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Yangtze/长江 to Yellow/黄河: 15 Photos from the Road

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Header image: Rapeseed blossoms are the surest sign that spring has come to China.

1273 km this section (Total Mileage: 6385 km/40,075 km)

Two great rivers flow from the glaciers of the Tibetan plateau to the sea east of China. They travel down between foothills and across great plains, bringing power, food and consumer goods to millions. These are arteries of a civilization with a 5,000-year history, and their geography could hardly be more different.

Last month, I cycled through the mountains that divide the two rivers, just after they leave the Tibetan plateau. I began near Fuling, the River Town made famous by Peter Hessler’s 2001 memoir, and finished in Lanzhou, the capital of Gansu province and the city furthest upriver on the Yellow’s winding route. Passing from the cloud-filled limestone gorges of southern China into the arid hills of the North, I was taken again by the power of geography. A single mountain range divides the heavily cultivated hills from the south from a harsh climate and sandy soil. Here in the north, the countryside doesn’t support many small villages or towns. The culture is different, too, a broader mix of religion and ethnicity that defines the borderlands of empire.

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Limestone cliffs line a river gorge near Fuling. Mist pervades the river valleys of southern China, which sits at a latitude similar to that of Mexico.
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A hill farm perched high above the region’s reservoir. Wide, open wells like the one visible on the left are common in the area north of Chongqing, but I’m not sure just what advantage they confer.
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One of the last major hills climbing out of Sichuan. Already the land is drier, with pines taking the place of low trees and denser undergrowth.
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At dusk at the top of the pass, with a long, slow descent ahead.
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The road winds its way along the valley. The gorge geography persists, but now the limestone is gone and farms are not yet planted.
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The entrance to a Daoist/Buddhist temple in the mountains of southern Gansu. In this more remote region, more religious iconography seems to have survived the last century. I’ve rarely encountered old paintings like this one that remain intact (though this may be due to a different ethic of upkeep and restoration here than in the western world)
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The exterior of the temple had been recently redone. Religious feeling seems to be stronger and more pervasive on the edges of Han civilization.
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Solar cookers like this one are most useful in arid areas, where the sun is more dependable. They’re not much use for traditional Chinese cooking, but most people here believe that hot water is generally better for one’s health than cold (The idea comes from Chinese medicine). Most families and restaurants keep a supply of boiling water handy, either on the stove or in vacuum thermoses, so solar sources of heat have the potential to save a significant amount of energy in sunnier areas.
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Maijishan/麦积山 is a famous Buddhist site near the city of Tianshui in Gansu. For at least a thousand years, monks hollowed out grottoes from natural recesses in the cliff face and carved hundreds of Buddhas from the stone. Today rickety wooden walkways have been replaced with concrete and the site is a popular tourist destination.
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Most of the statues are small and placed back in dark recesses of the cliff, but the area is also home to four giant reliefs. This one is visible in the previous image as the rightmost of three statues just above the treeline.
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The two statues to his left, as seen from above.
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The wife of a local leader was entombed here in ancient times, with Daoist gods as protectors. (Also gives you an idea how many people there are at Chinese tourist sites)
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Most grottoes feature a single Buddha surrounded by disciples.
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Desertification and water stress affect much of China’s northern regions, but agriculture persists. To protect young plants from extreme temperatures and drought/flooding, crops are either protected in greenhouses or covered in black sheeting (as pictured). Recent studies predict that much of China will suffer from water stress by mid-century.
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Near the Yellow River, I came across several deep, dry canyons. This one had a dam with no generating capacity, which leads me to think that these gorges were cut by regular flooding.

There’s one more range ahead before I reach the plain that holds the Gobi desert and extends west to the Tarim Basin and through much of Xinjiang.

 

 

 

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