China - Getting in a Paddy
Our next destination was the Yuangang Rice Terraces in Yunnan Province, which have been created over many centuries and are UNESCO listed. We were probably a month too early to see them at their photogenic best which is when they are flooded with water and glistening.
Getting out of Jianshui was slow going as we had to queue our way out of the town past a street market.
It continued to be a slow drive on National roads but it got increasingly more scenic as we climbed into the hills and started to see the terraces in the fields below us.
We first visited the Hadanpu viewpoint where we parked outside a village and walked down through the village to a viewing platform. The village was interesting and had impressive aerial views of the rice terraces. Although they were not full of water, being harvest time the contrasts of the golden and green landscape was breathtaking.
We passed some more scenic views across the terraces as we drove to our next scenic spot village.
It was just a short way on to Azheke Ancient Village where we paid a 30RMB (£3) entrance fee to walk around the fascinating little Hani village with unusual mushroom shaped houses and magnificent views. We could have sat there all day gazing at the stunning views.
We dropped Olivia off at a homestay hotel where Sophie & Martin were also staying and we carried on in Lolly a few kms to park for the night at a viewpoint where we had a sundowner in our front seats - the first for such a long time. We watched fireworks going off in the valley below for festival celebrations later that night.
The following morning Olivia arranged for us to visit some rice fields so that we could see how they are farmed up close. The setting and colours were just beautiful. We walked along the baked earth banks surrounding the fields and watched the farmers harvesting.
We drove on to a coffee and bookshop which was very nicely designed into the rice terraces and had fabulous views. It also sold local crafts. We enjoyed our coffee with a view.
This was probably our favourite area that we visited in our charge through China, so we were sad to leave it behind, but we had to be at the Laos border in 2 days.
Back on the expressway we ended up parked up at a motorway services in the town of Mojiang which is on the Tropic of Cancer and known as the ‘Town of the twins’. It is known for its International Twin Culture Festival. We parked up with other Chinese motorhomes away from the services traffic - weird but strangely a good place to spend the night.
We met up with Olivia to walk up to the Tropic of Cancer monument. The park also had a lot of monuments to twins. There were 2 wells that people come to for taking the water if they want twins. One for girls and one for boys - or mix it. Olivia said the statistics for success showed it worked - we were a little more cynical. My mum was a twin so I guess I would have had a pretty good chance if I’d chosen kids over travelling.
We walked up through the park where we saw unusual black squirrels, then down to the main town where we walked through the local market and picked up some veg to cook tea for Olivia in the evening. I think she just wanted photos but we persuaded her to eat with us.
Dinner was a ratatouille to demonstrate to Olivia an easy one pot meal we cook on the road. I have to say it wasn't my best effort - I’ve barely cooked the last 2 months in Mongolia and China. The people from the Chinese vans next to us kept Olivia busy with questions about us as usual. Olivia managed to finish her dish and even said she’d try making it herself at home.
Our last full day in China (on this leg of the trip) and we left the service area and drove 270km on expressways through lots of tunnels to Jinghong famous for its night market. Olivia found us a cracking hotel just a 15 minute walk to the market costing just £13.50 with breakfast.
We had a stroll around early evening before meeting up with Olivia, Sophie and Martin for our last meal together. The stalls were just setting up.
After dinner when it was fully dark we all had a wander around the illuminated market which runs along the Mekong River. The stalls all seemed to be selling the same stuff - street food, clothing and souvenirs, but It had a nice buzzy atmosphere and we started to feel how close we are to South East Asia.
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It felt sad to be leaving China - probably the most unexpected experience of our trip so far. The 28 days had whizzed by and we have only really experienced a dim sum of this vast country. On the way to the border we were overtaken by Sophie and Martin as well as a few other European and Aussie motorbikes. We found out they were on a Bike China Tour. They were the first UK plates we’d seen for months (excluding the overland truck in Ulaanbaatar)
We checked out of China fairly easily. Lolly had 2 customs checks done within 5 metres of each other. We waved goodbye to Olivia who had become part of our trip in China - we teased her that she had been on holiday with us as she’d not visited most of the places on our itinerary before either. We have to confess we weren't keen initially to have the guide with us in Lolly for the whole trip, but she was a perfect passenger, sitting in the back of Lolly when it was hot and bouncy never complaining, and always being there to sort issues out at toll booths and get us access into and out of car parks. She was constantly researching hotels, places to park, sites to visit and places to eat for the group to make sure we got to experience the best of all the places on the itinerary. While many overlanders are taking the option to travel without a guided trip through China as the rules relaxed this year, we probably found it beneficial to have this fixed itinerary which took the pressure off planning our route and freed up our time to enjoy it.
We have so many takeaways we’ll remember about China
People stare at your motorhome!
A large foreign motorhome like Lolly can be a minor celebrity attraction. We had to get used to people photographing her, point her out to friends or ask to take pictures with her and us.
QR codes are everywhere and cash seems to be an outdated concept.
You find them on restaurant tables, menus, posters, bins, shop windows and even tourist attractions. In China, a little black-and-white square can apparently do almost anything. In most places we visited, everyone pays by phone with the Apps Alipay and WeChat.
Everyone seems to have a phone tripod.
At scenic spots, people pose for photographs, make videos and livestream themselves. China’s famous viewpoints can sometimes feel like enormous outdoor studios and we were often asked to move out the way of their photo shoots. We were bemused at the size of their elaborate selfie sticks, stabilisers and lights, and don't get us started on the change of clothes part way through.
Breakfasts just weren't for us
Although we sometimes get bored with our usual overnight oats and granola we couldn't work up an appetite for noodles, dumplings, steamed buns, soups and spicy dishes first thing in the morning. If there was toast available there would be no butter or jams and only chopsticks to eat it with.
People exercise in public — everywhere.
Parks and squares can suddenly become dance floors. Groups of mostly older people may be doing synchronised dancing, tai chi or other exercises.
Everywhere is noisy.
Scenic areas, parks and towns usually have announcements, music or karaoke playing surprisingly loudly, although to be fair they did turn it down at a reasonable time.
Spitting has largely disappeared in cities — but not completely.
I remember when we visted China 30 years ago, the sound of spitting was everywhere. Modern urban China is considerably cleaner and more restrained, although we did occasionally encounter the traditional throat-clearing-and-spit routine which still makes me cringe much to Colin's amusement.
Pedestrian crossings can feel like challenging.
Traffic behaviour is very different from Britain. We could never take it for granted who had prioroty on the roads, and it would be 50:50 whether a vehicle would stop for us at a pedestrian crossing.
Tourist attractions can be spectacularly crowded — even in remote places.
A mountain that looks completely wild in photographs is likely to may have thousands of visitors, shuttle buses, restaurants, ticket gates and an enormous car park. We were pretty lucky with our timing though. In September schools reopen, and everyone gets ready for the big National Holiday at the beginning of October which we got out of the country just in time for.
The Chinese love a scenic-area shuttle bus.
You may drive for hours to reach a beautiful mountain or scenic spot, only to discover that you’re not allowed to drive the final few kilometres because everyone must take the official shuttle.
China is a place of such contrasts. It can be simultaneously incredibly futuristic and wonderfully old-fashioned.
You can stand inside a brand-new high-speed railway station, pay for your coffee with your phone, watch driverless cars and electric scooters whizz past — and then turn a corner and find someone sitting outside a tiny shop playing mahjong while a bicycle with a basket full of vegetables goes past.
There is no doubt the West is way behind China in technology. As self-confessed techno- idiots we struggled to work out how to use the payment Apps and scan with our phones for things. It is mind blowing how quickly the huge population of China has embraced the rapid changes in their freedoms and society in just a few short decades. We will remember with great fondness the friendliness, curiosity and kindness of all the people we met on our trip.
We will be returning to China at the beginning of 2027 - watch this space for more details of our plans (when we've thought them through...).
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