Memories and magic in northwest China: My summer well spent

26 Sep 2024

By: Xiaoya Nie, China Studies, XJTLU
Summer experience: 2024 field trip to Gansu, China, organised by Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University’s School of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS)
Nationality: Chinese

In June, I joined a summer trip organised by our teachers and embarked on a journey to the northwest of China with my teachers and classmates.

I was very excited when I learnt about this project from Dr Jing Zhu, who wrote an email to us about the Dunhuang study trip and called for applications. Actually, my first study trip was more rewarding than I expected.

We set off from Suzhou on 19 June and returned on 24 June. We travelled from Lanzhou to Dunhuang by bus, passing Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiayuguan and some other places. The team was led by teachers from HSS, including Dr Jing Zhu, Dr Kan Li, and Dr Echo Wang, as well as a researcher called Ding from Dunhuang Academy. They were all gentle, caring and humorous. We learned a lot from their profound knowledge and professional attitude towards academic subjects. During the six-day trip, we saw many things I’d only previously seen in textbooks. It confirmed that the well-known statement is true: read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles. We definitely hope this kind of study trip can be carried out more in the future. It brings students and teachers a variety of experiences, enriches our academic life, and helps us find more possibilities and interests.

Dr Zhu, who planned the tour, is a gentle, erudite teacher who studies ethnic minorities in southwest China and taught my 106 Literature module. She said, if you have never been to the northwest, if you have never crossed the Hexi Corridor, you will never understand China. She is convinced that doing research is inseparable from personal experience and practice, and that was the reason she planned this trip. When chatting on the bus, she shared a lot of her past research and new thoughts, and the joyful smile that she showed while coming up with new ideas was very impressive. By spending time with our teachers, we were also learning how to be excellent scholars, and Dr Zhu is undoubtedly a very good example.

Study trip details:

On the way from Zhangye to Horseshoe Temple, we passed a brilliant rapeseed flower field. The Qilian Mountains in the distance looked very holy under the clear blue sky. It was hard to imagine that just a few hours ago, the scenery outside the window was still the thick Loess Plateau. The magic and vastness of the northwest was perfectly displayed at that moment.

The brilliant colours of a rapeseed flower field with the Qilian Mountains in the background

Students on the 2024 Gansu field trip

For me, the Horseshoe Temple was the most memorable stop. It is part of the Jinta Temple grottoes group and few people have heard about it. We crisscrossed the primaeval forest, struggling to climb almost vertical cliffs. Dizzy from the lack of oxygen after climbing, the sun shines outside, and the cave is silent and dim. Looking up at those mottled Bodhisattvas and flying nymphs embedded in the mountain, a sense of unreality came to my mind.

A steep path up to one of the temples

The meal after going downhill was perhaps the hardest to forget and the most satisfying one in my life. We were warmly welcomed by the Yugur people in Tibetan areas, and the fresh food that combined high carbohydrates and dairy products was so delicious.

The murals in the Dunhuang grottoes are strictly protected, but 3D reprints of the caves in the museum make up for the lack of photography. We saw the research methods and new technologies applied in modern Dunhuang studies, which can protect the cave fresco art so that it fades more slowly.

Cave fresco reprints in the Dunhuang Art Gallery

In addition to learning about the northwestern grotto art, there are also precious memories between friends. We climbed up the dune exhausted, found each other and cheered. While the last bit of sunset disappeared, fireworks burst, everyone stopped at the top of the dune and watched the wonderful scene in silence.