A bus too far?
Today, tickets go on sale for an express coach service from London to China. Is BuddhaBus the future for low-impact long-haul travel or the journey from hell?
Anita Sethi
8 March 2008
The Guardian
© Copyright 2008. The Guardian. All rights reserved.

I've broken out in a cold sweat at the news of BuddhaBus. Last year, I joined OzBus, the first London-Sydney bus trip. It was an exhilarating three-month journey through some of the world's less trammelled landscapes, during which I saw places I didn't even know existed and certainly wouldn't have seen from a plane, but it was a hell of bumpy ride.

BuddhaBus will take just 16 days to travel the 8,000km from Victoria Station in London to Urumqi in Xinjiang province, China, allowing only one night's stopover in most places.

The marketing bumf claims the journey will be "the perfect antidote to the stresses of the modern world". Indeed the bus's name suggests this will be a sort of zen-like escape from the horrors of modern travel.

I beg to differ. By the time we got to Kathmandu (42 days) many OzBus passengers were so frazzled they could have done with some serious meditation before reboarding the bus.

"Regular breaks and stopovers" are promised by BuddhaBus, ensuring passengers "are able to appreciate the highlights of the trip at their leisure" in places such as such as Warsaw, Moscow and Almaty. In reality, covering an average of 800km a day means arriving in cities at rush hour, ensuring ample time to "relax and reflect" while sitting in a traffic jam, finally reaching a hostel at sunset, then departing the next morning before sunrise. Some places won't even be seen in the light of day.

BuddhaBus also promises to inspire "a renewed interest in the experience of travel, an experience lost in the sterile environment of airports". But unless the coach travels at lightening speed, or extends its 16 days to 60, passengers will get to know the inside of their coach far better than the countries they travel through. The most regular breaks will be loo breaks, so they'll become connoisseurs of service stations the world over, from the plush to the makeshift, as well as the vast tracks of roadside where it'll be knickers-round-ankles relief watched on by grazing cows and companions who might get a laugh out of snapping your bare bum.

Diversions and delays caused by rubble, rebels and roads which have been washed away are all highly likely. Those brave souls who embark on this epic journey should pack plenty of patience and flexbility, as they may find the bus is forced to take a detour past their would-be highlight. "Catch up days" can entail overnight driving, which means seeing the world through very bleary eyes.

Some will find it heaven to be with a ready-made set of new friends every minute of their waking and sleeping lives. Others will leave feeling that, to paraprhase Sartre, hell is other people on a bus.

* The first BuddhaBus departs London Sept 6, arriving in Urumqi 16 days later: pounds 795 single, pounds 1,295 return, including camping and refreshments but not meals or hotels. buddhabus.co.uk.

NO LET-UP IN FIGHT AGAINST 'FORCES OF TERROR'
By Xing Zhigang
8 March 2008
China Daily
Copyright 2008 China Daily Information Company. All rights reserved.

Xinjiang's top political and military leaders have pledged a further crackdown against East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) terrorists in a bid to safeguard the security and prosperity of the region.

Nur Bekri, the newly elected chairman of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, said on Friday that the forces of terror, separatism and extremism had recently become more active in planning violent activities.

"Although we have achieved some initial success, we will never slacken in our fight against these evil forces," he told China Daily.

"We should stay on high alert all the time to crush any attempt to damage Xinjiang's development and stability."

Bekri, a deputy to the 11th NPC, made the remarks on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the top legislature.

He acknowledged that terrorism, separatism and extremism remain the greatest threats to the region's development.

"But we have the capability and confidence to safeguard our country's territorial integrity and ethnic unity," he said.

Xinjiang, with a population of more than 20 million, including 12 million people from ethnic minorities, accounts for about one-sixth of China's territory and is three times the size of France.

The region, which borders central Asia, has been suffering frequent sabotage from separatist forces.

Hou Xiaoqin, political commissar of the Xinjiang Armed Police Regiment, said the major threat comes from ETIM, which was listed as a terrorist group by the United Nations and the United States in 2002.

"As the country's front line in battling terrorism and separatism, Xinjiang's anti-terrorism fight is of crucial importance to the stability of the whole country," the senior officer said.

ETIM has been responsible for more than 200 violent incidents, including explosions, assassinations, arson, poisonings and assaults in Xinjiang and other areas between 1990 and 2001, killing 162 people and injuring 440.

The Ministry of Public Security placed ETIM, which is pursuing an independent "Eastern Turkistan", on a list of "East Turkistan" terrorist organizations in 2003.

Mamat Hasan, deputy political commissar of Xinjiang Military Command, said ETIM, which has links with foreign terrorist groups, is "manipulated and controlled by some foreign forces hostile to China".

Early last year, Xinjiang police raided an ETIM terrorist training camp, killing 18 terrorists and arresting 17 others. The camp was located on the Pamir Plateau in Xinjiang, near the borders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan.

A large amount of evidence, including items seized in that raid, showed that the ETIM is connected with international terrorist forces, the Ministry of Public Security later said.

Hou said his troops have boosted their anti-terror capabilities by staging more anti-terror and anti-hijacking drills, and installing more advanced anti-terror equipment.

He warned that any terrorist activities aimed at sabotaging Xinjiang's stability will be dealt "a deadly blow".

Chinese president calls for scientific development, social harmony in Uygur region
8 March 2008
Xinhua News Agency
(c) Copyright 2008 Xinhua News Agency

BEIJING, March 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday called on people in the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to make new achievements in scientific development and social harmony.

While joining the Xinjiang delegation to the parliament in panel discussion, Hu urged Xinjiang officials and people to grasp the opportunities brought forth by the strategy of large-scale development of the western region to enhance stability and prosperity, and to ensure a stable border area by making local people rich.

He urged officials to take new steps to achieve sound and rapid economic development, ensure people's wellbeing, improve their lives, enhance social harmony, improve work related to religious and ethnic affairs, and make more efforts in strengthening unity among ethnic groups.

Senior leaders including Wen Jiabao, Li Keqiang, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also joined panel discussions of the National People's Congress on Saturday.

Wen, while discussing with the Henan delegation, said agriculture is crucial for the fast yet steady economic development and holding down inflation, urging governments at various levels to give top priority to agriculture.

He called on the officials and people in Henan, a central province that garners 50 billion kg grains annually, to contribute more to the country's grain safety and supplies of agricultural products.

Joining discussions of the Hebei Province delegation, Li Keqiang said the northern province, located in Bohai Sea rim, a key area in the Northeast Asia economic zone, should fully exploit its advantages to promote innovation and foster new industries to improve the people's livelihood and boost social and economic development.

He Guoqiang, joining deputies from the northwestern Qinghai Province, said more efforts should be made in infrastructure construction and environment protection, particularly in the source area of China's most famed rivers, including the Yangtze and Yellow River. He also called for unity among different ethnic groups to maintain social stability.

During discussions with the Shanxi delegation, Zhou Yongkang said the coal-rich northern province should underline energy conservation, environment protection and workplace safety in its building of a modern energy base.