Revisiting the Silk Road: 7-day company outing to Northwest China
From October 3 to October 9, Siveco China team embarked on the plane to Lanzhou for a 7-day outing during the National holiday and revisited the Silk Road, the famed ancient trade road connecting China and Eurasia.
For the first day of our travel, we arrived in Lanzhou, provincial capital of Gansu in the afternoon, team members enjoyed their own free time, some tried traditional Lanzhou beef noodles, some visited museum, and others wandered along the Yellow River. After the first relaxing day, we started looking forward to the second day outing!
After more than 3 hours driving, we entered Qinghai Province and arrived at Kumbum Monastery, a sacred place built in 1379 to commemorate the founder of the Yellow Hat Sect. The center core building is the Great Hall of the Golden Roof, with its deeply attractive Tibetan style architecture.
After lunch, we headed to Qinghai Lake, the largest inland and salt water lake in China. Due to the good weather, we were all immersed in the beautiful scenery. The lake is quite limpid and blue, reflecting the clouds and mountains around like a mirror. Although some of the members got altitude sickness there, the great scenery gave them the extra strength to keep sightseeing.
On the third day, we drove to the Caka Salt Lake, located in Caka Town, Ulan County in Qinghai Province. The snow-white lake and the blue sky won it its famous title of “Mirror of the Sky”. There is a long railway track and walkway extending to the center of the lake and many salt sculptures alongside. Some of us rented waterproof shoe covers to walk into the lake, feeling the charm of nature, others walked along the walkway enjoying the greatness of nature.
The fourth day was a hard day for us. The Siveco team left Qinghai in the early morning and planned to drive over two mountains: Daban Mountain and Qilian Mountain to get to Gansu Province. Due to the high altitude of the mountain, we saw big snow in Daban Mountain. All of us felt excited about the snow and took team photos in the observation deck. However when we started to drive again, we were trapped between these two mountains: a traffic accident had occurred and the road was icing which caused major traffic jams. Thanks for the sunshine at noon, we finally drove out of the mountains and enjoyed our late lunch at 4:30 PM. At last, we arrived at Zhangye Danxia National Geological Park, the destination of this long trip, the best example of China’s colorful Danxia landform.
The next day we headed to Jiayuguan, the greatest pass in the world. Jiayuguan, built in Ming Dynasty, is a vital pass along the Silk Road, which connecting China, Asia and Europe. As it was built with stones and bricks, and surrounded with desert, we felt desolate in this place, but on the other hand, the yellow hue also let us feel the history and the importance of the fort.
After visiting Jiayuguan, we took 5-hour drive to Dunhuang, the ancient trade center between China and its western neighbors. With the development of the Silk Road, it became the most open area in international trade in history. To know the history well, some of team members chose to see one famous immersive melodrama drama, Encore Dunhuang, which gave an overview of thousands of years of history, while others members visited Dunhuang night market and tried local food.
On the sixth day, Siveco team visited Mingsha Mountain, with its miraculous Crescent Lake. This was the first time for many of our team members see such a big desert. Everyone felt excited and some of us tried desert quads, enjoying high speed and passion. Then most of us tried riding the camels in the desert which was quite exotic.
Leaving the desert, we headed to Mogao Caves, a shrine of Buddhist art treasures. The construction work of Mogao Caves spanned ten dynasties, and there are many clay statues in different cave walls, most of the sidewalls and ceilings were painted with art decors. We were guided to eight different caves, and listened to the different history of these caves. We were all shocked by this depository of historical and cultural exchanges.
The high point was coming at dinner time. We ordered two roasted whole lambs, the most delicious local cuisine in Dunhuang. Team members thanked each other for this great journey and mutual support during the trip.
In the evening, we took the overnight sleeper train to Lanzhou. On the last day, after we finished our local noodles breakfast, we headed to the airport and on our way back home.
Although this seven-day outing is now over, this long & hard journey will never disappear from our memory, a mix between history and the present. We are all particularly proud at Siveco China to be playing a role, alongside many Chinese companies, on the Belt & Road, the modern continuation of the old Silk Road. History is still ongoing and this long outing made it more visible to us. We also thank all our team members who stayed at the office to ensure customer support!
Tags： Siveco team
