Zhangzha – Tielou – Longnan

25th May 2014      11′-31’C       320km
Zhangzha – Tielou – Longnan (Gansu Province)

It was a very cool morning leaving Zhangzha, but the sun was shining and it was time to bid farewell to Sichuan.

I rode down into the valley and stopped briefly at the river border between Sichuan and Gansu provinces, and after watering the bushes by the roadside and taking a photo of the border, I heard the sound of a motorcycle approaching. I looked back to see a bike come around the corner wide, hit a patch of gravel and as his front wheel washed out, he hit the road. Crazily he hung on as the bike left the road and flicked from side to side, narrowly missing a post and finally stopping back on the road. I ran across to see if the rider was ok. He was a bit dazed and confused, although I’m not sure if that was because I had appeared in front of him. I helped him lift the bike and find his sunglasses in the bushes and after a few attempts the bike started and he wobbled off up the road, with me telling him to be careful! I don’t think he understood. No helmet, no gloves. I passed him in the next town where he was repairing the bike, and he was far more animated now, perhaps realising he was still alive and gave me a smile and a thank you.

The landscape in Gansu seemed to change almost immediately after crossing the border, different shades of green now covered the hills and the fields of rice that were ever present throughout SE Asia and southern China, have now given way to fields of wheat. Lunch was wheat noodles, the new staple now and quite a change from the past 3 years of eating rice daily.

On arriving in Longnan, I did the usual walk around town to let the locals gawk at me, 50% smiled, 50% just stare in shock. One day someone will have an accident staring at me, or maybe that is what happened earlier today at the border. So often scooters ride past, the pilot looking back at the funny white guy as he cruises into an intersection oblivious to what is in front of him.

Dinner was a delicious and super affordable meal in the street market, restaurant quality food from a wok on the street, sitting on a stool. This is the China I’d hoped to see.