Guide

Photo: Sander on the ancient city wall surrounding the old part of Guide, August, 2010.

Following our drive from the steppe town of Tongde to the oasis town of Guide (pronounced: Gwee de), I am more confused about the physiography of Amdo, Qinghai province, than ever. Wherever we've traveled in Qinghai we seem to have been encircled by mountains. When we rode onto mountains, there were always higher ones in the distance. When we got to those, there were still more. Mountains were everywhere and there were different types. In the oasis of Guide, we were encircled by rugged, dry, hot, barren mountains. Below the moutains, even the water was hot. Some of the hotels fed off the hotsprings.

Upon entering Guide, our bus passed the Wenquan Binguan, a new, three-story, hotel that looked both inviting and way beyond our price range. (Sander and I had a very low price-range.) When we stepped off the bus, we walked through the station and out to the street where we looked for the Jiaotong Luguan - the Traffic Hotel (Traffic hotels provide the basics. Best of all, they are cheap. We like cheap).

We scanned the Chinese characters on signs and found it instantly right next door. We entered, asked if they had any rooms and the price for the two of us. They had rooms and would make them available to us. Sometimes foreigners aren't permitted to stay in places like this and are instead directed to more expensive facilities where they are also taxed.) The price for our room was 60 Yuan Renminbi (less than $10 total for a two-bed room). We liked the price and asked to see the room (a common practice). The attendant walked us upstairs, down the hall, and opened a door. We stepped inside and looked around.

Sander and I were absolutely delighted to have our own toilet to say nothing of the shower with 24-hour hot water (maybe this hotel also tapped into the hotsprings below). Without looking any further, we said we'd take it for two days.

We spent the next two days exploring the remains of the old city wall. In fact, it was the old city wall that Sander wanted to see most in Guide (it was the reason we came here). Over the past few weeks, I'd mentioned Xian's old city wall, in Shaanxi Province, and another I'd read about in Pingyao, Shanxi Province, which got Sander thinking. Since we would not be visiting Xian, and now that Pingyao was scratched off our itinerary, Sander decided that we should stop in Guide, just for the wall, on our way back to Xining. We had to ask around to find the wall.

When we did, I could see disappointment in Sander's eyes. The wall was nothing like the stone or brick ones he'd imagined ... like the ones I'd described. Guide's wall was made out of adobe bricks and although it was 30 feet tall in many places, it was also in need of repair in many more. Nevertheless, the wall did not lack history. It was, after all, built during the Ming Dynasty and in the neighborhood of 700 years old. To salvage something positive from the experience Sander proposed that we climb the wall. The wall was such a steep and precarious climb that I tried not to show my reservations. Instead, I suggested we walk the perimeter first to scout out a good place to climb to the top.

As we walked around the wall, we noticed signs that we thought might've said something to the effect of, DON'T CLIMB THE WALL. There was a police car nearby and people walking in and out of the surrounding villages. Just as we wondered if anyone would care if we climbed we saw a well-dressed girl walking on top of the wall. My reservations evaporated and Sander found a place to climb.

Photo: Sander climbing Guide's ancient city wall (August, 2010).

With a little effort, we made it and walked along the top looking at the vast courtyards within, the many neighborhoods without. And we simply explored. There was much to explore. It was a fascinating wall. The heights were at times dizzying and we had so much fun we decided to return the next day.

Photo: The stone carving we found in Guide's ancient city wall (August, 2010).

We spent the next day on top of the wall drawing. From a hole in the top of the wall we found a circular stone with a carved pattern like a nautilus shell. We wondered what it was used for and talked about how it must have been regarded as junk before getting tossed into the wall centuries ago. It might, therefore, be hard to say how old it really was. By the end of the day, I don't think Sander was at all disappointed in the wall.

Photo: Sander drawing on Guide's ancient city wall (August, 2010).

It was also so hot that between us we drank 10 bottles of water that afternoon before sitting in the shade along a street eating ice cream, hanging out, watching people and traffic pass by.

Photo: Sander atop Guide's ancient city wall (August, 2010).

Photo: Brad sketching on the top of the ancient city wall of Guide (August, 2010).