A Return to Gansu

Year two at SYA -- China means that I go on school trips to the same places again.  In the fall, the school and I went back to Shanxi province.  Not much of the trip was different, so I didn't upload a post.  However, we went back to Xiahe and Lanzhou this year and there were some changes and surprises.....

Just like the 2012-13 academic year, we arrived in Xiahe to soak up life on the Tibetan life at the Labrang Monastery.  This year we arrived and met with a weather surprise!

SNOW!!!

Unlike last year where we went to the home of our friend of the school to eat a traditional Tibetan meal and draw the "thangkas", this time we went to a museum and cultural center.

"Thangkas" are always devotional in subject matter.  This depicts the deity (not sure if that's the right word) of wealth!

I placed fifth in the "thangka" drawing contest!

The highlight of my first trip to Gansu last year was the visit to Ren'ai Monastery out in the Grasslands where we got to hangout with monks.  Unfortunately, it's a politically sensitive area and we weren't able to get a permit to go there this year.  However, disappointment always comes with a silver lining because we ended up catching the end of a Tibetan horse race.

It turns out, right near Xiahe, a horse race was taking place.  We only arrived as the last race was finishing, but we got to watch some kids race amongst themselves!

These races are a family affair!   A time to gather, eat and socialize...all in the shadows of the nearby snow capped mountains!

Betting slips!  Pick your horse by color!

As always, some frisbee diplomacy.

We had the opportunity to meet some orphan children as well.

Near Xiahe,  there is a school which has about 100 orphans, and through private donations (no help from the government) is housing and educating students from 4 to 18.  Kids are taught through 5th grade, at which point, they move to regular schools.

Seven of the kids joined us on the bus for a few hours.   They sang for us and we sang for them!

A couple of our students have been fundraising for a few months to earn money to donate to the school.  They earned enough to purchase a new washing machine for the school!  We found out that this means the older students no longer have to do the clothes washing chore!

The last stop was Lanzhou.  Taking advantage of the great weather, I went to the top of the hill across the Yellow River and took in the view.  Great weather!

But then the next day, the biggest sandstorm to roll across northern China in years came into Lanzhou.

These satellite pictures show the movement of the sandstorm.

Here's what it looked like at 2PM in the afternoon in Lanzhou.  Crazy!