A Week in the Northwest

My wife and I booked this trip to Ningxia and Gansu on a bit of a whim. She had seen some photos of the desert online and said, "Let's go there," so we went. We found China Comfort Travel through some online reviews, and the consultant who helped us was a woman named Yushi Dai. She was warm and efficient, replying to our emails late at night and even sending us a packing list with things we never would have thought of, like face masks for the dusty desert wind.

Our guide on the ground was a local guy named Mr. Ma, probably in his early fifties, with a calm, fatherly presence. He had grown up in the region and knew every corner of it. He was quiet most of the time, but when he spoke, it was always something useful or interesting. He also had this habit of pointing at random rocks and telling us what animals they looked like, which turned out to be more entertaining than we expected.

Yinchuan was just a stopover really. We had a free day and walked along the city streets, found a random restaurant, and ate some lamb that was so good we ordered a second plate. That was pretty much the highlight of that day. My wife tried to use her phone to translate the menu and ended up pointing at something that turned out to be tripe. Mr. Ma laughed when we told him later and said, "That's a local specialty. You were brave."

The Western Xia Mausoleum was interesting. Those big pyramid shaped mounds sit right out in the open, looking old and kind of lonely against the flat landscape. We walked around for about an hour. My wife kept asking Mr. Ma questions about who was buried there, and he answered every single one with patience, even the ones that were probably a bit silly. I just looked at the views. The film studio in the afternoon was more my style. It's this whole fake town built to look like an old Chinese western, with dusty roads, wooden signs, and all these props from movies. We took a bunch of silly pictures pretending to draw guns on each other. Mr. Ma offered to take a few shots of us together, and he somehow got the lighting just right. A group of older tourists watched us and laughed.

Then we drove to Helan Mountain to see the rock art. Those carvings on the dark stones show animals and people from thousands of years ago, and some of them are so simple but still clear. My wife found one that looked like a dancing figure and took about twenty photos of it. I found one that looked like a stick figure falling over, and we argued about which one was better. Mr. Ma just smiled and said, "Both are good. Different eyes see different things." The drive to Zhongwei was long and we both napped in the car. That night we went to a bonfire party on the grassland. People were dancing around the fire, and the flames made everything glow orange while the stars came out above. My wife tried to join the circle dance and immediately stepped on someone's foot. She apologized so many times the lady just waved her away. We sat on the grass after that and watched everyone else dance while eating grilled skewers. Mr. Ma joined us for a bit and told us stories about the local customs.

Shapotou was the main reason we came. The desert meets the Yellow River there, and it's such a strange thing to see, golden sand right next to brown water. We did the sand sliding, which was fun but also terrifying because you go down so fast. My wife screamed the whole way and got sand in her mouth. She said it tasted like dust and regret. Then we did the zip line across the river, which I liked more. She was quiet during that one, just gripping the harness and staring straight ahead. I think she was scared but didn't want to admit it. Mr. Ma and us took a picture there. 

The Yellow River Stone Forest was our last real stop. The rocks there are like giant twisted pillars, all carved by wind and water into weird shapes. We walked along the paths and spotted one that looked exactly like a camel. My wife found one that looked like a face with a big nose. We spent maybe two hours there, just wandering and pointing. Mr. Ma walked with us the whole time, never rushing.

We only had one night in Lanzhou. We found a small noodle shop near our hotel and ate the best beef noodles of the whole trip. The broth was so rich and the noodles were hand pulled right in front of us. My wife told the owner it was delicious using her limited Chinese, and he smiled so wide.

We flew out the next morning, tired and happy. Looking back, the trip wouldn't have been the same without Yushi Dai's thoughtful preparation and Mr. Ma's quiet, steady presence. They both made everything feel easy, even when we were in the middle of nowhere.