A Major Disappointment...

Today’s plan was to visit the beautiful mountain scenery of Xiata. To get there, we spent more than six hours driving southwest. However, when we arrived at the tourist site and tried to buy tickets in order to access the final few kilometers by car, we were met with a major disappointment. The tour operator had failed to reserve tickets for us in advance, and the daily quota was already sold out. In other words, we had driven hundreds of kilometers for nothing.

The alternative program that was organized at short notice did not really excite me either. We visited a place where the main attraction was horses galloping through the water—or rather being driven through it. It was certainly beautiful to watch, but the entire “show” lasted only a few minutes. Since we did not know exactly when the performance would take place, we spent about forty-five minutes waiting by the river for just those few minutes of entertainment, partly under the blazing sun and in the heat. It would have been very helpful if the driver had informed us about the schedule in advance.

For the night, we traveled to Tekes, the only city in China without a single traffic light. Instead, there are roundabouts everywhere but no signal lights. The true highlight of the city is its old town, where eight streets radiate outward in a star-shaped pattern. At least after the major disappointment of the day, we were still able to spend a pleasant evening together here.