The 29th offroad adventure in the XWORLD tour led its eight participants from Chengdu in China to Lhasa in Tibet – they were the first foreign travellers permitted to enter Tibet by road in almost two years. Among their number was professional race cyclist Hanka Kupfernagel, who incorporated the magnificent scenery into her training regime time and time again, and was often cycling kilometres in advance of the Land Cruiser column. An expedition member reports.

Sunday, April 5, 2009: Travelling from Germany to Chengdu

The "China Daily" newspaper once named Chengdu as one of the most pleasant towns in China to live in. Its climate is indeed very comfortable, with mild, sub-tropical temperatures. After a long flight, we are glad to have arrived at last and are looking forward to our adventure.

After just a short taxi drive, we reach the Kempinski Hotel – our "base camp" for the next two days. There is even a "Paulanerstube“ where we get to know each other better over German wheat beer. Our tour guides' names are Beni (Benjamin Krenzer) and Weilo (Peter Weil). At the start, we will also be accompanied by a Chinese tour guide, "Lee". There are eight members in our party: Hanka, Guido, Jürgen, Michael, Peter, Tino, Uwe and Vatan.

After a thorough briefing on the tour, supper is served. Today's special is "fire stew" and the name says it all. The regional speciality is spiced with the fiery "Szechuan pepper".

Monday, April 6, 2009: Chengdu

After a delicious, ample breakfast at the hotel, we all drive together in the minibus to a panda breeding centre. We drink in the tranquillity and watch the sweet black-and-white babies squabbling over their favourite perches on the tree trunks. The older pandas are almost "slothlike", chewing unhurriedly on bamboo as the sun plays on their fur. But they are all fun to watch. After this amazing experience, we visit a tea house, sightsee in Chengdu town centre and shop along the main street. Already a day full of memories – and we haven't driven a metre in the offroad vehicles yet. Before we can start, we all need Chinese driving licences, and that is our task for tomorrow.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009: Chengdu – Leshan – Emei Shan

Today was the first of the many highlights of our time in China: Today, we can say that we are the proud possessors of Chinese driving licences. This also means that we set out early tomorrow morning with our tour guide "Peter". He will accompany us as far as Tibet, but for now we head to Chengdu Hospital for a health check. We have already read a great deal about this procedure in the tour reports of the previous XWORLD stages in China – but we cannot help but feel a little (in)tense because the test goes differently in every Chinese province…
We feel like ants as we thread our way past the many, scurrying Chinese. The crowds of people give on the feeling of being in a German department store rather than a Chinese hospital. A pleasant Chinese nurse greets us with "Hello my name is sister Becky, please follow me". The papers have already been prepared, the next stop is the hearing test. The attending doctor asks the critical question: "Your ears OK?" We all nod as one, and are rewarded with the precious signature. This is followed by a check of our hands by the orothopaedic specialist, a collective vision test, and we have passed.
Now we hurry off to the police station to fetch our driving licences. This process is brought to a screeching halt by a computer virus. To amuse ourselves while we wait, we invent a new game, the international "XWORLD plop" championship. The rules are as follows: A water bottle screwcap must be projected from the fist as far as possible with a swatting motion. The clear winner is Hanka Kupfernagel – the only woman in our band.
Having decided the championship and obtained our licences, we climb into the offroad vehicles for the first time late this afternoon. We are heading for Leshan, home of the largest Buddha in China.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009: Emei Shan – Xinchang

After breakfast in our hotel on the sacred, astoundingly verdant mountain "Emei Shan", our convoy turns southwards. After no more than a few kilometres, we are stopped by a police convoy – and after about 1.5 hours we are informed that we are not permitted to continue on our original route. According to these gentlemen, this region is inhabited by a Chinese minority, and the police fear that we would not reach our destination without coming to some harm.

For us, this means that we must take a longer route to reach our destination for the day, Xichang. Towards lunchtime, we stop in a little village to get something to eat. Suddenly, a sea of men, women and children materialise from every direction and stand waiting in front of the restaurant. They are particularly fascinated by Hanka and Jürgen. Hanka because she is the only female in our group, and also has a well-toned physique, and Jürgen because he is so tall. Classes in the nearby school are suspended for an hour (in China of all places!), and many, many photographs are taken before we are finally served a simple meal in the restaurant.

The road goes on forever, we creep forward. At an average speed of 25 kilometres per hour (because of the narrow roads) we are almost out of diesel when we reach Xichang.

Night has long since fallen, and away from the towns Chinese restaurants stop serving at 8 o' clock in the evening. We decide to try the fast food restaurant Dikos (the Chinese version of Kentucky Fried Chicken). Just before we get there, a member of our group reveals over the radio: "I've just been propositioned by two girls in a minibus." It seems the oldest profession is thriving even in China, so we each draw our own conclusions and drive our cars directly to the fast food restaurant.

We have barely ordered our food when we hear an uproar in the street outside. The two girls have appeared, and they work in a quite different commercial sector from the one we surmised: One is the editor for the local television station, and the other is her assistant. We are beginning to realise, it's not easy to eat in peace in China. Within two minutes, we are completely surrounded by an entire television team, and we give interviews between mouthfuls. But the journalists finally escort us to our our hotel, where we are able to digest the events of an exciting fourth day.

Thursday, April 9, 2009: Xinchang – Lijiang

On the fifth day, we finally get to drive on the motorway. No traffic, no roadworks, and magnificent scenery wherever the eyes wander. This is when driving is really fun. We call a halt ina beatiful valley - and another transmission comes across on the radio: "Take your time over lunch, and then catch me up. I have to get in a few kilometres' training on the bike"!

Dear Hanka Kupfernagel (www.hanka-kupfernagel.de), probably the best female cyclist in Germany, is using the stretch from Chengdu to Lhasa as altitude training. After a delightful lunch break lasting about 40 minutes, we set off in hot pursuit of Hanka in our "cars". Based on some quick arithmetic, taking into account our speed, we fully expect to catch up with Hanka in short order. Poppycock! It took us an hour to catch up with the professional athlete. That is quite a lady!!!

Just as the sun was going down, we rolled into Lijiang (one of the four most important cities of ancient Chinese construction). Our check-in is in the middle of the enchanting Old Town. Unfortunately our "alien permit" for entry into Tibet was still not in our possession, so Lijang is our home for the next two nights. The reason: Until a few days before our arrival, Tibet was still under martial law. But after we received our group alien permit by fax the next day, we became the first group of tourists in almost two years to make the journey overland from Chengdu to Lhasa.

Friday, April 10, 2009: Lijiang
On the agenda today is sightseeing in Lijiang Old Town. The Old Town offers adventure and culture all in one place, like "Phantasialand" and "Holiday Park" all rolled into one. Among the many highlights here, we visited the Mu Residence, which was the home of the tribal chieftain of Lijiang. After that, we had the day to do as we pleased. We enjoyed the time and wonderful atmosphere of this town.

Saturday, April 11, 2009: Lijiang – Makham

We are on the road very early, because this will be one of the longest days of the expedition. At first, we make very good progress, and we quickly reach the region of Shangri-La; now we are not far from autonomous Tibet (this is already evident from the Tibetan prayer flags that flutter in the breeze in some places). After passing through two passes at at altitude of 4000 metres, our speed slows abruptly just outside the provincial town of Shengping: Our way forward is blocked by roadworks. The meaning of this, however, would be lost on anyone who has not experienced it in China. It is a mixture of adventure and the purest chaos. Absolutely every single rule and law is swept "under the carriageway". And this is in China, where everyone is supposed to dance to the same tune…

As Germans, we sit obediently in line in the little town and wait for our turn. The Chinese, on the other hand, create a second, a third, a fourth, and for good measure a fifth column of traffic in this one little town. As is standard behaviour for the Chinese: Of course, all heading in the same direction, and we are stuck in the middle. Total gridlock. 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 90 minutes. At this rate, we'll be celebrating Christmas 2011 in Lhasa...

A small reconnaissance party is formed, and sets out on foot to find out the lay of the land. Actually, to be absolutely honest, we men were simply too lazy and we sent Hanka off alone. Her report was astounding: If one construction site is "controlled" by two traffic lights for five lanes of traffic 20 kilometres apart, and both of these traffic lights are RED for 30 minutes, what happens when both traffic lights turn green after 30 minutes? Exactly! Pandemonium.

It turned out that a police car (unmanned) was blocking the road so that the traffic could not go anywhere. After more than two hours, we were finally on our way again, albeit haltingly.

Even the crossing into Tibet did not go smoothly. Not one, but two large checkpoints with waiting times of as much as one and a half hours once and for all dashed our hopes of reaching Makham before ten o'clock that night. Then, at long last: Autonomous province of TIBET, we made it!!! We reached Makham at three o'clock in the morning, shattered, and agreed to sleep late the next day.

Sunday, April 12, 2009: Makham – Rawu

With our tanks full of diesel, the next morning we head west. After two tyre failures - the carcasses were totally destroyed - and air temperature of 25 degrees plus sunshine, the going is hard. Shortly before the high point of the day, crossing a pass at 5,040 metres, we run into a snowstorm at 4800 metres. When we reached the pass, the first thing we wanted to do was get out of the cars and take in the amazing scenery. Very slowly, giving our cardiovascular system a chance to get used to the altitude, we got out. The air is thin, but but view is simply breathtaking.

Monday, April 13, 2009: Rawu - Nyingchi

In terms of the weather, we really stuck it lucky today. A wonderful sunrise in the middle of the 6000 mountain chains was just the start. After a quick breakfast, we were driving west through the Tibetan countryside. The roads were getting better and better, and on this day the police checks were not in evidence.

About five hours' drive from Lhasa, we again sought accommodation in the province of Tibet. But we all felt an inner restlessness, because tomorrow we would be going to Lhasa, the Roof of the World.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009: Nyingchi – Lhasa

You could see it on everyone's face: On the one hand, our journey was inexorably coming to an end, on the other hand were approaching a city that had been the stuff of our dreams since childhood. With mixed feelings, our little convoy headed straight towards Lhasa. We crossed one more 5000 metre pass, and we were there. We made it! Since we would be leaving the next day, we drove straight to the Jokhang Temple in the middle of Lhasa.
This is the most sacred temple in all Tibet. Unlike the Potala Palace, which is just a museum now, the Jokhang Temple is still used by believers. Here you see people who are making the pilgrimage to the temple on their knees. Inside, the temple is very dark, but one's eyes become accustomed to the dark very quickly. The smell of the butter lamps radiates an atmosphere of peace and unworldliness.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009: Lhasa – Germany

Our plane will not be leaving Lhasa Airport until the afternoon, so a trip to Potala Palace is essential. We are unanimous: The "inside" of the Potala Palace is far and away the most awe-inspiring thing one can hope to witness in this life. Unimaginable quantities of gold, numberless statues of the Buddha create an atmosphere that defies description.

We take our leave from Tibet – somewhat sadly because we know about the political conditions in Tibet.