We arrived at the former Silk Road oasis of Dunhuang in the early morning and, after checking in to the nearest hotel, had a welcome breakfast with the Australians, Hew and Rhys, that we'd met on the bus. Dunhuang apparently means "prosperous", a reflection of its former glroy and importance on the SIlk Road. It is here that the northern and southern Silk Roads converge once again and follow the Hexi corridor to the cities of Lanzhou and Changan (now Xi'an). The road into Dunhuang had been a bumpy one through the desert. We'd passed endless small sand dunes rising up from the rocky and sandy desert floor. For hours our bus jerked around with little to see outside until finally some greenery gave way to the town and some large sand dunes 50m high came into view.

It was a pleasantly clam city with little traffic and easily negotiable on foot. We tried, for the sake of it, to see if there might be any space on a train to Lanzhou, but as usual, we foiled by the reply of "Mei yo" or the short and sharp "have not" that we have heard so often on this trip. INstead we headed to the bus station and got bus tickets to the closer town of Jiauyguan where we'd spend a couple of days and from there gently make our way to Lanzhou. I can't be bothered with long uncomfortable trips anymore! PLus it would give us the chance to explore a couple of the other, less well-known Silk ROad towns along the Hexi corridor.

That evening, along with a bunch of New Zealanders and Americans that we met, we headed to the night market for dinner. DUnhuang is not a bad place to meet some Westerners and it made for a nice change to have a large crowd for supper. We found an outside seating area with reclining deck chairs and bottle of cool beer on the table attended by a waitress. We sat down and ordered some concoction of dishes including one that appeared to be a whole chicken, minus the head, but complete with chicken feet! Surprisingly tasty! OUr waitress tended to our every need, and when she wasn't busy she just sat at the table, as though part of our group and listened in. Quite what she listened in to or understood I'm not sure, but we tried to include our new guest, Jin, into the converstaion with a mixture of grunts and hand signals.

A couple of mobile karaoke groups were wafting from table to table getting diners to stand up and sing their favourite CHinese song. It was awful, and as each tried to up the volume to outdo the other, the cacophany started make conversation difficult. We decided there was only one thing for it - sing Britney for the locals. Hew played "Hit me baby one more time" and we attempted to mumble the words into the microphone. Of course it wasn't long before a group of locals had crowded round our table. Their faces gave a mixed expression - some were tapping along whilst others looked distinctly bemused and worried. Afterwards one old man, dressed in an old jacket and with a long grey beard, stood silently and looked rather shell shocked by the whole thing. I went over to check he was alright and his face broke out into a wide smile. We spoke no common language but he seemed pleased.