Chengdu

Chengdu as a city is a survivor, in the Yuan dynasty it was devastated by the Mongols in retaliation to the resistance of the Sichuanese, in the 17th century it was ruled by a rebel Zhang Xianzhong who ordered mass executions and inspired terror, and more recently it has survived an earthquake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale.

When we arrived, however the city (if not the surrounding area) was almost entirely recovered and we found Chengdu to be a relaxed city, the people friendly and helpful. We're convinced that if the original expedition had made it this far they would have enjoyed themselves immensely.

The humid subtropical climate is very different to the arid north and doubtless Clark would have remarked upon it. Another difference would have been the wildlife, Giant Pandas are native to central-western and south-western China and we were able to see some at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. If the original expedition had managed to see them wild it would have been a memorable experience, and one Sowerby as a naturalist would probably have delighted in documenting.

Chengdu is also famous for its culture of tea drinking, teahouses are abundant and heavily frequented. Traditionally teahouses were the centre of social life where everything from opera performances to hair cuts occurred. We visited a very pleasant teahouse situated in the grounds of the Wenshu Temple; a tang dynasty monastery it is one of Chengdu's best preserved Buddhist Temples, the chanting and ringing of bells along with the heavy scent of incense can still be experienced today. The original expedition would have most likely visited here, it being a large and prominent temple with interesting architecture and carvings.

Due to time constrictions we were unable to cruise the Yangzi River as the original expedition intended. However we tried to catch a ferry on the confluence of the Min and Dadu rivers; tributaries of the Yangzi River, to view the Giant Buddha at Leshan (west of Chengdu) but the river was too high, so we had to be content with persuading someone to let us board their boat and take photographs.

With our time in Chengdu finished we head back to Shanghai to complete at last Clark's epic journey, begun one hundred years ago.

Songpan and horse riding

The area between Chengdu and North to Songpan has been devastated by the recent earthquake and aftershocks, but the 11 hour bus journey- picking its way along roads ruptured by landslides, passing rubble and many blue tents- where many people have been forced to move since the earthquake- is rewarded by the spectacular scenery that awaits one in Songpan.

For the first time in the trip we were able to experience the journey as the original expedition members would have done; on horseback. The ponies are strong enough to carry enough equipment for 3 days camping in the mountains, and climb up the 1000 meters altitude that the mountains around Songpan rise to. We spent two nights sleeping in makeshift tents at 3500 metres, and after the heat and humidity of the North of China we were not quite prepared for the cold. Luckily Tibetan coats provided by our guides kept us from spending sleepless nights shivering. The uncomfortable saddles make one appreciate what, one hundred years previously, the members of the original expedition must have endured during their epic journey.

Lanzhou and the death of Hazrat Ali

Clark and Sowerby's 19 day journey from X'ian to Lanzhou took them along the famous Silk Road, in "Through Shen-Kan" Clark and Sowerby recount many anecdotes of their experiences and encounters on the trip;

a "man who, on being asked for tea, gave us what seemed to be hot water with some grains and bits of sticks in it. The sticks he described as "mountain tea". On being asked for millet gruel, he pointed to the grains, "this is millet gruel." On being asked for hot water, he again pointed, "this is hot water"; thus keeping one fluid to meet all requirements. It was certainly as much like one as another"

During our much shorter 20 hour train journey, we also had many encounters, from the roving sales people who tried to convince us to buy Olympic paraphernalia to the family inhabiting our compartment who insisted on feeding us a variety of local delicacies including spiced chickens feet.

The landscape is described by Clark and Sowerby as bare and barren due to a protracted drought, it is now the rainy season but the landscape still has only a sparse covering of vegetation, the rivers shallow trickles with the river bed. Clark and Sowerby met, after their long separation, with the rest of the expedition- principally Captain Douglas (the expedition's doctor and meteorologist) and G. A Grant (the interpreter and manager)- who arrived in Lanzhou in April.

Douglas and Grant's account of their journey from Yannan to Lanzhou is primarily concerned with the state of the roads and countryside, and whilst it does not contain the tales characteristic of Clark and Sowerby's writing, the description of the countryside is detailed and clearly meant to be of use to future travellers.

On their arrival in Lanzhou, the expedition had trouble acquiring quarters "all the inns being wretchedly small and dirty" and so eventually chose the summer residence of a well-off local family. the residence was cleary to their tastes "in the pavillions of its lovely garden ample room was found for all members of the expedition." Unfortunately this was one aspect we were unable to replicate and instead we found ourselves in the comfortable, but not beautiful, surroundings of one of Lanzhou's large hotels.

Lanzhou, as noted in Shen-Kan, is a large city of some importance, having once been a major stop on the Northern Silk Road, and the only large city on the banks of the Yellow River. Its population, when the expedition arrived, was estimated to be around half a million, it has now grown to over 3 million. According to Shen-Kan, one of the main exports of Lanzhou was waterpipe tobacco, which was famous all over China. There were indeed a cluster of tobacco shops around the city, but upon enquiring we learned that it is no longer produced in Lanzhou and that most tobacco in China is now produced in Yunnan province.

Lanzhou may now be one of the worst polluted cities in the world, but it still acts as an agricultural centre for the surrounding region. In Clark's time, the temperate climate was made suitable for agriculture by the use of "immense wooden wheels with buckets attached... placed so that the current of the river causes them to revolve; the water is thus automatically carried up in the buckets, and being emptied into troughs flows into canals thus fertilising the thirsty fields". Until 1952, Lanzhou was known as the city of waterwheels, with more than 250 standing along the banks of the river. Now, however, none remain in use, but two replications were built in 1994, and on viewing them it is easy to imagine the incredible sight of many of these wheels along the banks of the river would have made.

Upon completing their observations of Lanzhou, the original expedition planned to skirt the old border of Tibet to Chengdu. We attempted to do this, intending to visit Xiahe, Langmusi and Songpan before heading to Chengdu. Unfortunately, we were prevented from doing this by government officials, who have closed the Tibetan border areas of China to tourists during the Olympics, because of the apparent danger of a "Tibetan rebellion".

However our troubles pale in comparison to those of the original expedition who suffered a far more distressing setback:

"Now occurred the unfortunate murder of our surveyor, Hazrat Ali, who was wantonly killed by the Chinese during the course of his survey duties. This outrage, which was committed without the least provocation on the part of the victim, or of any other member of the expedition, brought our journey to an untimely end. How bitterly we all regret the loss of one who was a faithful friend and a devoted worker is impossible to say".

The expedition had not met with a friendly reception in the area and Sowerby's diary of the events clearly shows the tension between foreigners and the natives:

"All the Tibetans took great interest in our equipment....had we not been so close to Lan-chou the party might have attempted to help themselves by force"

There was much confusion surrounding the death of Ali, and Clark and Sowerby spent days searching for the hapless surveyor before having his death confirmed:

" But more clearly, almost hour by hour, the sickening conviction was borne in upon us that hope was slipping away, and that we must prepare our minds to accept the worst. The story told by the natives, as it began to disentangle and shape itself- or be shaped- was that the surveyor had been alarmed by a crowd of peasants chasing a runaway cow... and had fallen over a precipice. All the versions agreed in these two points: that he was dead and that his body was irrecoverable."

At this point, the expedition dispanded, with Clark and the other members being recalled to Beijing. The expedition was "forced to retrace our steps just as we had reached the threshold of what promised to be the most interesting part of our travels".

Whilst the 1908 expedition was forced to abandon their plans and were unable to finish their epic journey, one hundred years later we can continue onwards to Chengdu and attempt to complete the route of the original expedition.

Hua Shan-the Sacred Mountain

In journeying from Xi'an to Hankow, to meet Clark who had gone to Shanghai to collect supplies, Sowerby passed by Hua Shan, one of China's five sacred peaks, situated about 75 miles from Xi'an city. Sowerby briefly describes a "palatial temple with gold tiled roof and beautiful grounds" perched on the top of one peak, with numerous Buddhist temples perched around the summit which in 1909 formed a place of Taoist pilgrimage. Now, the summit is far easier to reach, a cable car having been installed to the North peak. Pilgrimage of a differnt kind still happens, in that parts of the route are decorated with padlocks with red ribbons, that couples place on the mountain for good luck.

We arrived at the base of Hua Shan around noon, and attemped to climb to the North peak, through beutiful scenrery of green forest and rushing waterfalls. However, such is the distance that, with the last bus of the day returning to Xi'an at five, we were unable to reach the summit.

Luoyang- a brief detour

At this point in the journal, Clark and Sowerby compare the Colossal Buddha to the temple at "Honan-fu", the capital of Hunnan province. As no guide could tell us what "Honan-fu" was now called, we conjectured that it might be the ancient capital of Hunnan, now called Luoyang, and the cave temple, the Longmen caves. Clark and Sowerby's description of what is now a designated world heritage site is quite uncomplementary; "all figures in both these temples are exceedingly ugly and ill-proportioned, in strong contrast to the beautiful statues found in the Sung dynasty temples of a later date round Yen-an Fu". This comparison is somewhat justified; the Longmen temples are older and more cramped, not least becuase of the large number of tourists that now flock to the site. There is still some evidence of the traditional life of the people of this area; on the plains of the river, below the caves, men herd their yaks to pasture and still fish from the river.