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Nice bit of nature
Suichang, Zhejiang Province
Longquan - Suichang, Zhejiang Pronvince
Dist: 105.20 km
Odo: 4628 km
Max: 48.5 km/h
Time: 8hrs 32mins
Avg: 12.3km/h
Breakfast. Baozi. It looks like he is going to the toilet but that's the technique you see.
If you ask someone. "Can you go to Suichang this way ?", they will probably say "yes". Either to get rid of you because they don't know how to deal with a foreigner, so say anything to make you go away, or the other reason I can think of is that all roads connect to virtually all other roads in the world, so technically they are correct to say "Yes you can". But its not much help when your trying to get out of a city.
Well anyway. Once I found it, it was to be a nice slog uphill most of the day, surrounded by nature and floating thoughts.
It was pretty hot but there was quite a lot of tree cover so I often just stopped and observed all the things going on around me.
This hover fly was superb. Normally you can't get close to them but this one loved having its picture taken.
Feeling hungry I stopped off at a noodle shop on a hill and Ditch got to experience his first Chicken.
After the climb we whizzed down into a lush valley and then worked our way slowly through the hills. This area is really beautiful. The one thing that was out of place though was a freshly laid Tarmac road. It was jet black and looked like a load of polluting of Tar had been poured everywhere. Which it had.
Give it a few months and it will gradually start to blend in.
The houses in this area were old style Adobe cottages with gardens carefully looked after and they were blooming with flowers. Most houses in China I see are a total mess. Its not about the poverty, or the house itself, its just that no one really seems to care much about anything outside of their doorstep. Rubbish is literally thrown out of the door and litters the roadside or yard. Its as if they just don't see the mess. Things are rarely treated with love and care, that's why this area in Zhejiang stands out. People here cared about their surroundings. This is one thing I really appreciate. Everyday I see litter being thrown on the streets or out of a car window as it speeds through a pristine landscape, I see people destroying their own environment or making it look a like a rubbish dump by being completely thoughtless. This gets to me after a while.
The scary thing is that no one notices and everyone is smiling when they do it. The concept is that someone else will pick it up. This is true to a certain extent, as many things are recycled and collected up by people as they walk the roads in search, or by street cleaners. Recycling is a good thing, but the way it begins is horrendously lazy. The moment someone finishes a drink, a packet of sweets, or an ice cream the packaging is dropped right there and then. Even if there is a bin nearby. All of it just goes on the streets and is cleared up at the end of the day. Why bother keeping things looking nice when it will only be made a mess of again tomorrow? That's how it works here.
In the countryside however this doesn't happen. It isn't cleaned up and people just don't think twice about adding to it. I think the one thing that annoys me when I travel in China is the carelessness of many people. Even educated students do it, it is just completely acceptable to make a complete mess. No one cares about how their actions affect the next person. It is just not even thought about, in fact it is encouraged !
China is such a beautiful country. It just makes me sad to see its beauty being erased.
That was a bit of a rant... I've been wanting to get that off my chest for a while. I haven't had a good moan for ages. All finished now.
So anyway.. Not everyone is like that. In this area, although poor, people cared and I really appreciated it.
The bamboo in this area was also incredible.
I don't think it was just the light, or the bamboo itself. It was somehow other worldly. Ethereal almost. In this reduced image you can't really see it, but it had an internal glow that radiated out.
In the hill sides as we climbed, I saw small caves set into the earth, some with doors, some with out.
I'd love to know what these are for. There were quite a few that were really deep.
I hit 4600km on the cycle computer. I was hot, sweaty, hungry, thirsty, tired, sleepy but happy. I started to fantasise about a cold beer in Shanghai, but pushed that aside and pushed on.
Up more mountains
and dropped down into Suichang.
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Rob writes:
Hi Sum,
... it was a bit of a rant on my part. I've opened up a can of worms no doubt.... In China though people can be very considerate in other ways.
I will give the bamboo a good rubbing and see where it takes me.
24/8/2006 13:01:57
Liz writes:
:(
24/8/2006 13:46:53
Tan Weiwei writes:
I'm sorry for this,but not everyone know "environment is theirs " clearly,or even they know, they can't do it well.But some do very well and so do I.
china has a large population,this makes everything difficult.
I think these caves were used in the war,Actually,I can't call its name,it may be called "fang kong dong".
thank you for your trip,good luck~~~~
24/8/2006 14:07:26
jasonzhou writes:
那扇门里有什么？
24/8/2006 14:36:50
silly billy writes:
sum sum,
if you spending time looking for things to complaine about, to hate about, your life will not be happy. you end up feeling miserable. Take a deep breath when you see it happened... accept it. send them some love... they just don't understand...
24/8/2006 16:29:26
Dan F writes:
Great to have you writing lengthy posts again Rob ... must be a real ball-ache finding the energy & equipment to update here, but it really is appreciated. Agree with you on on the topic of lack of envirnmental consideration.
24/8/2006 17:29:03
tony writes:
hello there mate, i am a mate of Tom Fallowfield here in hong kong who has asked me to age your dog for you (i'm a vet) sure ive bumped into you in Yumla before. anyway looks about 6 to 7 weeks old to me and fully weaned fortunately which makes life easier. The main risk you have with him is the large number of infectious viral diseases they can pick up, mainly parvovirus, distemper, infectious hepatitis and Leptospirosis. Oh, and rabies.....
I would really get him vaccinated asap. one vaccine covers all the first ones 3 shots at 8 weeks, 12 weeks and 14 weeks. Get a single rabies shot as well. Take care in that many Chinese provinces periodically undergo comprehensive culls of dogs to cut down on rabies- they are not choosy about which dogs they kill, and usually chuck them alive in a pit and bury them.....Culls are taking place at the moment in the Eastern provinces. Not sure where you can get shots from where you are but i will happily post you some with a needle and instructions if needed.
Anyway mate, dont want to sound all doom and gloom, i am sure he will be fine. looks x bred to me and likely to reach 20 kilos plus when adult.
All the best and see you in hong kong sometime.
Tony
24/8/2006 22:29:01
Rob writes:
X breed. Thats a crufts candidate right ?
I will be in Shanghai soon so can get the shots done there, well the 1st shot and the Rabies shot. 2nd Shot in Beijing. 3rd shot possibly on the road. I've heard a lot about the rabies crack down in the especially West . No ones snatching dogs here. I think it has simmered down a bit. As an emergency last resort back up, I'll carry a piece of paper in chinese from a vet saying he is vaccinated. Doubt it would do much good, but better than nothing.
20 Kgs plus.... bugger, Thats a heavy dog !
Thanks for writing Tony, much appreciated !
24/8/2006 23:00:20
tony writes:
i can give you the addresses of western vets in shanghai and beijing if you need em.
24/8/2006 23:26:26
Rob writes:
Perfect !
24/8/2006 23:29:26
tom writes:
well well well. so ditch is a keeper then?
i hope so because he's become the co-star of the wheelie show!
25/8/2006 22:52:02
Rob writes:
Poop an all !
25/8/2006 23:09:12
Liz writes:
Great!
26/8/2006 18:48:03
ALi writes:
doing a catch up read of wheelie as not much free time the last coupla weeks. I think you should bring the chicken.
27/8/2006 18:59:46
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I know what you mean about those careless inconsiderate Chinese! Make a mess, someone else will clear it up. No responsibility for their actions. Each to their own! What the f***! I hate it when a really old person or pregnant lady gets on the MTR and no one gets up to give them a seat. I had a rant out loud so that people sitting down on the train could see hear about how rude they were ... still no one got up.
Anyways, hellooooooooo Rob and Ditch! How ya doin? Been following you from time to time and meant to say a big thumbs up to you. Maybe that ethereal bamboo will transport you somewhere else if you eat or touch it? And maybe even if you did, you also wouldn't be able to remember that you were in the 'other place' and had been there and come back within a few seconds. Big Squeezes.
24/8/2006 12:55:09