延安湫燕山

When planning my trip I had told my guide, Linda, from Xi'an that I wanted to see the Loess Plateau. We travelled by train from Xi'an to Yan'an and then took a local bus out to Ansai. I requested that we return by Taxi, as taxi's are not expensive in China and more comfortable. Ansai was Linda's interpretation of the Loess Plateau but it wasn't the agricultural country that I wanted to see. Yet I did find the town interesting, because of the way people in the region have carved cave-like homes out of the thick Loess soil. The inside of these homes is plastered and painted, but there are no supports. The town is prosperous with many high rise buildings under construction. Linda told me that deposits of natural gas have been found west of the town. It was the next day when we took a bus journey over to the Yellow River to see the Hukou Falls that I saw the agricultural, terraced orchards of the Loess Plateau which had attracted me to the region.Anyone interested in soil types, primitive architecture, red fret work and drum dancing would enjoy a visit to this town.