Dec. 19-26 Beijing...good bye China

Bicyclette ready for the boxing match with other luggage items.
Our new friends had found us a ride to the airport for only $15 total. Fantastic!
When it was time to check in we got nervous. How much will they charge us for the bikes? $400 each as the airline website says?
We got held up for quite a while because the lady at the check in desk would not give James a boarding pass since he had no USA visa. As a UK cititzen he only requires an online ESTA confirmation, which he had received, but the lady insisted that he needed additional paper work. We could not believe it. We are going to miss our plane if she does not sort this out. After several phone calls to one of her superiors it turned out that she had not understood the English note "passenger cleared for boarding" on her screen. Just a beginners language issue but it sure put us on hot coals.
Only one last hurdle left, the bike check in. We were directed to the oversized luggage desk where they accepted our bike boxes with out any hassle and before we knew it they had disappeared on the conveyor belt. The attendant nodded and smiled and when he saw our confused looks he pointed to the passenger security check. You mean we do not have to pay for the bikes? We could not believe it. WOW!
Aside from the delay at the check in desk, absolutely everything had run so smoothely since our first day in Beijing. We were so happy the other host had cancelled on us because the place we ended up at could not have been better.
THANK YOU LORD FOR INTERFERING IN OUR PLANS BECAUSE YOU HAD SOMETHING BETTER IN MIND!

Dec. 19-26 Beijing 5

On one of the days we made the two hour bus/ metro trip into town to see "the sights".

Forbidden palace
Beihai Park
(You see these stone lions everywhere in China. At first I thought they were weird but after a while their frozen snarl started to look comical and I noticed a close reseblance to my playful can Muffin)
Walked past Tianamen square (no photo) but did not enter it because a security check was required and the line ups were too long for our patience.

Dec. 19-26 Beijing 4

Morning view out of our window on a clean day with a strong north wind to blow the pollution and on a calm day, engulfed in the smog bubble.

Dec. 19-26 Beijing 3

We had a great time hanging out with Chi. (Shao Ming and Johny only came by a few times)

We ate hot pot twice, watched movies, went for a short run in the polluted air and visited some art galleries in the nearby arts district.

Chi had cycled across the USA and spent two years in Mexico so he had lots of cool stories and experiences we could relate to.

Dec. 19-26 Beijing 2

Just over half year ago, Shao Ming (guy waving) and his friend Johny had started Boskey Cycle, a touring bicycle company, and Chi was just helping them out at the moment. We were able to assist in reorganizing inventory to make things run more smoothely. It was great fun. Without us even asking, Shao Ming said that we are welcome to stay here for the entire week until our flight and that we can use two of their bike boxes and as much packaging material as we need. He also offered to book a cheap van for us to get to the airport. WHAT A GODSEND! WE WERE SO AMAZED HOW THE LORD HAD ARRANGED EVERYTHING. THE GUYS HERE ARE SO COOL!

Dec. 19- 26 Beijing 1

On the morning of the 19th the cemetery staff let us use their computer to check our email. Since our flight to Los Angeles was not until the morning if the 27th we had been a bit  worried about finding accommodation for that length of time but everything seemed to be sorted now. The first three nights we could stay with some other cyclists and then we would relocate to another guy who we had been in contact with for almost two months. His apartment was located close to the airport which was very important for us.
However, this morning we got an email from him saying that he will no longer be able to host us because some of his friends were coming over. What nerve to cancel on us on such short notice! Especially after we had been in regular contact with him for so long.

Shoot, what to do? We did not know. We were already worried about where to find bike boxes to pack the bikes, how to get us and the bikes to the airport without paying an arm and a leg and whether it was true that China Eastern charges $400 dollars to fly a bicycle (=total$800). Now not having a place to stay for our last few days in China was not exactly a morale booster.

At least we had a place for the first three days in Beijing and we hoped that something could be arranged within that time.

Our hosts were on the far eastern outskirts of town which meant riding all the way through the city to get to their place. Although cities are always a dread for cyclists, I would say Beijing was much better than expected. The roads are very wide and most roads have an entire lane designated for smaller vehicles, scooters, bicycles etc. What is very annoying though is that traffic in these lanes runs in both directions and the Chinese very very rarely check for traffic when pulling out into the road. It  seems as though it is your responsibility to make sure you do not get hit in the side or run into someone who pulls into the road without looking. I wonder if they are aware of their truly suicidal driving style.
It is a miracle we have not had a single accident. THANK GOD!

After a long day Chi welcomed us into the apartment which currently serves as warehouse and shipping center for the new Chinese bicycle company Boskey. Cool, we get to live in a bike shop for a few days!
Chi cooked us two juicy steaks each for dinner! So good! Thank you. We even got to try a century egg, which was surprisingly delicious. Kind of like cheese.

Dec. 18- Great Wall

Location: Shuiguan near Badaling, China

Today's plan was to visit the Great Wall. The town of Badaling is famous for its section of the Great Wall, which explains why it was so busy and overly touristy when we got there. Put off by the masses walking up and down the wall we continued on, hoping for a quieter Great Wall experience. Shuiguan, a few kilometers east from Badaling, is what we were looking for. Very few tourists and a fantastic view of the wall as it snakes its way up and down the steepest hillsides. What a feat to build something like this. Hiking on the wall was a great workout since many sections are insanely steep with really high steps. A very memorable experience.

In the evening we pulled into the parking lot of some kind of temple-like complex next to the highway and asked at the sales office if we could camp somewhere on their large grounds. The guys were super cool about it and offered us the VIP meeting room for the night. Great! We were curious what this place is but had no way to ask. The only hints were the English "sales office" sign and the large, temple- like building outback. After looking through some of the pamphlets we realized this was a cemetery for the wealthy. I was quite excited because tonight was going to be our last night in the tent in China and I would no longer have to transport our six tent sticks. I had thought of various ceremonious ways of discarding our tent sticks before returning to North America but depositing them in the bushes at the foot of the large stone arch at the east end of this fancy cemetary complex trumped all the other options I had come up with. I was so grateful for this. As annoying as it has been transporting these six sticks all the way from Uzbekistan, they were very dear to us because without them we would have been homeless. May they rest in peace until someone finds them and perhaps puts them to further use.

Dec 17- (18 morning) Tea party

Location: near Badaling, China

The wind was howling today, luckily in the direction we were going so it was great for riding but when it got to the time of finding a camping spot things became a bit difficult. There were several hidden spots in orchards etc. where we could have camped out of sight but they were still exposed to the wind. Temperatures always dropped to around -10 C at night and with this wind it would have been REALLY cold so we needed to find a sheltered place. We finally decided to start asking at houses if we could camp in their courtyard but people continuously turned us down either because they thought we would be too cold to camp or they seemed scared of us.

We turned off the highway onto a smaller road and ended up in a small town. The first house which was the size a small apartment building had a large, walled yard in front so we decided to ask if they would let us camp in there. We were invited inside for some tea and then the ladies inquired what we wanted to eat. Well, noodles are always good! Thank you!
The interior of the house was beautifully decorated and the furnishing very modern. Then we were called into the kitchen and wow did they prepare a wonderful dinner for us! We only managed to eat about half of it but they kept asking if they should make more. So nice, wow! Hot soup and noodles, eggs, spicy tofu, some vegetable dish and ham. Amazing! Strawberries and more tea for dessert. 

When the husband came home he welcomed us warmly and seemed quite excited to have foreign visitors. Again, it was remarkable that just a few houses down the road people were scared of us and here they are excited that we showed up on their door step.
One of the husband's friends came over too and we spent the evening on the second floor in the tea and billiards lounge drinking tea and conversing via google translate. It was so much fun. In the picture below you can see the elaborate tea set our host had. The tea we drank was called Pu'er (say "poo-ar") tea which came in small foil wrapped balls that we all helped to unwrap. It was brewed in the little tea pot in the picture and the first shot was poured over the little Buddha statue (in the bottom left of the image). The tea cups were tiny bowls that fit into my palm perfectly and needed constant refilling because they did not contain more than two small sips, so that kept us busy for a few hours. I have never drank tea in such a ceremonious fashion, it was lovely!

Tiny tea bowl

Next morning, the tea party continued after a very lavish breakfast. This time our host's wife and the baby joined us too. Our host told us about his dream to travel in the USA and how much he loves travel in general. Thank you Google translate for making this conversation possible.

Before we left we were loaded up with about 10 pounds of fruit which was the best gift ever! We would never buy that much fruit because it is so heavy to carry but when it is given you cannot really say no and you have to eat it fast to drop the weight. Yummy!

THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR THE WONDERFUL TIME AT YOUR BEAUTIFUL HOUSE. WE HOPE YOUR TRAVEL DREAMS WILL COME TRUE!!!

.

Dec 16-17 Beautiful scenery

Not very eventful riding days but there were some lovely landscapes:

Piles of dried corn stalks

Southern tip of the Guanting Reservoir along highway X457

.

Dec 15- continued

The Chinese sure know how to move stuff! The lack of load size restrictions makes things a lot easier. Whatever you can fit on the back of your little truck is fair game. Really amusing sometimes! I wish I could have snapped this image a few seconds earlier, it was great. 

In the evening we tried to find a camping spot in a corn field (they leave the corn stalks in place to dry so it would have been a perfect hiding spot) but it smelled strange so we got worried about what chemicals may be lurking in the dust around us. So we continued on and later stopped beside the road across from a little village. As we weighed our options a girl and her father, who were out for an evening walk, approached us. She spoke good English and asked if there is any way she could help. We told her we were looking for a camping spot and she and her father offered to go ask around in the village for us. They came back with the mayor who invited us to stay in the small building next to a worship site. 

As usual, everybody thought we were freezing cold because they were not used to our thin, thermal clothing. We tried to explain that we were just fine but the mayor still took off his jacket and put it over my shoulders. Very sweet indeed. 

The girl, Sophia, and her father told us they were going home to prepare a Chinese meal for us and then bring it back. Wow, thanks! A little while later, a few men showed up, one of them spoke a bit of English and said they were police officers. (O no). They kept going on about how it would be too cold for us here, that we would not be comfortable and that we should go to a hotel. Luckily we had Sophia's phone number so she came and helped with translating. We insisted that we would be perfectly comfortable and since it was already dark we did not want to locate to a hotel, which was most likely in the next town over because this little village was too small to have a hotel. We also said that we do not want to go to a hotel because we do not want to pay so the officers said they would pay for us. We still refused so finally they left. They had been very nice but we still have a bad feeling. In China, foreigners need to be registered if they stay somewhere so we were pretty sure the officers would come back again and perhaps force us to go stay at a hotel where we could be registered. 

In the meantime, Sophia and her father returned with a big pot of noodles, a vegetable stew, two pancake like things and a back full of snacks and oranges. It was delicious and they seemed to be delighted to do this for us. What an honor! They were such kind people and her father had the most caring eyes! We enjoyed every bite in the light of the candle which the kind mayor had brought over earlier. 

We were about to go to sleep when we heard foot steps outside and the police officers arrived again. The guy who spoke a bit of English really seemed to mean well and again urged us to go to the hotel. We were able to explain how inconvenient it would be for us to relocate to the hotel at this time of the night, in the dark. The final solution for the problem was that James went to the police station with the guys where they photocopied our passports and I guess registered us. All went well and we had a good nights sleep. 

Next morning, the mayor waved us over into his office to sit by the wood stove for a while. We wanted to return his jacket to him but he insisted that James keep it because it fit him perfectly. 

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR HELP, SOPHIA, SOPHIA'S FATHER, MAYOR AND THE KIND POLICE OFFICERS!

.

Dec. 15- over the little pass

Location: Towards Yuxian, China


Our fun, kind hosts and the sewing ladies waved us off in the morning as we headed off up the mountains.

These noisy three wheeled motorbikes are a typical sight on Chinese roads. They transport anything from entire families, animals, produce and other heaps of stuff.

Terraced fields line the hillsides

Looking back the way we came. Aside from the occasional coal truck the road was peaceful and quiet. Leaving some of the smog behind in the valley bottom felt good too!

Beautiful view

When coming down the other side of this little mountain range we noticed steam coming out of holes in several places. Interesting!

A very poor looking village near the top of the pass. 

Acres and acres of terraced fields. In the summer they must be beautiful with all the crops growing on them in the various shades of green.

Nice little lunch spot next to a big bridge. 

.

Dec. 14- the Sewing shop

Cutting the fur into thin strips; sewing the strips end to end to make long strands; weaving the strands into a coat shaped mesh. Done!