and RBA.


This time round, I saw really nice recycle bins


The gate I was supposed to get in was right next to Star Bucks. And, just before it opened, I had Green Tea Latte and it was so delicious that it actually took me by surprise. I savoured it greedily!


The Air China airline food was ok.


I lit up when I saw the salad but the cucumber tasted weird.


As we were about to land in Chengdu at dawn, the most beautiful celestial sight appeared. I always thought that sometimes there is a double of the sky and sea pair.


The sun rise was glorious!




Air China's parking lot


Picture taken when I was in a shuttle bus that was taking me from the plane to the terminal


Chengdu Airport is modern, spacious and bright