Hutong bike ride

On October 1st, China's National Day, we biked around our neighborhood. I apologize for the "Blair Witch Project" kind of camera work, but with one hand on the iPhone, one hand on the steering wheel, one eye on Thomas, and one eye on the traffic, I couldn't do any better. The clip is just under a minute, but should give you a bit of a sense of the street life here. Now, if only I could also send you the street smells! :-)




In het Nederlands: Een rondje om de kerk. Nou ja, er is geen kerk hier, maar afgelopen maandag, op China's nationale feestdag, fietsten we een klein rondje door de buurt. Nu ik het clipje weer zie denk ik eigenlijk dat de geluiden nog meer zeggen dan de beelden!

Weekend bike ride (or: Enjoying the weather while it lasts)

Just two weekends ago (the same weekend as our excellent camping trip), Paul and I also made a fun little bike ride.

 

China of course used to be a bicycle kingdom, but over the last 20 years its bikes have slowly been replaced with cars and other motorized vehicles. People's driving styles, however, have not kept pace with this change and often it seems people are driving as if they are still on a bicycle. (For example -- and this might be hard to image -- we actually often see people stop along a highway and back up to go back to an exit they missed.)

 

So two Saturdays ago, Paul and I felt a great need to get out and bike in this crazy traffic. Besides, it was gorgious weather and in Beijing you have to enjoy that. Before you know it, winter will set in and I'll be dressed like an eskimo again.

 

We biked about 34.64 km in 1:53 minutes; at an average speed of 18.29 km/hour -- this information  brought to you by the Endomundo iPhone app, which nicely tracked our route. (According to the same Endomundo, we also burned 1313 kcal, a fact I immediately celebrated by eating a giant chocolate muffin.)

 

For the most part we biked along a canalized river. This is Beijing too, you know!

 

Paul enjoying the view.

 

Another view from the same bridge.

 

It's kind of hard to see, but the dots in the river are fishermen (and one woman), catching fish with a big trail net. If you like heavy metals, it should be a great dinner.

 

Just like The Netherlands: a nice bicycle trail. The only difference with Holland was that this trail all of the sudden was interrupted by a big fence, and we had to bike all the way back and take the regular road again.

 

In the middle of the trip, we came past this construction site.

 

I made Paul go in and take a picture of this monster (the "tree root," not the man). It's not actually an old tree, but a gigantic, enormous, humongous tree-like construction made of stone. It wasn't...eh...exactly...eh...my taste.

 

Back out on the street again. It looks like I am dressed for the Gobi desert! Well, I was going for a run, but then (literally) switched gears. The Chinese don't mind at all when you dress in a top and shorts, but it is a bit unusual as Chinese women usually cover up and protect themselves from the sun. (You might have read about China's facekini's earlier this year?)

 

The Great Wall. (just kidding--I don't want you to cancel your upcoming trip!)

 

The bike ride continues.

 

Oncoming traffic. By the way, look at the width of this road, compared to the amount of traffic. Sometimes China's infrastructure is just a little bit grandiose, as if it is planned for giants, not humans.

 

Again closer to home, we cycle through this village area. (Note the pipe on the right.) 

 

More village view. It's Saturday morning and people are just millling about.

 

And with this last look around the neighborhood, we returned to our own house (not pictured in this photo). It was a fun little trip and if the weather holds, we should do it again soon.

In het Nederlands: Vandaag gewoon wat fotootjes van een fietstocht dichtbij huis. Het is niet altijd even makkelijk een leuke fietsroute te vinden, maar interessante dingen zijn er altijd wel te zien!
 

To the End of the World...and Back Again (Guilin, Ping An, Yangshuo)

Like the Hobbits in their famous story, I feel like I've travelled to the end of the world and back again.

The end of the world would be the open fields with the yaks in the middle of Gansu, where we spent a night together with a nomadic family in their yak-hair tent. Before getting to Gansu, however, we spent about a week in the rice fields and rice terraces near Guilin. Here are some pictures of this amazing spot on earth.

In the bus from Guilin airport to Ping An. We're traveling with our friends from The Netherlands.

In Ping An, one of two touristy villages in the Longji rice terrace area just north of Guilin, you can't drive all the way to your hotel. Some nice ladies come to check out our luggage and offer to carry it uphill. We're a little bit embarrased that "grandma" is carrying our luggage, but have to admit it is pretty convenient...

Our luggage goes uphill.

View from our hotel--the Longji One Hotel--in the middle of the rice terraces.

We walk up, along, and in between the rice terraces. On the way up the boys take a rest.

The rice terraces and me.

More rice terraces.

Rice grows with its feet in the water.

In addition to rice, we also spotted lots of bamboo. The bamboo is used to build irrigation pipes in the rice fields.

After a night and a day in Longji, we head a few kilometers south to Yangshuo, home of the Yu Long and Li Rivers.

Bicyling around Yangshuo.

Thomas' red "Lightning McQueen" trailer-bike.

Breakfast at the Outside Inn, our guesthouse in Yangshuo.

Paul discovers a new brand of coffee: Yunnan Coffee.

Thomas and the limestone hills.

With our bikes on the bamboo raft to cross the river.

Swimming with the best view ever.

Lots of things to do at the guesthouse.

Art on the wall (a Beijing Opera face) in Xing Ping near Yangshuo.

Street view in old Xing Ping.

"Can you hear me now?"

We go bamboo rafting. Following ancient customs (but paying modern tourist prices) we use a bamboo raft to navigate the Yu Long River. During the trip we go down nine small waterfalls.

Two Guilin fishermen.

Absolute peace.

Note the Heineken t-shirt :-)

Sunset over the Yu Long River. Tomorrow we leave for Xi'An.

(...to be continued...)

In het nederlands: We zijn net terug van vakantie: een rondje China. Samen met vrienden uit Nederland reisden we naar het gebied bij Guilin dat bekend staat om de vele rijstterrassen en het karst gebergte. Over dit gebied gaat de blog post van vandaag. Na Guilin gaan we nog naar de stad Xi'An en naar de staat Gansu. Het was een prachtige reis, maar het is ook weer lekker om thuis te zijn. :-)

Bohai or Bust

Last Sunday, we went up to Bohai Township near the Great Wall to participate in the 2011 Bohai or Bust bike event. It's a fundraiser for the elderly of Bohai, and also a great opportunity to ride around the beautiful area: lots of hills--only two were too much for me and I had to walk up, lots of little villages, trout farms, chestnut orchards, and far-way views of the Wall.

I thought the short movie about the event was pretty funny (watch it here). (It helps if you've seen a couple scenes from Chinese movies...)

Here's the cast of characters (and some views):

Blue boy.

Green boy.

Papa bear.

Mountain mama.

Biking in Bohai.

Some guys sitting around.

Nice roads for biking. The traffic was not bad at all, just a few cars now and then. We also left early for our ride, so we barely saw the other bikers. (Plus, we were on the routes for 10 and 25 kilometers, not 60 or 90 kilometers as some were doing!)

Little village playground where we had a rest. Simon stretched his legs on the swings. Can you spot the Great Wall in the distance on top of the hill?

View back to the village from the playground.

Snapshot of a village street. I have to admit I saw far more cool things on this bike ride--like intereseting murals, statues, cute village streets, running street dogs, and people hanging around drinking tea on a Sunday morning--but I could't stop each time to take a picture. Sorry!

Another stopping point. The boys climbed up this tower. Toward the top it didn't seem so solid anymore, and everyone headed down quickly.

At the foot of tower was also this little girl with both her parents and grandma. I included this picture not only for the view, but also because it is actually so typical to see the parents--like this father in the picture--doting over their son or daughter. Without a sibling (thanks to the one-child policy) there's lots of attention to be had.

Another view from the base of the tower.

The boys' bike team. Both were riding cool tag-alongs attached to our mountain bikes (all rented). At this point, we've probably done about 35 kilometer and are heading back to the starting point.

Back at the Roadhouse (part of The Schoolhouse complex of eco-tourism venues near the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall).

Back at the Roadhouse we eat a big bowl of well-deserved and tasty dumplings.

We're not the only ones getting food.

Inside a music band played, the kids roamed around, and several officials spoke about the fundraiser.

It definitely was a great event. Who knows, we might be doing it again in 2012!

In het Nederlands: Afgelopen zondag zijn we wezen fietsen in het bergachtige gebied vlakbij het Mutianyu gedeelte van de Chinese Muur. Ontzettend mooi, al weten m'n benen nog precies hoeveel heuvels we opgeklommen en afgezoefd zijn. De jongens vond het ook leuk, maar moesten wel af en toe even de benen strekken bij een speeltuintje of een klimtoren. Het fietstocht was een inzamelingsaktie voor de senioren van de gemeente Bohai.