Bei Dai He, 01/10/2005 at 23:00 Day 16: Xing An – Golden Coast, Ghost City at the Beach Yipiiiiiiieeee – dry all day ! We passed a few village markets and were followed by school kids by bike. Halfway throgh this ride we entered a wine district where we had lunch in yet another family restaurant. Very nice experience where …
Day 15: Zunhua – Xing An: 110 Kilometers in Mud and Rain
Bei Dai He, 01/10/2005 at 23:00 Day 15: Zunhua – Xing An: 110 Kilometers in Mud and Rain Immediately from the beginning of this ride we got into the rain. The dusty roads turned into small mud pools, and after the first major industrial area especially Jakob was covered in mud. At about 30 kilometers we had enough and tried …
Day 14: Huangyaguan – Eastern Qing Tombs – Zunhua: Biking on the Graveyard
Bei Dai He, 01/10/2005 at 23:00 Day 14: Huangyaguan – Eastern Qing Tombs – Zunhua: Biking on the Graveyard A very warm day awaited us on this trip with a spectacular stop-over at the Eastern Qing Tombs. We noticed that fall is starting here in China. Leaves fall to the street and it also quickly gets cold in the evenings. …
Day 13: Huangyaguan: Cleaning Bikes and Walking the Wall
Bei Dai He, 01/10/2005 at 23:00 Day 13: Huangyaguan: Cleaning Bikes and Walking the Wall With the mud layers from the flood crossing between Chengde and Yingshouing still on the bikes, this day was perfect for a heavily needed cleaning job. Both bikes were washed completely, re-oiled and had the tires pumped to close to maximum – ready for a …
Day 12: Yingshouing – Huangyaguan: Back to the Wall
Bei Dai He, 01/10/2005 at 23:00 Day 12: Yingshouing – Huangyaguan: Back to the Wall Luckily we were allowed to leave Yingshouing to go in direction of Huangyaguan for another look at the wall. After escaping the industrial zone we found ourselves again in a postcard-like country-side and the cycling day was finished with a long descent down the misty …
Day 11: Chengde – Yingshouing, Ugliest City so far
Bei Dai He, 01/10/2005 at 23:00 Day 11: Chengde – Yingshouing, Ugliest City so far This morning we saw another extreme example of cultural differences in the restaurant at breakfast. 30-40 Chinese who all chewed their food and drank their drinks or rice pudding – all with their mouths open. The noise was quite incredible! Roads were in general very …
Day 10: Chengde: A Tibet Feeling
Chengde, 24/9/2005 at 17:00 Today we’ve been biking around Chengde looking at the temples, many of them being buddhist temples. Sometimes it has felt more like being in Tibet than in China. Other than that the city of Chengde is ugly and not very cozy. At the back of out hotel we just spotted yet another extremely poor neighbourhood. We …
A Week Away From Home…
Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Before we start with this long story (we’ve been without internet for couple of days) the most important thing to mention is this: We’ve been on the Wall and it is TRULY GREAT! See below what happened from day 6 to day 9.
Day 9: Simatai – Chengde: Bad Day on the bikes
Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Day 9: Simatai – Chengde: Bad Day on the bikes We got up at 5:15 am to get away early and be before darkness in Chengde. We started and found out that Jolanda had a flat tire. People get up early in China because already at this time of the day we had a lot of …
Day 8: Simatai Eastern Great Wall on foot
Chengde, 23/9/2005 at 18:30 Day 8: Simatai Eastern Great Wall on foot Visiting the people of Jinshanling had been a bad experience so we decided to stay another day in Simatai. This time we walked the Eastern part of the Wall at Simatai. This part is not for the faint-hearted. This rough section of the Wall is largely unrestored and …