Back to School in China
By the time we were up in the morning the locals were out in force exercising and having haircuts.
Today was to be another shorter driving day to a mine in Qianwei then on to a bamboo forest near Muchuan.
Our first stop was at Qianwei Huangcun Well - a disused coal mine dating back to the 1930’s. It is also the terminus of the 19.8 km Jiayang narrow-gauge railway.
As we pulled up we thought it was going to be a tacky tourist experience, but the site has been developed as a heritage attraction where visitors can experience the former mining environment, including going underground. It was eerily quiet for a Chinese tourist attraction, but when Olivia asked at the ticket office they said their peak time was in springtime when the oil seed rape is out making the train journeys colourful.
We were offered a ride in an electric shuttle bus to the mine, but we chose to walk there. We walked past an empty amusement park, but the ambience of the place was nice with colouful flowers and lush vegetation. We had to put on hard helmuts before entering the mine. We descended into the mine which included a short section on a chairlift. There were information boards in English and old photos of the miners who had worked here. Of course, there were a few colourful sections to jazz it up and some models of what it would be like to work in the confimed tunnels.
It was actually the walk back through the old streets of the mining settlement that was the most fascinating. There were still people living in the run down housing. In the main square there was a stage with an image of Mao - it felt a real flashback to an intriguing era of Chinas history and such a contrast from the modern cities we've been driving thorough and past.
We had a coffee in a nicely put together coffee shop with the most lovely dog.
We continued on to Muchuan Bamboo forest where a route goes through large stands of bamboo. There are narrow roads and paths through the forest with mountain viewpoints, small villages and farmland, streams, lakes and waterfalls. The Forest is known as the 'Holy Land of Oxygen' as the concentration of negative oxygen ions here is over four times the level the World Health Organisation would clasify as being fresh air, making it a beneficial place for people with breathing conditions, such as asthma and bronchitis.
It was very overcast and drizzly when we arrived. We stopped at a viewpoint over the valley, then wound our way around steep narrow windy roads to a lake. We planned to walk around the lake but the path was so slippy we were advised by the locals not to try it.
We dropped Olivia at a guesthouse and we ended up parked up near a waterfall in a lovely setting. It was a special dinner that evening - Heinz baked beans on toast.
It had been a very wet night in the bamboo forest. It was starting to feel like we’re entering the tropics with the lush vegetation and sound of the buzzing cicardas.
We were on National Highways all day rather than Expressways so it was a slow twisty route. The views down the valley made us dizzy, but the low cloud and mist hid a lot of it.
We reached Lake Mahu which was a little disappointing even though it is the third largest high mountain lake in Sichuan Province. There wasn’t really anywhere good to pull over to admire the views and the government had banned hotels in this area which meant there was no tourist infrastructure and alot of derelict hotels
We had to climb back out of the valley and passed small villages where most properties had corn drying outside.
We finally made it into Leibo, our base for the night, which didn’t look very special. We parked up by a shopping centre and checked into a hotel within the centre for the night. We were expecting a quiet evening with a bite to eat in the shopping centre.
We went to a milky tea shop and had cold matcha milky tea which was surprisingly good. Olivia joined us and said we would cause a lot of curiosity in the town as it's not a foreign tourist place and the population is largely ethnic with its own dialect. Two local ladies were looking at us and smiling and waving. Olivia gave them her usual spiel about where we were from, our ages, what we were doing. She asked where they recommended we eat that night, and then told us that we were all invited to one of the ladies house for dinner. How lovely!
The lady lived in a 16th floor apartment nearby, so we arrived with gifts of milk and biscuits that Olivia said were customary to give hosts. We reluctantly gave away the After Eights we'd purchased in Mongolia😢. When we arrived her brother and his young son were there, and gradually more and more family arrived - 3 sisters with their families, her husband and kids and her mother. - we lost count! They all live in adjoining apartment blocks and apparently take it in turn to cook each evening.
They laid out a big spread of food including twice cooked pork, smoked cured pork, a whole chicken chopped up with head and feet in prime position for us and pigs ears 🥴.
It was all very tasty and Colin bravely tried a pigs ear - his description was ‘gristly’. The thing we found most amusing was that they were all horrified that Colin ate a potato with the skin on! We were given a glass of Chinese red wine - it was quite light and low alcohol. Then her husband gave us several little glasses of liqueur for some cheersing. One of the sisters received a message from a friend with a photo of Lolly on saying ‘look what’s parked in town!’ They finished by seranading us with a tradtional song. Olivia did a great job at three-way translation. She didn't speak their ethnic language (e- language as she called it) so she had quite a job.
The lady's brother is a school teacher, as is her husband, and he wanted to show us around the school which was nearby. We all walked down to the school. It was 7.30 on a Sunday evening so we were a bit surprised to see all the kids were in having classes.
He asked if we’d mind visiting a couple of classrooms to say hello and answer questions which of course we were happy to. Let’s just say we caused quite a stir. We went in two classrooms. Colin did his best to convert them to being Bolton Wanderers fans but it would seem Spanish teams are more popular here.
As we left the building word had gotten around about us and we were literally mobbed - we know how rock stars feel now…..We were told that we were the first foreign people the children had ever met.
The rest of the families who’d been waiting outside came to have a look in Lolly. We said our good byes to these lovely kind people and ended up having a beer in the middle of the shopping centre reflecting on such an amazing unexpected evening.
The following morning we met the lady who’d entertained us the previous night. She gave us a big bag of apples and 2 huge grapefruits. She offered to take us to get dressed up in local costume but we politely declined.
Our journey today was to take us to another ancient city called Zhaotong. The first part of the journey took us down to a river then back up the other side - scenic but slow going. The construction engineering of Chinese roads, bridges and tunnels continued to amaze us.
We arrived in Zhaotong, a city known for its apples, mid afternoon. We parked in a Central Park and got the Bromptons out to cycle to the old city. We had to push the bikes through the old city due to congestion. It was pleasant but not as scenic as some other ancient cities that we’ve visited on this trip.
Feeling tired from the previous night we grabbed a burger from a food street market and had an early night. There were many groups dancing in the park as we walked past.
Our next destination was Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province which is known as ‘the city of the eternal spring’ as it has a mild climate, varied ethnic cultures and is renowned for good food.
We arrived in Kunming mid afternoon. Olivia had found a great central hotel for us to park Lolly. It was close to good coffee shops, shops and night markets. We had a sundowner on a hostel roof terrace nearby. Some of the street food on offer looked like a bush tucker trial so we ended up in a nice little restaurant doing craft beer.
The next day we visited the main attractions in the centre on our Bromptons. We’ve never seen so many e-scooters and cycling with them felt a mix of being exhilarating and dam right terrifying. Kunming attracts a lot of young Chinese, most of whom seem to spend their time filming themselves.
After a good coffee and cake we called in at the colourful farmers market with the usual mix of weird and wonderful foods on offer.
We continued on to Green Lake Park where we stopped to stare at a young lady hanging out with her cat and rat (as you do).
Then we went on to the tranquil Buddhist Yuantong temple
In the evening we had a wander down Kunming Old Street with its historic buildings, small shops, tea houses, street food and lively evening atmosphere.
The following day we visited the Stone Forest near Kunming before driving onto the Ancient City of Jianshui. The Stone Forest is an area of huge limestone pinnacles that create a striking landscape, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a very popular site, but looking at the number of parked up shuttle buses it must have been a quiet day for us (although it didn’t feel it).
As always the tourist infrastructure detracted from the natural landscape we were wanting to see, but when we managed to dodge the noisy micced up tour groups they were pretty impressive.
After a few hours walking around the park then a three hour drive we were pretty pooped when we arrived in Jianshui, but we were straight out to walk around the attractive ancient city and visit the Confucius Temple (one of China’s largest ) before sunset. We fed some hungry koi carp.
The town was quite lovely - less touristy but very lively in the evening with a nice feel to it. There were pottery shops and shops selling local coffee everywhere.
We dined in a barbecue restaurant before returning to the motorhome car park we were staying. We tried stinky tofu and had a delicious grilled aubergine dish.
With just four days before we have to be at the Laos border we still have a good few kilometres to cover and sites to see.
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