Our fall trip around northern-central China was literally coming full circle on the big rock-desert loop from Xining to Xining. Our final must-see tourist spots were near the city of Zhangye, with the first one being the Zhangye Danxia Geopark…

So what is this place? Well, it’s just over 500km² (if the internet is to be believed) of multi-colored mountains and hills. And the colors here are absolutely mind-blowing:

No Photoshop used! This is exactly how things looks at sunrise and sunset! The daytime view is still stunning but a bit more washed out. The best shots are at the beginning and end of a day:

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Farewell, Dunhuang! It was fun and educational, but we were back on the road – sticking to our planned China-2024 trip route. Today, nearly 600 kilometers getting to Zhangye; accordingly we were up early and off we popped…

The road wasn’t the most exciting – made worse by gloomy clouds and drizzle. Still, a couple of things along the way made us stop and click away with our cameras. Like this large sculpture in the middle of the desert:

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Dunhuang. The name doesn’t ring a bell for most people – but it should! Not to worry, for we’re going to fix that right here, right now – as it’s next on the travel itinerary of our China-2024 trip…

So, Dunhuang. It’s a small city built around an oasis and surrounded by the rocky landscapes of the Taklamakan Desert (here). Once a major hub on the Silk Road, it’s a truly ancient place (being founded possibly as far back as 2000BC!). But let’s not get too deep into its history: we’re not historians – just meditative tourists here to take in the exceptional views (and share them with you photographically too:)…

There’s definitely plenty to see here. First and foremost: one of the world’s largest deserts, the Taklamakan, which the city’s situated next to and which features some impressive dunes:

Where the desert meets civilization, you get some really unusual, contrasting sights:

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Another day of our China trip – another couple of awesome places!…

The first one turned out to be absolutely stunning – Feicui (Emerald) Lake. Another salty one – but this time the most colorful lake ever! Well, more like a whole constellation of small salty pools. Just look at these:

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The next day (after visiting Chaka Salt Lake) of our China-2024 trip was packed with tourisms. We were set to explore and admire a full three… and a half attractions. They may not be 5K-rated, but all together they were to make this section of our route a real treat…

As we ventured deeper into rocky desert, the scenery became increasingly striking:

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After what we could call our lake-tourism warm-up (Qinghai Lake) the day before, it was time for the first significant stop on our big-loop route around inner China – Chaka Salt Lake.

It’s not the largest salt lake in the world, with an area of “only” about 100km² – which is around a hundred times smaller than, for example, Bolivia’s Salar de Uyuni (~10,000km²). However, it has its own unique charm: the Chinese have turned this “simple salt lake” into a major tourist attraction (fancy that?!), where you can easily spend an entire day (in the right season). The secret is simple: various installations have been set up across a significant portion of the lake that are practically begging to be photographed and shared on Instagram TikTok. These installations are a huge hit especially with girls – who bring bright (most often red) outfits specially for the occasion:

The photo installations here are plentiful and incredibly diverse:

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At the weekend, I visited the highly recommended ATOM Museum at the VDNKh exhibition complex in northern Moscow. And I can report that it’s an absolute delight! Simply must-visit for the whole family – if you find yourself in the Russian capital, that is…

In the entrance hall – straight down to business: a scale model of… can you guess which element?*

From the beginning of the nuclear arms race through to the modern-day achievements of Russia’s (peaceful) nuclear-energy industry – there’s a lot covered here (and in great detail). The main downside: no history of the early research (Marie Curie, Pierre Curie, and all that). But everything else is well-organized and informative.

In we go – and downward: to the minus-third floor…

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The first leg of our journey through China had come to an end. So far – so good amazing. As per, we were in “tourism till you drop” mode (up early, see and do and/or travel as much as possible, never taking it easy…) – just the way we like it. Yet no one was too concerned about the 3000+ kilometers of traveling by coach that lie ahead; after all – together with those thousands of kilometers would come shed-loads of walking-sightseeing-marveling-extraordinaire. And anyway – dwelling on the great distances ahead would only have been a distraction; much better to dive headfirst into a new adventure without overthinking it or wasting brainpower on unnecessary emotions. Just “get it done”, as they say. And that’s just what we did…

The long route ahead of us was somewhat unclear: most of the online information was only in Chinese, our driver didn’t speak any other languages, and my Chinese wife – visiting the region for the first time – also couldn’t understand much. And to top things off – it turned out that even many Chinese sources were way slightly off.

But before heading west, let me tell you a bit about the city of Xining – the start and end point of our big loop through deserts, mountain landscapes, and salt lakes.

Xining is the administrative center of Qinghai – not the most industrially developed or densely populated province: essentially a “provincial” province ). However, in China, you should always multiply everything by ten: the capital of China’s third-sparsest province still has a population of 2.5 million! Here are some views out of my hotel window:

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Still heading north, our route was taking us through central-northern China, and since we were traveling through regions predominantly inhabited by Tibetans, our checking out some of the inevitable Buddhist temples and monasteries was… inevitable!…

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Onward on our journey through inner China, we left Sichuan and briefly entered Gansu Province to marvel at the mountain village of Zhagana (扎尕那 – pronounced Chagana). It’s a village surrounded by breathtaking landscapes: nestled deep in the mountains at an altitude of over 3000 meters, its name translates from the Tibetan for “Stone Box”, which fits perfectly:

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