Photos: Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region

At the end of July we went to Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region (寧夏回族自治區). We (Yan and I) joined the Virtus Foundation to help select students in the capital of Ningxia, Yinchuan 銀川市. We went to Shaohu 沙湖 and Shapotou 沙坡頭 and on our way back to Hong Kong we stopped in Xian 西安 to see the terracotta warriors.

I put details on the Virtus Foundation on my other blog. Herebelow are some photos of the places we went after the selection process had been carried out. This year 67 students have been awarded a scholarship to cover their 4-year university study.

On Sunday 29 afternoon we went to Shahu 沙湖 (sand-lake). The guide told us that we were to take the ferry and cross the lake (marsh) to reach the desert and the resort area. She also warned us of the heat (37C), low level of humidity (20%) and the mosquitoes. I realized my small cap would not protect me enough and bought a larger hat before embarking (RMB58). Some of the group members bought sleeves to cover their arms (from sun). The pattern was quite feminine (pastel fabric w/ lace) - so funny to see men wearing them.

Sleeves to protect from sun

On the ferry we had a very entertaining moment with 2 women fighting for the same seat! It was really something! They kept shouting at each other but both remained polite and the only word they kept saying was 'disgusting' (討厭). They almost came to blows but were stopped by their husbands and friends. I had never seen such a scene like that before! I don’t like it. Finally when peace came back on board I was able to enjoy the scenery: the lake and marsh area with reeds.

Reeds in the lake

Shahu (Sand-Lake) is about 56 kms from the city of Yinchuan. Lots of tourists go to Shahu to enjoy its various attractions. You can ride camels and even horses, take part in water sports in the lake (skydiving, waterskiing, etc), ride sand cars, take a chair lift to the top of the dune, sand sledge down the dune, etc. There is also a small beach area where kids can bath and you can rent beach umbrellas and make sand castles.

On top of the sand dune

Sand, beach and water sports

Sand car rides

At 3:30pm we took the ferry back to the mainland and went (about 1 ½ hour drive) to the Xixia Emperor Mausoleum (西夏王陵). The museum’s collection was poor and there were lots of flies. Western Xixia dynasty (西夏) had its own writing characters which has similarity with Chinese characters but is somehow very different.

We walked to the mausoleum (actually we took an open air tram then walked). The mausoleum is really unique. It looks like a huge bull shit (or like a big honeycomb) made of clay and I think it is disintegrating and wonder what will remain of it in 100 years. Despite that it is quite spectacular and the range of mountains surrounding the site is stunning.

The following day we departed quite early (at 7:30am) to Shapotou 沙坡頭 (about 3 hours drive from Yinchuan). The sky was grey and cloudy and there was light rain. The temperature was cool and comfortable.

During the trip our guide told us that the best watermelons (西瓜 – xi1-gua1 in Mandarin) were grown in Ningxia as well as the best wolf-berry seeds (袧杞子 gou3-qi3-zi0 in Mandarin).

The theme park of Shapotou 沙坡頭 is located on the bank of the Yellow River （黃河）in the Dengger desert (腾格里沙漠 - teng2-ge2-li3 sha1-mo4 in Mandarin). [Note: the desert covers about 36,700 Km², most of it in Inner Mongolia].

Before entering the park we bought plastic raincoats (RMB15 each) to protect us (luckily it did not rain) but there had been useful as windbreakers.

We took an open air tram to reach the entrance of Shapotou theme park. I rode (my 1^st time!) a camel! A group of 6 camels were attached to each other by a rope and led by a guide. Yan was the 1st in the line in front of me. I grabbed the handle and did not dare removing my hands. It was a very short ride (~10 min). We went up the sand dune. I was scared to lose my balance and did not take any photo. What a fun experience!

Later we took another open air tram and went to a place where you could either walk in the sand dunes or enjoy the thrill of riding tracks (4 wheel drive - / 4x4’s). We decided to walk and take pictures. It is worth renting shoe covers (RMB10)!

Shoe covers

View of the Yellow River

A walk in the sandy desert

The same activities we saw in Shahu were also offered in Shapotou as well as rafting (with sheepskin rafts (羊皮筏 - yang2-pi2-fa2 - sheep skin raft in Mandarin), hand gliding (黃河滑翔翼 huang2he2 {yellow river} hua2xiang2-yi4 -glide-wing) and crossing the yellow river on a cable (黃河飛索 -huang2he2 {yellow river} fei1-suo3 fly-rope).