Camels in the Gobi

My 10-year-old son wanted to go to the Gobi Desert since he has an interest in desert habitats.  I wanted to take him somewhere in China to improve his Chinese - and he's a useful interpreter.  I thought - how about we get some camels, go out into the desert and camp there? - yet was dubious that there'd be a way to make it happen - at least without spending a fortune.  But anyway I booked tickets to Beijing, which is not far from the desert (as the crow flies).  The idea was to buy train tickets from there to somewhere like Erlian.  A few days before the trip we went to Shenzhen to check ticket prices and availability and maybe buy them - but they were already sold out.  Thus, with Google Maps and Wikipedia and other sources I instead determined that Yinchuan in Ningxia was the place to go: just next to the desert and also culturally interesting as the Hui people's province.  They are a Muslim people, but speak Mandarin.

Still, the likelihood of a desert trip any more than a taxi ride and hike seemed low.  I made some inquiries and beyond what is basically a desert amusement park called Shapotou, there wasn't much going.  I'd seen a number for desert treks in the Lonely Planet book - but the tour agency I went to in Yinchuan said the info was out-of-date and they were no-longer functioning.  Disappointing.  But, the book was published this year - May 2013 - surely Lonely Planet's checking hadn't collapsed to that extent!  So I called the listed mobile phone - and indeed, departing from the nearby Zhongwei, it was possible to take camels and camp in the desert.  Price reasonable!

On the way out we also saw a surprising and remarkable sight: what may be the world's largest solar array.  Never heard of this and there's not much about it on the web (things happen so fast in China!)

Uyghuristan

I spent 4 days in and around Kashgar with my youngest child.  A fascinating, though rather sad place.  It has a ancient culture, a unique written language (two in fact) and tradition of poetry, yet China is systematically destroying it.

There's much more to write!

Huizhou

Huizhou is not in the Lonely Planet book for China mostly since it has nothing known that is of significance to young travelers. But it's about 2 million people and is a relatively modern, clean city. It's also rather calm and its residents are proud of the way this distinguishes it from more famous Chinese cities. It's considered a good place to live.

It's official claims to fame are the pleasant West Lake and the fact that the 2011 Guangdong Games was hosted in the city.

This post is unfinished.  Suffice it to say that I took both my older children here in successive years, mainly to be taught Chinese by a university teacher there.

Skiing in Shenzhen

I've been doing these trips but not bothering to post - so I'll put this in as a marker and maybe extend it later.

Due to the fact that we used to go skiing every year, but now from Hong Kong it is so expensive - and really it would be 3 children who are now the skiing age and not just one or two - I'd been feeling a bit down about it.  But I'd recalled the concept of indoor skiing.  The first I ever heard about it was from the Brisbane Expo at which the Swiss had an indoor artificial ski run.  A few years ago in planning for a trip to Europe with Emirates I did some research on Dubai and realized that there was in fact an indoor slope there - and we did of course spend an afternoon of snow-sports there.

Someone mentioned something similar in China.  I kept a mental note - but then I heard the suggestion that it was actually in Shenzhen, just across the border from HK.  I found that hard to believe but finally discovered that there was such a run in the Alpine World of Windows Of The World.  Therefore I planned a trip with my daughter and we spent three days there skiing.  The run is just two small sections - possibly 30 seconds for the whole length - but fun none-the-less.