Our first stop was definitely Shapotou, a resort three hours away from Yinchuan by bus. There, we would be able to see the upper reaches of the Yellow River as it crossed the southeastern border of the Tengger Desert, the fourth-largest desert in China.

It would also be worth our while to stay in Shapotou overnight to see the tremendous sunset and sunrise over the desert.

As the bus rolled out of Yinchuan, we soon became fascinated by the scenery. A vast plain of loess opened before us, stretching on all sides as far as the eye could see. Decorated by thin clumps of weeds, golden plots of sunflowers and small groups of donkeys or sheep, the ground in a color of light yellow showed us the force of nature with wide, yawning cracks and dry riverbeds.

No skyline, no vehicles, no people, the plain was completely empty and it seemed we had reached another planet.

Three hours later, we arrived at the resort. Stepping through the gate, we found ourselves on the top of a gigantic dune overlooking the Yellow River surrounded by yellow sand and a belt of reclaimed greenery.

The dune was about several hundred meters high, but it took only one minute to reach the bottom coasting down the steepest slope sitting on a skate board. Smooth, efficient and safe, even my mother tried it and found it really cool.

Our next adventure was to drift down the Yellow River on a sheep-skin raft, a form of river transport which has been used in this region since ancient times. I was a bit scared when I saw the inflated sheep skins bound under the bamboo raft. It seemed too risky to get on a boat kept afloat by inflated animal corpses.

But imagining how our ancestors drifted on these wobbling rafts along the Yellow River thousand of years ago to seek their unknowable fortunes, we just couldn't refuse.

Floating on the muddy water of the mother river, I felt as if I were a figure in a legend. Carrying much silt, the Yellow River flows quite slowly here. And actually the rafts were very safe. Our oarsman told us that a single raft with 14 sheep skins can carry one ton of cargo. How clever were the ancient people!

Back to the bank, we went further into the northern part of the resort. It was a bit strange and we found ourselves in another world in just 10 minutes. The Yellow River had disappeared without trace and all we could see now was sand, sand and more sand. The sand blown in the air made visibility rather low.

The color was not the yellow I had seen in movies. It was more white or silver, especially in the sun light.

The silver dunes looked like a huge silk carpet, but walking on them was not comfortable at all. Your legs become heavier and the temperature of the sand is terribly high in the day. You can feel the heat on your feet even when wearing thick shoes.

But you do have other choices to move in the desert apart from walking. Camels, known as the "ships of the desert," solve all transport problems. They not only make good vehicles but are also nice friends for their passengers.

I was really enchanted by a group of camels resting peacefully in a circle. Some of them were especially beautiful with their fluffy pale hair and rounded humps. They gazed around softly with their beautiful eyes, chewing lazily like elegant young ladies.

We decided immediately to take a 30-minute round-trip ride into the desert. Since the camels sat calmly on their folded legs, it was quite easy to get onto the saddle between two humps. We were a bit frightened when the camel tilted its back to stand up but we soon found there was no danger of being bucked off. The animal is mild in nature and well trained for riding.

As our guide walked in advance jingling a bell, we set out - a line of camels and travelers riding into the deep desert. The scene we presented gave the illusion that we were a real caravan traveling along the ancient Silk Road.

Although the maximum speed of a camel can reach 60 kilometers per hour, it normally moves at a relaxing pace that might be a good antidote to the impatience of city people.

And I told myself that next time I would take a whole week off and I would set out to ride right across the Tengger Desert.