Sun May 25 – They Really Pedal those Flower Headdresses

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Everywhere in the town these old Asian ladies are selling these headbands with decorative flowers. They’re pretty but I certainly have no interest in purchasing one and one else in the group seemed to either. It’s not like it’s hard to say no, but these women are so hunched over because they’re backs are in such terrible shape that I just feel bad for their situation. In any case we saw many more of them during our bike ride Sunday and like with the vortex shedding incident no one responded in humor to my double situationally aware pun.



Today after breakfast we started our scenic bike tour of Yangshuo. Renting bikes in the middle of the town we had an exuberant time biking through Chinese traffic to get to the outskirts of the town before we no longer had any roads to cross or roundabouts to cut through. From here onward we only had to concern ourselves with all the passing scooter, car, and bus traffic and all their startling honking. It got pretty nerve racking sometimes when a touring bus or utility truck would pass by within an arm’s reach of our biking. The worst in my mind are the electric scooters because they’re so quiet you have no idea anything is coming then in a swoosh they pass by weaving around anything not outpacing them. Everything else makes enough noise that there isn’t any surprise. The loudest vehicles are these ghetto-rigged mini pickup utility trucks. Obvious constructed by the individuals to serve their own purpose these things are ridiculous to see on the street. Where they get the frame is beyond me as they’re maybe not much bigger than a smart car but all they have intact are the axels and wheels. The Motor they have must be scavenged from broken large house hold appliances like a washing machines or maybe smaller utility vehicles such as mowing tractors or something similar. Then as they're left fully expose on the front of the truck all the noise from that crappy engine is radiated directly to the ears of pedestrians. The remaining space is occupied by a small cabin with no doors and a wooden bed truck. I’ve been trying to capture a good photo of one, which shouldn’t be too hard as there is plenty of time to realize its coming, but I’ve seen not been quick enough.



The bike ride overall was enjoyable as possible given how much sweating I was doing, I felt pretty nasty within the first 15 minutes. It’s the combination of the sweat and the air here, which just feels dirty. I know the big cities are supposed to be bad but it seems to me like anywhere with even a standard population has traffic dominated air population. Probably because they’re driving those hodge-podged trucks around and also the small point that they have for concern for emissions regulations. I saw a truck billow out a particle cloud, completely black, it was almost impressive how bad it looked. But on the positive side I at least had a bike with multiple gears and a functioning shifter. I could only switch between 4 of the 18 possible gear combinations I had, but that was better than nothing. Also both my breaks functioned properly. So compared to most of the other students who had brake, chain, or gear issues I was riding in pretty good luxury. Fortunately for everyone our route was only slightly graded for short durations so for those on fixed, pseudo-fixed geared bikes, and even the pair on the tandem fixed gear bike they didn’t find it impossible to keep up. The only problem we all shared were the rock hard seats.



Reaching our first stop approximately two hours after starting the optional hike was declined by a small group mostly the accompanying péngyou. The rest of trudge up this mountain not willing to admit defeat under the brutality of the heat and humidity. The path topped under a large rock archway visible from the base of the mountain. After descending we had lunch in a nearby restaurant were just sitting down on something other than a bike seat was a marvel. Here we tried fermented tofu along with beer-fish which are both a specialty dishes of the region. I also got my first glass of Chinese bottled Coke and Sprite, nothing remarkable but I got a picture of the labels for fun. Biking back we took a different path which took a much shorter time maybe 30 minutes which was defiantly appreciated by my butt. However it did require some more advanced traffic maneuvering as we rode alongside bigger streets.



Back in Yangshuo everyone did some bargaining and shopping at the market stands and shops. That evening we attended the light show on the river choreographed by Zhang Jigang (should be the guy who did the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony in China). Dinner beforehand again with the beer-fish. Those old ladies have some real completion with this dish, they’re both inescapable. Arriving at the show arena later while we were still outside waiting for our guide to handle getting the tickets and everything a thunderstorm rolled in, torrential downpour and lighting in full effect. So what do they do in China, they just hand out ponchos when you cross the ticket booth. Initially it appeared like they were just going to perform with the weather as is. Thankfully they delayed the show while people took shelter within the arena grounds. The show ended up starting around 8:20 and ran for a little over an hour. Overall the visual effects of the show were fantastic as they lit up certain mountains on the opposing side of the river during the show and the chorography was great, but the audio wasn’t as good. The lead singer I felt was doing a very good job (as much as I could tell not understanding anything), she had real presence and here vocals were very distinct, but the scenes without her were very soft in terms of vocals and thus I found myself not as captivated during those segments. I don’t know, I was tired from the day so the higher vocals maybe just kept me more alert. In all I was just a little under-impressed with the show given my expectations.

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