Dunhuang

Gansu Province

China

September 19, 2016

Here’s a good story:

In Dunhuang city, my guide Ilian and I met two young Chinese women who agreed to share the cost of a private van to travel to our agreed destination, the Dunhuang Yardang National Park.

After thirty minutes on the road, the van driver informed us that our group is too small.   We need to join a large Chinese group traveling by bus. 

I got suspicious.   I have been in this situation before. 

Hami

Xinjiang Province

China

September 23, 2016

In 1888, a traveler recorded this description of Hami:

"The kingdom of Ha-mi contains a great number of villages and hamlets; but it has, properly, only one city, which is its capital, and has the same name. It is surrounded by lofty walls which are half a league in circumference (2.7k or 1.6 mi) and has two gates, one of which fronts the east, and the other the west. These gates are exceedingly beautiful and make a fine appearance at a distance.

Turpan City (pop 254,900)

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

The People’s Republic of China

September 27, 2016

Turpan is the “Raisin Capital of China.”  In a country of one and a half billion people, the Capital of Anything is impressive.

In the Turpan Depression, the winter temperatures are below frigid.  But in summer the sun bakes the land.  Apparently, the local crops thrive in the extreme heat.  The sugar content of the grapes (and melons) increases dramatically.   

Turpan

Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region

September 29, 2016

Hello,

A drive through the Flamimng Mountains.  

Lunch in a remote mountain town.

A final scurry across the desert.  

What better way to end a five week journey in China?

Ulm

Baden-Württemberg

Federal Republic of Germany

October 29, 2016

My Cousins and the Stolpersteine

Otto Polatschek is gone but not forgotten.

Lisa Polatschek is gone but not forgotten.

In Ulm, Germany, Otto inherited a retail shoe business from his parents Alois Polatschek (1879-1929) and Paula née Brumlik Polatschek (1883-1932).  But as the Nazi menace in Germany became more threatening, Otto sold his business to the Werdich family and fled with his wife Lisa to Berlin.

Ulm

Baden-Württemberg

Federal Republic of Germany

October 30, 2016

Der Ulmer Spatz

“Why all the birds everywhere?” I asked Mark, my host and friend. 

On my leisurely walk this morning, I spot colorful and creative sculptures of birds attached to the walls above the front door of shops and businesses.  There’s even a sculpture of a bird atop the cathedral.   And one lady in town decorated her window curtains with birds as the motif!  

 “Why all the birds?”