Reflections on a Chinese Adventure

Reflections on a Chinese Adventure

Hunterston Rotary’s first meeting of 2025 was an entertaining evening thanks to a return visit of guest speakers Joanne and Robin Spencer. They previously spoke to the members about Lavender Farming a couple of years ago. Their subject this time was about a journey from Uzbekistan to Beijing in China by bus and train  

Joanne and Robin explained that their trip to was inspired while on a previous trip to Uzbekistan. A Russian had invited them to visit to see the source of flame tulips. During the visit their guide stopped on a railway crossing, pointing north he said 2000 miles that way is Moscow, turning round he said 2000 miles that way is Peking. They were standing on a “Silk Road.”

They Set themselves 7 Goals.

1. To travel a ‘Silk’ road.

And, visit -

2. Urumuqi - the Tarim mummies.

3. Turpan & Dunhuang Crescent Lake – (Inspired by Mildred Cable).

4. Jiayuguan - Western end of Great Wall of China.

5. Xi’an – start of ‘Silk’ Road and Terracotta Army.

6. Xanadu – summer palace of Kubla Khan.

7. Hail’ar, Inner Mongolia to visit our son Edward.

They gave us a fascinating illustrated account of their adventure, starting in Almaty in Kazakhstan, down through the Northern Mongolia and the Gobi Desert to Shaanxi in central China, back up to Xanadu, in Inner Mongolia, then back down to Peking/Beijing.

Joanne and Robin regaled us with descriptions of “Mummies” and artifacts seen and photographed during their journey. The explained how Genghis Khan and Kublai have effectively been removed from Chinese history because they were Mongol Invaders…

They spoke about following in the footsteps of Mildred Cable and their visit to the “Crescent Lake”. An oasis in the desert now flooded with tourists.

They told us about Wang Yuanlu, the Taoist priest credited with finding the Dunhuang Manuscripts in a hidden room he stumbled upon while clearing sand in a corridor. The room, now known as Cave 17 or the ‘Library Cave’, contained tens of thousands of manuscripts, printed documents, paintings, and textiles. Many of which he sold to Western explorers and archaeologists like Aurel Stein and Sven Hedin. Some of these are still held in the British Museum Central Archives.

Among the places they visited was the Jiuxiang Caves. 70mcaves famous for their stunning natural formations of stalactites, stalagmites, and underground rivers. Now a wonderful tourist attraction illuminated by multi-coloured lights.

Their talk also included an account of a visit to the Terracotta Warriors and seeing Bactrian Camels, and endangered and protected species, some of which are still roaming wild in nature reserves in China and in the Gobi desert.

Both the talk and the slides were greatly appreciated by their audience. The only issue on the night was the lack of sufficient time to hear more of Joanne and Robin’s adventures.