Dunhuang Day 7 06 May 2019
We arrived about 1030 and met by Lily our local guide and a driver.Lily was very welcoming and very efficient.She asked if we would like to go to a show that night and we agreed it would be great.
She dropped us off in the world’s largest hotel lobby,As Mel said our hostel in X’ian would have fitted inside ;-).After Lily left us we headed into town.The traffic was appalling and the roads partially flooded as being in the middle of the Gobi desert they are not used to rain.They only get about 35mm a year so the kids were splashing around and cars in the city centre had ground to a halt.
We walked around the old part of Dunhuang haggled for an umbrella brought some fruit in the market and had a great lunch in a little place.It met our criteria being filled with locals, meals cooked to order and friendly.No idea what to order, we just pointed and were rewarded with a delicious noodle meal.
Returning to the hotel we made ready for our big night out.Dunhuang’s claim to fame is the fact that it is on the Silk Road and was a major staging post for trading caravans in both directions. So given that one of the main industries is tourism it is not surprising to find that they have milked to the Silk Road for all it is worth. So tonight’s show is aptly named Silk Road and it turned out to be an extravaganza of dance and acrobatics.It was held in a huge cultural centre which like the train station has only been built in the last four years.This was built specifically for a multi cultural country meeting.That event was marked by having a host of national flags from all around the world out the front.
Attending a theatre event in China is like nowhere else.We had experienced that when here last but found it amusing all over again.First there are the numbered rules which are displayed in Mandarin and English and then recited in number order.That would be ok except they are then studiously ignored :-).Especially the ones about not taking photos and turning your phone off.The first one, we also ignored and became locals.The other seemed to be ignored by the lady behind unless she was talking into a dead phone :-).
Anyway the show was completely over the top and great fun, Lily had also secured us great seats right in the middle.The story line was full of bad guys, good guys and a heroine as well as a token foreigner.A great night.
