Jiayuguan was once the defining point of the Silk Road and in 1372 a Ming Dynasty fort was erected here. The city was known as the “mouth“ of China as it was at the western end of the Great Chinese Wall. The fort then guarded the narrow pass between the peaks of Qilian Shan and Hei Shan. There’s nothing left from the original wall, but with a lot of imagination you can conjure visions of the ancient Silk Road time. Nevertheless the visit was worthwhile. There were some shows on the site and an interesting museum on the Great Chinese Wall.
With Gaby, Chantal, Gisèle, André, Gérard, Nico and Philippe we walked to the food market in the evening and enjoyed a meal in an authentic simple Chinese way. I was happy to practice again Chinese for ordering food and getting some wine. After dinner we strolled through the food stalls and Gaby and I bought hand embroidered soles from an old lady. Since the men had got back to the hotel in order to watch the match France-Croatia, we we’re chaperoned by a Chinese man who made sure that we wouldn’t get cheated by this little lady. We let him take a selfie with us and we left him behind grinning happily from one ear to the other.
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