Yunqing - Fanshan

Yunqing

A town of amazing, dream-like murals

A quick fruit shop for some much needed vitamins before we hit the city

An easy ride through and past some cute little villages brought us to Yunqing. First stop, bike shop for two new tubes for Calvin as the puncture repairs weren’t holding. Then a good solid days rest to try and shake off our colds. Neither of us has ever had so much snot coming from our noses, or sneezed so many times in a day before.

Yunqing

Our first attempt at a sleep in didn’t go so well with the 7:30am blaring of children’s music to welcome the kids next door to kindergarten. Our ears hurt, so I’m not quite sure what good it was doing the kids. After 40 minutes and three repeats it was time to call it quits on sleeping in. A second trip was made to the bike shop, this time for replacement tyre leavers as the old trusted pair snapped while changing the tube.

Fanshan

It is hard to predict what a days riding in China will bring. The route from Yunqing to Fanshan was planned for what we hoped would be a picturesque ride along a lake. Instead, we were faced with a very distant lake hidden behind brand spanking new tourist villages. Tourist mecca might be a better description. These massive villages were in many different styles – German wooden architecture, British countryside, etc – and were adorned with the first garden beds we had seen in China, all full of planted fake flowers. At the end of the lake we were saved some hill climbing and instead made our way perilously through 3.1km of tunnel flanked by roaring trucks and cars.

Spring time in Disneyland? Nope, all fake!

The day finished in a very posh hotel, with a room decorated with a golden chandelier – all for $20NZD. Plus, we gained the attention of a very intrigued 50 year old man who just wanted to use his English with us at dinner. He used everything in his vocabulary, including ‘arm’, ‘window’ and ‘wife’ (pronounced ‘weef’). A pleasant evening.

Cycle touring with a cold