Xining - Zhangye - Ürümqi - 10 Years in Asia (2009)

From Xining the road to Zhangye 张掖 is going through the Qilian Mountain Range 祁连山, which also connects the south silk road with the north silk road. I took the bus, as i thought this 335 km will go quick. We had more then 9 hours, as there was snow on a pass, which is 3792 meter above sea level. Zhangye is a small town, which lies on the north silk road. I had to see the Dafo temple 大佛寺 which was build between 1086 - 1139. It says Kublai Khan was born in this temple. The reclining Buddha is the biggest wooden statue in China. And it’s the only statue which is from that time, as the whole temple was restored in 2005. The statue is 35 meter long (the Buddha is lying down). I had to see also the Wooden Pagode temple, which was originally from the year 582 during the Sui Dynasty. But like so many temples in China, it was destroyed totally, and rebuild and renovated in 1983 and 1986. From Zhangye i took a train to Ürümqi ئۈرۈمچى‎ 乌鲁木齐 an other 1354 km long train journey.

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