October 29 - The Last Days of the Long March

This gorge took us all the way from Huining in Gansu to Xinglong in Ningxia, a three-day march to the second of the three points at which the Long Marchers united with their comrades in the Soviet Zone. Jiacuo took cabs and trucks along the modern main road and found it was more than twice as far - on one day we covered 20 kilometers, he drove 43 to get to the same place. It's easier to get lost in the northwest than anywhere else on the Long March trail, and the consequences can be quite serious if you're in a hurry.

The white-ish cast to the ground in the gorge pictured above is down to the salt in the water. Even used for tea, we found the water in most parts of Gansu and Ningxia to be virtually undrinkable.

Our hosts in Wangmin two night before the end. On my left is the 13-year-old boss of the guesthouse, Ma Huiyan, who also has to look after her younger brother and sister at the same time as going to school herself. The Ma's parents have been away working in Xinjiang for the last six months, leaving the kids to take care of business. They asked 2 yuan per person per night, and nothing for the horses. （In case you'd forgotten, that's Jiacuo on the far right）.

The Ma's only had one room with a giant brick kang - which was very comfy but far too noisy with Lao Li, Jiacuo and Yang Xiao all snoring away. It was a beautiful starry night, so I opted to camp out one last time. I still paid my 2 yuan, of course.

Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, but which is which?

Students from the new Islamic school attached to the mosque in Xinglong. The Long March memorial stands right in front of the mosque. Three years ago when Andy and I passed through here, the back of the memorial was covered in human excrement. I imagined things would have changed in honour of the 70th anniversary; they had - now the entire structure is surrounded by shit. The local kids sneered about the lack of 'moral character' of their elders; the grown-ups said the public toilet had been knocked down so it wasn't their fault. It never is.

Lao Li opted for a change of headgear in Xinglong.

Yang Xiao reckoned he looked like Ma Bufang, a Muslim warlord whose troops famously slaughtered Reds in vast numbers. When Yang Xiao was young he lived in the northwest and heard stories about how captured Communist officers were tied to the mouths of cannon and blown to pieces. 

The last few steps to the finish line in Jiangtai Pu. We told the regional government we were coming, but they got the date, time and place wrong when others asked （deliberately, I suppose, since we had called them several times to check they had their facts straight）. Luckily, Li Mingxia had come to join us and she dashed ahead and organised some kids from the Jiangtai school to come out and welcome us in.

After 5,490 kilometers, it's the end of the road for all of us - but only temporarily for Lao Li. He's starting Long March no.3 on November 15, retracing the route of the 25th Army from Henan to Shaanxi. I don't think anyone else has ever done this before. His son recently joined the army and, as fate would have it, he joined the 39th Army, which in its previous incarnation was, yes, the 25th. The commander put the hard word on Lao Li and now he can't get out of it. Lao Li was exhausted during the last few days. He was in bed by 8 or 9 and last up in the morning. He's a brave man to even consider Long March 3; Kath says he's crackers.

The last Monkey Show of the Long March. Khampa only bit one person during the melee.

Khampa and I say our farewells. He tried to bite me, but only got a piece of Yang Xiao's clothes （bundled under my left arm）. Khampa really suffered the last few days, but now he has retired in glory and thanks to his many friends has enough money to go home to Xiao Liu's beautiful pasture outside Zhongdian.

Jiacuo makes the horses safe for their journey to Longxi, where they are going to stay for a while with Jiacuo's friends before heading off in different directions. Ando will go to Henan to join Lao Li on Long March 3, while Khampa will go home to Shangri-la. Jiacuo will accompany him, too, so he'll be well looked after all the way

Bye Bye!

But while we're not marching for the moment, the project goes on. We met this Long March veteran in Yinchuan three days after finishing. He was left behind with a local Muslim family in 1936 and , like the Han who turned into Tibetans after being left behind on the Grasslands, he was completely assimilated into the local culture and religion.

We'll be rebuilding the website soon to archive all the pictures and stories from Long March 2 and to bring you more from the various events and ongoing research this year and next. We'll also be reporting on how Lao Li fares on Long March 3 and - touch wood - including video clips for the first time. Don't go away!