Seeing as I'd accomplished so much in that one day in Yulin, I decided to press on the very next day and caught a bus out to Yinchuan, capital of the tiny province of Ningxia. I get the impression that this little province is left off the itineraries of many people, and the province itself is quite poor as a result of this and encroaching desertification, but it has a wealth of sights and I spent a good couple of days here taking them in. Again my bus ride from Yulin followed the Great Wall, or what was left of it. I never again saw stretches of the wall in good condition. It's not inconceivable that it will disappear one day but then, in the middle of nowhere who'd miss it?
I liked Yinchuan a lot. It's a provincial capital, so has plenty of facilities and entertainment, but is also still fairly small and comfortable. It was friendly and attractive too. It took me a little time to find a decently priced hotel that didn't have electrical outlets right next to shower heads but once that was done I could explore. First up was Bei Ta, a monastery and pagoda on the edge of town. This place was completely empty when I was there but impeccably maintained. The pagoda itself is about 300 years old and has a little exhibition of photos of other styles of pagoda inside. I couldn't read where they were all from, but I recognised a fair few that I'd visited myself.
Back in Yinchuan town I visited the Ningxia Provincial Museum. This is set in another former monastery and was pretty average. Ningxia is one of a handful of provinces in China dedicated to a minority group - in this case the Hui, a muslim group descended from Persian and Arab traders who moved in along the Silk Road to trade with China many centuries ago. It was truly ironic then that this is what passes for an exhibition on Hui culture in the Hui's own museum. I have to say I laughed out loud when I saw the wispy beard stuck onto an old shop mannequin. Maybe that's why I couldn't focus my camera. It was ridiculous.
Some of the other exhibits were alright, but I've seen better. There was another tower to climb though, which was fine. I spent the evening checking out some possible destinations and planning my itinerary. Thanks to my extended stay in Beijing awaiting my visa I'd all but kissed goodbye to the possibility of going all the way out west to explore the huge frontier country of Xinjiang as there just didn't seem to be time to fit everything in. This was a huge disappointment for me as this province was one of the places I'd always wanted to see. However, I'd made good progress these last few days and after a few hours research on the internet I decided that if I skipped a few little places along the way I could squeeze in a few days on the eastern side of the province before flying out to Shanghai. I'd never make it to Kashgar and the lakes and mountains along the road towards Pakistan but a small taste is better than nothing at all and besides, I'm sure I'll be back one day. So it was with renewed enthusiasm and excitement that I went to bed that night ready for a day of full-on exploration and travel to come.
Seeing as I'd accomplished so much in that one day in Yulin, I decided to press on the very next day and caught a bus out to Yinchuan, capital of the tiny province of Ningxia. I get the impression that this little province is left off the itineraries of many people, and the province itself is quite poor as a result of this and encroaching desertification, but it has a wealth of sights and I spent a good couple of days here taking them in. Again my bus ride from Yulin followed the Great Wall, or what was left of it. I never again saw stretches of the wall in good condition. It's not inconceivable that it will disappear one day but then, in the middle of nowhere who'd miss it?
I liked Yinchuan a lot. It's a provincial capital, so has plenty of facilities and entertainment, but is also still fairly small and comfortable. It was friendly and attractive too. It took me a little time to find a decently priced hotel that didn't have electrical outlets right next to shower heads but once that was done I could explore. First up was Bei Ta, a monastery and pagoda on the edge of town. This place was completely empty when I was there but impeccably maintained. The pagoda itself is about 300 years old and has a little exhibition of photos of other styles of pagoda inside. I couldn't read where they were all from, but I recognised a fair few that I'd visited myself.
Back in Yinchuan town I visited the Ningxia Provincial Museum. This is set in another former monastery and was pretty average. Ningxia is one of a handful of provinces in China dedicated to a minority group - in this case the Hui, a muslim group descended from Persian and Arab traders who moved in along the Silk Road to trade with China many centuries ago. It was truly ironic then that this is what passes for an exhibition on Hui culture in the Hui's own museum. I have to say I laughed out loud when I saw the wispy beard stuck onto an old shop mannequin. Maybe that's why I couldn't focus my camera. It was ridiculous.
Some of the other exhibits were alright, but I've seen better. There was another tower to climb though, which was fine. I spent the evening checking out some possible destinations and planning my itinerary. Thanks to my extended stay in Beijing awaiting my visa I'd all but kissed goodbye to the possibility of going all the way out west to explore the huge frontier country of Xinjiang as there just didn't seem to be time to fit everything in. This was a huge disappointment for me as this province was one of the places I'd always wanted to see. However, I'd made good progress these last few days and after a few hours research on the internet I decided that if I skipped a few little places along the way I could squeeze in a few days on the eastern side of the province before flying out to Shanghai. I'd never make it to Kashgar and the lakes and mountains along the road towards Pakistan but a small taste is better than nothing at all and besides, I'm sure I'll be back one day. So it was with renewed enthusiasm and excitement that I went to bed that night ready for a day of full-on exploration and travel to come. 
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