Tianshui (Heavenly Water)We got off the train at about pm3:00, and got handed off from Tour Guide 1: Mr. Jin to Tour Guide 2: Miss I-don't-remember-her-name. Sorry, but we only had her for 1 afternoon, and I forgot to jot down her name, and old age has visited me, okay.
Why the change in tour guides? Well, cos in China where there are 1.2 billion people, they try to give everyone more chances at earning a living. So, tour guides are only licensed to guide in their own provinces. If you step out of your province, even by one little toe, you have to hand over to another guy. Capishe?
And we had in fact left Shaanxi Province (where Xi'an was) and entered Gansu Province. The town is Tianshui (Heavenly Water) and we still had two sites to get to, so it's hurry hurry onwards. No matter that all of us were knackered from the train ride, hurry... hurry...
Maijishan GrottoesA grotto is defined as a small decorated cave. In China, it's a huge hill filled with man-made caves in which Buddha sculptures and various deities carvings reside. Quite a wonder.
Here's a brief intro courtesy of jqn:
Maijishan Grottoes is located in the mountains 45kms southeast of Tianshui City, Gansu Province.
The Maijishan Grottoes are one of the most famous grottoes in China along with the Longmen Grottoes in Henan, Mogao Grottoes in Gansu and Yungang Grottoes in Shanxi. It has 7,800 Buddhist statues in 194 caves spreading over 1,000 square meters, which reflect the sculpture skills ranking from the fifth to 18th centuries in China.There were additions made from the Sui and the Tang to the Qing dynasty.These Northwest China's gems are looking forward to joining the World Heritage List.
As we eyeballed the hill from below, we thought: wow, it's gorgeous. Around us, our fellow tour members sighed: Stairs.Yup, lots and lots of them. Somewhere our devil of a tour planner is saying: I'll make mincemeat out of this lot yet. Hit them with the train station first, then complete the masacre with a romp up Maijishan Hill, brouhahahaha!!
Types of Tour Members
Those of you who have joined tours know there are a few types of tour members:
The good students: who follow and listen attentively as the tour guide gives swift and detailed introduction to all the sculptures, views, leaves, dirt trails, history and so on.
The photographers: who are either way out in front, to avoid having members of the pack corrupt their pristine pictures; or way in the back, for the same reason. The 1st being the more impatient type, and the 2nd being the more patient type. K is part of the 1st. And since G follows K, G is also part of the 1st. K actually bought a video-cam for G, probably so that G will keep up with K, and can pretend to have something to do. It's not just tour planners with devilish plots you know.
The laissez faire: who are on the tour to have a good time, and don't really care about history, background, sculptures or views. They wander around on the edge of the pack, and sometimes disappear just to give the tour guides a good hunting lesson.
So K and I clambered up the stairs, way in front of the pack. We were given 1 hour to do the whole hill, so it's the familiar hurry, hurry. We took pics, we looked at sculptures, we climbed stairs, repeat from 1. The exercise was invigorating. The pics beaut, no time to appreciate, keep going.
We arrived back at the courtyard within the hour, with not a fellow tour member in sight. So we looked at our pics, admired the huge Buddha statues (which we didn't have time to appreciate up close), and waited. The rest of the team appeared half-an-hour later. Hmm.
Fuximiao (Fuxi Temple)After some pointed jokes about KEEPING TIME, we set off to the next site: Fuximiao, or Fuxi Temple. It was edging towards 6pm and night was falling, so what exactly can we see? Still, must keep to the itinerary, which is the word. Hurry, hurry...
Fuximiao was established by the founder of Taichi in the Ming Dynasty. I have to say, I really liked this small temple. It was lovely and quiet in the dusk hours. The doors and window shutters had very intricate carved details. The garden had huge trawling trees that stood in still meditation with ageless patience and resilience. The rush, sketchy irritations and weariness quieted inside me on a sigh of appreciation. Nice.
Foot MassageAfter Fuximiao, we had dinner, and practiced the art of polite scrambling for food. Everyone was tired, hungry and resistance was low. Consequently when the tour guide suggested 'foot massage', there was a resounding 'yes!' from most of the group.
Foot massage is ubiquitous in China, every town large or small has establishments for this. And each tour guide has a favorite one that is the best in town of course. The cost for this one in Tianshui: RMB78pp for 70 minutes.
I'm not a fan of massages (shock-horror-gasp!). Yes, it's true. I've done a couple in China and one in Bali, and I was not impressed. They just rubbed me up the wrong way, literally. I felt like a side of pork being marinated for bbq. And then that memorable Chendu masseuse who placed a steaming hot block of stone on my tummy! Yeah, it cooked me up real good.
Despite my skeptical looks and comments, K signed us up for the foot massage.
They don't just massage the feet of course, it's a whole-deal number from head to toe. I was bashed within an inch of my life.
Rating: Mmm... 3/5. My tired, train-and-stairs tortured body did feel better after the massage. And sleep afterwards was deep. The bruises just took a few days to fade.
In Summary
Tianshui: this little town (or the parts we saw of it) has little charm, and sorry to say, is quite dirty. I've never seen so many flies anywhere. And the villages had piles of rubbish dumped right beside them. Is it a mass protest or normal life?
Maijishan Grottoes: well worth the visit and climb. Stand at the feet of the giant Buddhas and gaze serenely out into the lovely valley, if you have time. Don't let the pigeons land on you.
Fuximiao (Fuxi Temple): others may dump on this little temple, but I loved the meditative quietness at dusk.
Foot Massage: at discretion. When your feet are killing you, they might be the saver.
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