The magic of Maijishan - two days in Tianshui - I travelled down to Tianshui on the second of a two-part trip arranged by Steven Kang of Silk Road Angel Tours. I have written reviews of Steven/Angel Tours and the Zhangye leg elsewhere, this review is about the time in Tianshui. Steven arranged for his associate David to be my private guide in the area. David was a lovely chap, very effective as a tour guide and a great complement to Steven. The highlight of the region is the Maijishan Grottoes. My goodness, these are the stuff of legend and a part of the string of UNESCO World Heritage sites along the Silk Road in Gansu. David, very knowledgeable himself on the Buddhist detail, advised we had to get a specialist guide to see places that were not open to the general public. We were very lucky to get Maria, trained in the Dunhuang Institute. She suggested grottoes 144 and 33 (I think) and they were otherworldly. I had to agree that the sculpture in one was on a level with the Mona Lisa for loveliness. Thank you David and Maria for this memorable day. The Nanguo Temple overlooked the city of Tianshui and has one of the three oldest trees in China - a marvelous place to sit and contemplate. People were very open here and I had several thoughtful conversations with apparent strangers. A surprise suggested by David when he found I was interested in how the locals lived, was a visit to the Hu Family Residence, beside the Folk Museum. This fascinating glimpse into how the privileged few lived, is a good example of how a guide will help sort out priorities when the time is of the essence. David escorted me back to the train station and I was on the way to Xi'an with no feeling of rush even though we had fitted a lot in.