30 Sep - Shaowu

Back on the bikes after a nice day of rest. A relatively short day today - 85 km - we were at destination by noon. Most of the ride was on a two-lane country road with good scenery.

Ursula and Fred - the hostel where we spent the rest day
is behind them on the other side of the bridge.

 



Then there was the turn at the teapot...

 

 

Doesn't matter how big the road is, drying the rice has priority...

 

...and why are we breathing smoke all the time?

Much of the road was elegantly tree-lined...

Tobacco is grown in the area...

...as well as rice and tea...

The last few kilometres was entering town with all the normal hubbub until crossing a bridge to the main part of town, our hotel being the tallest building on the left of this photo... very nice hotel, on the river.

The river itself is extremely low, apparently there hasn't been much rain in the last two months. We walked along the riverbank to a nearby park where we found people casually dancing or playing instruments or singing - a nice atmosphere... and interesting garbage receptacles...

And a flashback to a week ago on the Bund for the departure, the group photo with Pudong behind us.

 



Wuyishan - 28-29 Sep

Saturday, 28 September - seventh day in a row on the bike - 130 and a bit today making a total of 825 km since Shanghai. Trust me, we're ready for a day off. Overcast to start, but then it started to rain, or maybe 'heavy drizzle' is a better term. Out of town, then at the 46 km point onto small roads.

This is split bamboo being dried beside the road

It was a mix of roads, much of it new concrete, some of which is already broken suggesting that it isn't all great quality.

Then we had lunch, back onto a good highway, but the traffic uses the autoroute over bridges and through tunnels rather than climb through a pass into Wuyishan, so traffic wasn't an issue. From 73 km to 87 km, we climbed from about 150 m to 750 km. We were in cloud at the top of the climb, but the reward was the other side... drier, warmer, beautiful valleys.

As nice as the countryside is, it seems that we're frequently
inhaling smoke from open fires in the fields or often garbage that
is burnt on the roadside.

Wuyishan is a popular holiday destination for the Chinese. We're beginning to feel that we're getting away from big cities and urban sprawl.


One of the hostels

 Sunday 29 September - Rest day?... well... call it a non-riding day.

First priority was washing clothes... that was a mixed success because the area ran out of water before they were rinsed. Used the leftover water in my Camelback to rinse as best we could... then a lazy afternoon, we both got a massage in town, not as good as Natalia's, but still great.

Tomorrow it's back on the bikes.

Quzhou and Shang Rao - Sep 26-27

Thursday September 26 - Guodong to Quzhou - out of the remote rural area back into the urban environment. Overcast and cool again - that's a good thing.

 

farming the hard way

stringing net across river

navigating city streets

they call it the Bamboo Road
here is some bamboo ready to go down the road

This is indeed a four-lane divided highway...

...and this is indeed rice being dried - traffic only needs one lane.

Thursday September 26 - Quzhou to Shang Rao - mainly urban ending in the fanciest hotel yet on the banks of a big river that goes through town. Large pedestrian zone/shopping area just around the corner... three Apple stores.

This is the sort of thing you find going what we'd consider
as the wrong way in bike lanes - normal thing here

We cross several rivers every day - neatly laid out farm plots here... 



... and bridges all over the place including three being constructed
going over each other in the background here

The highlight of the day was our afternoon 'coke' stop...
The family spoke as much English as we speak Chinese but they wanted to know what we were doing. Soon they found someone who spoke a few words of English, then we had the map out and then they went and got someone else who spoke more English. She was a school teacher. She wants to host us in her house next time we're there, about 20 km outside Shang Rao. Overall, the people here have been very pleasant and have given us a good welcome.

Jiwu and Guodong - 24-25 Sep

24 Sep to Jiwu - hotter than yesterday - more sun than previous days but everybody suffered from the heat and humidity.

flag-lined street - flags were being put up in preparation for
National Day on 1 October

Shade was an absolute must for stops for a drink

in towns, always dodging the 'competition' for the bike path

at last, out of the city with some pleasant scenery

We saw a few ponds that were absolutely full of ducks...
I suppose we can guess where Peking Duck comes from

Everywhere we go, there is constructions...
apartment buildings, factories, roads, bridges...

Note the scaffolding... bamboo... we are feeling more like we're on a bamboo road.

As well as lots of construction, a number of older areas around
towns are being destroyed to make room for new apartment buildings

no day is complete without dinner...
ours have been very good although we don't always ask
what we're eating

25 Sep - Overcast and mercifully cool as we get more off the beaten path into a national forest and up a narrow winding road to Guodong.

neatly laid-out farming en route...

Time to play when this is a lunch stop...



and some real live bamboo in the forest

Guodong main street - barely room for the busses to get in

 

ever wonder where those Santa bags come from in Dollar stores?

There's an industry up here at the end of the road

26 Sep - still cool, some neat back roads, even a muddy farm track before rejoining busy roads and on to Quzhou tonight.

27 Sep - still overcast and relatively cool - busy roads today to Shang Rao - a sizeable city - we're in nice hotel on the river with a bustling pedestrian zone shopping street just around the corner.

Photos to follow - tomorrow will be a tougher day, the seventh riding day in a row - 130 km with a 700 metre climb after lunch - but then a rest day.

Hanzhou - September 23

The second day of riding - hot and humid - temperature in the mid-30s (C), humidity 90%, sunshine all day, but the sky is barely blue with the haze and pollution. Ursula's legs are not tanned, they are dirty from the day's ride. A quick rinse of just one shirt leaves the basin water rather brown.

 

We were mainly on busy roads, but Hangzhou is a lovely city with parks and lakes and beautiful separate bike lanes.

Not just bike lanes in China, but at intersections, these nice tents keep the sun or rain off while you wait for the light to change. Try proposing that to our local city fathers.

As nice as these bike lanes appear, they are chaos because they are occupied not just by bikes, but by mopeds and by the motorized tricycles that are used to transport just about anything from trees and farm equipment, garbage, even taxis with room for about four people in the back. Cars also use them to access places at the side of the road. And it doesn't matter which way you go in them. Pass on the right, pass on the left. Enter the bike lane without looking - it is not a place to relax and enjoy the scenery.

The coincidence of the day was that Jacques and Myriam had booked some travel in China this week, not knowing where we'd be, not even the town. Turns out that tonight they were in the hotel next door to ours. They got bikes from their hotel for a trip around the lake. We couldn't convince them to stay with us to Singapore, though. They joined the group for dinner but for some reason didn't get up at 0515 to join us for breakfast.

 

The Ride has Begun

Sunday 22 September...

Yes, 0500 we were at breakfast, 0615 on the Bund, and by 0630, we were underway negotiating Shanghai's busy traffic. The Guillon family came out to see us off.


On the Bund, Pudong behind us, ready to start

Myriam, Olivier and Emilie with us near the start

Sunday was a working day to compensate for holidays last week, so a busy day on the roads. As chaotic as Chinese driving can seem to be, it's more a matter of the norms here being different. And the bike lanes were physically separate for almost the entire route, so it is mainly at intersections where you mix with cars and trucks, and we had no problems.

Most of the roads are lined with trees.

Once out of Shanghai, most of the ride was on this kind of separated roadway. It was shared with scooters, most of which are electric, and often not as fast as even us. But you need to keep your eyes open as this kind of traffic goes either direction in the lanes on either side of the road, they might drive on the left, they tend to merge in without looking. But it all works. No real problems as long as you play their game their way.
 The organization of the departure was excellent. Hotel checkout for 50 people at the same time went smoothly. Nobody got lost that we know of. The lunch bus was exactly where they said it would be, and lunch was good. Today was 107 km and we already at the hotel and checked in at ten past two. And it sure was nice to get a shower after 80 degree heat and high humidity.


lunch

How to string new wires across a highway.

Between the separated bicycle paths and the amount of water, we wondered if we were in the Netherlands. We crossed half-a-dozen major waterways that would take barges like this...

and many smaller ones, on the banks of which were industries, old towns and, here, newer residential complexes.

They are also obviously the source of food, but we don't know exactly what it is.

So a good start today... early to bed tonight, breakfast at 0600, and on the road
probably around 0700 tomorrow... good night.