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Cycling in China

Email from the Road

Part 17

The Chinese and...

It's too bad for the English readers. In the last few months I have written a few stories about the habits of Chinese people. Unfortunately for the English readers I have not translated these emails. It was too hard to translate something funny into something funny too.

But, as it goes, I have to tell you something about what happens here in Guizhou. This area is definitely not on the tourist trail. There's no tourism at all on the road I am on now. There are not even Chinese tourists in this part of Guizhou. Nobody comes here apart of the occasional cyclist.

womenguizhou.jpg (59651 bytes)

Guizhou woman

A cyclist? The Chinese around here look in amazement and sometimes even in fear! A laowai is coming! They DO exist! Laowai, laowai! Come all ye people and look at this example of human species! And yes, he had a nose too! He can use the internet and uses roman characters! But even more strange is the fact that a laowai can even eat and he goes to toilet too. Usually a very brave man comes to the toilet too to check if the dick of the laowai is as big as his nose!

When the laowai cycles out of town a horde of children is running with him. It's unbelievable that a man can sit on a bicycle with all that luggage. It's even stranger when one think of all the luggage the Chinese themselves take on the bikes. Yesterday I passed a man who carried three (yes, THREE) goats on a bike. I am getting used to a bike full of banana, chicken, ducks or even two pigs on the luggage carrier. But three goats, no, this was the first time. So why is it so strange to see a laowai with his luggage?

Today I cycled on a very new and very quiet asphalt road to a next town. In fact I don't even know the name of the town since the town could be here or 30 kilometers further on. There's little reason to assume why exactly people here start building a town. But maybe it's because 30 kilometers further on there's already another town, as forgettable as this one and full of beautiful, friendly and very curious people.

Back in Guizhou also means back in the area of minorities. During my ride today I passed a few little villages. Usually the people looked at me as if I am from Mars or even further from into space.

As I said, it was quiet down the road. Just a few trucks passed me. As they always do, they use the horn as long and as loud as possible. In Holland those horns are forbidden but here it's normal the driver use the horn a kilometer before he wants to pass you. This has a lot to do with the way people use the roads. Literally nobody cares about who is on the road. When you don't use the horn, you have no rights and men on foot do not even look even if they hear you coming! It's one of those things that still amazes me after all the years traveling in Asia.

A few trucks passed me and sometimes one in the truck shouts a Hello or Laowai to me. But the trucks usually give me enough space to cycle.

It's a bit different with the busses. They use the horn more frequent because people have to know they are coming. It's a signal for potential passengers and a nightmare sometimes for the solitary cyclist. But when the cyclist finally comes in a town and wants to check into a hotel, there's always people available to carry his bags while he himself takes the bike on his back.

Usually taking the bike to a room is no problem. The smaller the town, the less hassle it is to bring the bike up. In one case the receptionist told me I should put the bike under the shower because it looked very dirty! It was something I had already in mind but it was funny to hear this from the staff.

So what will the next future days bring? It will be a 130 kilometer long dirt road to a town called Luodian. I have no choice, probably in between there's little possibility to find a guesthouse/hotel but then again, you're in China! Everything is possible! It's a fantastic country.

Dirt Road blues part 2

It was Saturday night and what does a Dutchman on a Saturday night? He goes to the bar. Unfortunately there was no bar in Sanglang. I had had a difficult day from Wangmo to Sanglang. The road had been bad and I had to climb 5 mountains. The road however was the most difficult problem to handle: mostly sand with stones though most of the road was solid which made it not to bad on the bike.

During my ride a few busses and trucks had passed on this very scenic road. It had been an enjoyable ride though I was tired. In Sanglang there was even a basic hotel (fandian as they call it) and for Y10, a bit more then $1 I had a clean room with bathroom facilities downstairs. Even the toilet was reasonable clean! I had to shower with ice-cold water and after the shower I had to warm myself up with some coffee.

Then it was time to eat. I walked on the main road, actually the only road in this little town and had some excellent noodle soup. But as I said, what does a Dutchman do on a Saturday night if there is no bar? He wants to buy some cola and drink it in the room while watching TV. I saw a bottle of Caco cola, no, I am not writing it wrong, it was Caco cola! No Coca Cola. A man playing with his chopsticks told me the cola was very bad. He said his drink was much better and I was forced to sit next to him together with some others and eat out of the wok in front of them. A little bowl was taken and I got some of his special drink, rice wine. It came out of a petrol can so there was enough for these 5 men to get drunk that night, I assumed.

The man told me he had seen me cycling that day. Now I remembered him, he was the bus driver on the last pass that looked in amazement at me when I passed him. From that pass it was easy because it went down from an altitude of over 1000 meters to a bit more then just 500. We had to celebrate this event by drinking more.

The rice wine was definitely homemade and soon I found a little man with an icepack in his hand rambling in my head picking here and there wherever he felt it was useful.

They wanted to make a few pictures but since I was the only one with a camera I had to take the pictures. I also brought my video and that was fun. Meanwhile outside the shop it had been almost a crowd gathering around, looking for a glimpse of the laowai who was filming inside.

The men were eating but there were also a few women, some with children. One of them, a beautiful young girl had a little girl in her arms which was hers. I thought she couldn't be the mother but with 22 years of age it was not so strange. She looked not more then 17 or so, too young to be a mom.

Another girl looked much older then her 24 years of age. She held a 4-year old boy in her arms who was fast asleep though there was enough noise to wake up a dead horse.

After a few hours I felt the little man in my head working harder and harder and I knew it was time to sleep. The bus driver too was not quite sober but he brought me to my hotel. Almost immediately I fell asleep.

In then morning I was one of the earliest people being up. I packed my bags, had some noodle soup and left this unforgettable village. During the first kilometers I saw many minority people from the surrounding area making their way to Sanglang. It was probably market day there. I almost regretted I had not stayed there another day.

The road now went up but it looked more difficult then it was. And after the pass, which came earlier then expected, it went down. After the next town, where it was market day too! the road became sandier and filled with rocks and stones. Although I mostly went down it was very difficult to cycle faster then about 10-15 km/h.

It seemed nobody ever took care of this road, there was little traffic, little to see though the scenery itself was fantastic as far as I could see it through the low hanging clouds.

Especially the last 10 kilometers were very difficult. The road now followed for awhile a river while passing a few villages. Laowai laowai! Then it left the river and went up and down. I have said sometimes when you know you have to ride only 5 kilometers you know you'll reached destination. Today was a day I wasn't quite sure about that.

The road went slightly up and down. Another 500 meters, I stopped, tried to drink from the least dirty bottle. The bike was sand coloured, the bottles too. My bags had no color at all. Another 500 meters and I was looking forward for those beautiful white tiled buildings.

Finally that building came, together with s bad macadam road. My pain vanished almost. A little later I had a hotel room where I could have an excellent shower, shower my bike and found it was still black and put the dirt off the bags too.

The town of Luodian was not much, just a few streets with the usual shops and internet bars. But, I have survived those Dirt Roads. I guess more dirt is coming up!

Dirt road blues part 2 (different version)

Sometimes a town is nothing, sometimes a town is nothing when you leave but sometimes a nothing town becomes a beautiful town. It happens to me in Luodian. I had checked in the only hotel in the town. The staff had given me a room next door to the karaoke machine it seemed. I wanted to leave the next day but I needed a day rest, I had cycled for 5 days in a row and I felt my body said enough is enough.

So I was walking around this town, had seen it in 15 minutes and did my internet stuff. A girl started talking to me about ICQ and soon she took over my machine and installed ICQ there. It was fun to chat with people on the PC she seemed to say.

Every now and then I had the opportunity to do some more mail work and at on time I started to get ICQ messages. It turned out to be her boyfriend who introduced himself as an artist, a painter.

He and his girlfriend invited me to join them the next day to visit their hometown Moyang, 15 kilometers from Luodian. They would like to show me some places in the area which were according to them very spectacular.

The next morning the boy came to my hotel. He had a little bike with him. He wanted me to bring my bike so we could cycle to Dayun, the village 7 kilometers from Moyang. His girlfriend would sit on the back. I doubted he could do that but we went to the bus station. Our bikes went on the roof of the bus, something that always frightens me, my bike is my baby the two later said.

But we came in Moyang without problems. First we had to do some maintenance on his bike. That was easier said then done. A bike repair shop was hard to find and then the repairman had more notice of motors then bicycles. In the end we could leave this little dirt town and cycle to Dayun.

It was clear he could now cycle with his girlfriend on his lugage carrier. So I had to take her. Since my lugage carrier has to be changed I thought I could handle it. It was no problem. We cycled out. I was cycling in front and cycled easy on this dirt road in a beautiful countryside. The mountains on the far side with the clear blue river gave me a magnificent view.

Soon however I realized the guy was no longer there. So we stopped and waited for him. I could take some photo's, including of him struggling.

But we arrived much later then expected in Dayun, a bunch of brick houses along the side. The guy met a friend and before we knew it we sat with this guy on the front porch of his house.

Later on more people came around and we had a lunch with these very friendly people. A few spoke three words English but the food was great. The wok was filled with good meat, pork and chicken with veggies and chilies. Later the rice and fish soup were brought in too. Of course there was rice wine but I could skip this poison, my both guides had to drink which especially the girl had a problem with.

After the lunch we walked further on to a cave. A little 54-year old and very beautiful woman brought us to the other side on a bamboo raft and we climbed on one of the mountain slopes. The views from here were spectacular. Massive cliffs were just above us while there were impressive caves around us. A tiny village on the far side of the valley completed this peaceful view.

We had however to go back to Luodian. My guide friend ad decided he wanted to cycle back to Luodian, all the 15 kilometers. I wasn't too happy with his discussion because I had to take his girlfriend. The reason was simple, there was a three kilometer long partly steep climb on the way to Luodian. But directly after Moyang my saddle screw broke. It was the screw that had been broken a couple of days earlier and now I didn't have my spares with me. There was no way I could take his girlfriend on the back with me. And thus he took her. After one kilometer it was over and we had to walk, mostly all the way to Luodian.

By the time we reached Luodian it was pitch-dark. We repaired the saddle and had an excellent dinner with eggs soup, a pork and a liver dish, some salad and veggies. The two had given me an excellent day.

The next morning I left the town with some pain in my heart. From this uninteresting town it had become a beautiful place because of my two new friends.

Again I had to take the road to Moyang, now on the bike with all the luggage. It was not very difficult but I could hardly see anything since the mist was thick. After the pass it cleared up and it became a sunny and warm day. The next 10 kilometers or so were in the valley but then, then the road swindled up endlessly. It never stopped going up. At the end of the day I counted I had gone up more then 1800 meters and gone down almost 1600. So it was not nothing.

Half way I knew from the map there should be a pass. I wondered what the difference would be from what I experienced already. At the foot of the climb I had a big bowl of noodles and then started climbing. It was what you could call a classic climb. I had seen before in the last ascending three long strokes on the mountain slope. These were the first 4 kilometers, not too steep going up. Magnificent. There was hardly any traffic, the road in excellent condition and although I had cycled already 85 kilometers I had no problems with this pass.

But the nightmare was coming. Just 10 kilometers before Pin, my next destination, the beautiful asphalt road disappeared and what was left was worse then what I had had before Luodian. Of course it went up too!

Still, I arrived in Pingbu and again it seemed there was just one hotel in town. I checked in and I got a room at the 4th floor. Nice with my luggage and my bike. Even nicer was that my room was just under the roof of the hotel. On the roof there was probably a basketball playing field because just after I entered the room some idiots thought it was necessary to start playing, banging on my head too.

I ordered the staff to stop it. Besides, downstairs there was enough space to play basketball. Only after a warning I would leave the hotel immediately they were willing to stop this idiot behavior.

In the morning I knew I had only 36 kilometers to cycle. Not much and it couldn't be too difficult I thought. As it always happens, I had underestimated the situation and now I had to pay. Never, I repeat, NEVER underestimate the mountains. Three big climbs I had to take before I cycled into Dushan. And again it seemed there was only one hotel. This time it was much better. I got a room at the 6th floor but there was an elevator!

Dushan was filled with minorities, massive amounts of minorities. It was one big market and everything seemed to be available, of course without yoghurt! Laowai laowai I heard all the time. Not many laowai make it to this town in south Guizhou. Sometimes someone is brave and shouts a hello, behind your back of course. But others are friendly and bring you where you want to be, walking with you until you have found what you were looking for. People are great. I love this country.

Next: Part 18

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