After our walk around the city, we decided to see the countryside via bicycles on days 65 and 67 of the trip. Armed with a map and the directions “always keep the river on your left” we set out to find the 600 year old Dragon Bridge. The directions and map were not adequate. It took us two adventurous days to find it. We biked over roads, through fields, and along rocky paths for hours (all the time not venturing more than 5 miles from our hotel). Most of the pictures below show pretty paved roads, because that is the only time I was confident enough to take pictures and bike at the same time. Biking the countryside and getting a glimpse of the incredible spirit of the rural Chinese people are a few of my favorite days in China.
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- And we are off…
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- This picturesque roadway is not just for bicyclers — two-way traffic of all types will pass us. It is pretty scary when a huge tourist bus is passing you and meets another bus head on. Somehow the Chinese have figured it all out, but to me it just seems a non-sensical series of honking horns and near misses.
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- We found the bike path.
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- We kept the river to our left (this is not the bridge btw). This method (a basket on either end of a bamboo pole carried over the shoulder) of transporting goods is used throughout China. Even people at the train station carried their luggage with this apparatus. We saw many elderly stooped from a lifetime of carrying heavy loads.
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- Flooded rice fields.
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- Our lunch spot — complete with chickens milling around and a dog under our feet while we ate. Like most everywhere we ate in China, the food was excellent. Food is grown on every inch of available land — even in the cities. Lawns are non-existent. If there is dirt, food is growing in it. The result is fantastic food at every turn.
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- Anna finds another puppy.
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- We are off again after lunch and still pretty confident about getting to our destination. According to the map, we are halfway.
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- The road is blocked by construction. Andrew is asking for detour directions. That little path in the bottom right corner of the picture is where we thought we should go, but it ended.
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- This is not the dragon bridge, but the scene is picturesque. That look on Andrew’s face is “I have been biking for hours, only 2 more until dark, completely lost, miles from the hotel, and you want to stop for a picture!”
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- This is still not the Dragon Bridge, but the river is now to our right. We decided to turn around and try another day.
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- Truck carrying bamboo rafts. I am not really sure how they stay put.
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- Water buffalo. We saw several of these. One was playing in the river on a leash. The owner wanted money for me to take a picture: I refused.
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- Cows. The familiar bike path has everyone breathing a sigh of relief. Still a good hour of biking, but at least we know where we are.
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- The map showed a path on the opposite side of the river leading to the Dragon Bridge. On the second day we decided to try that route. The bamboo rafts were our means of river crossing. Two people and two bikes on each raft.
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- Mine and Caleb’s raft was a little water logged.
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- Caleb helping out — not letting our rented bikes float away.
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- Biking in Yangshuo
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- Bees
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- Graves (I presume). These are dotted along the bases of the mountainside.
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- The river is getting farther away.
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- Mandarin oranges
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- Village
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- Asking for directions. FYI — we were headed in the correct direction and these ladies led us astray. Maybe watching us go past a third time was their morning entertainment. 🙂
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- On our third time by the orange grove, we decided to ask if we could buy some. Mandarins fresh off the tree are fantastic. The couple in the picture are from Arkansas. We crossed paths with them 3 of our days in Yangshuo. We teamed up to try to find the elusive bridge (this was also their second day searching).
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- We found it!!! It is there in the background. The kids (and adults) were excited to find the bridge, civilization, and food for lunch.
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- Our view from the restaurant for a late lunch.
We then had to bike back to Yangshuo! Our Arkansas friends caught a ride on the bus due to a flat tire, but we decided to continue on the bikes. The scenery and culture around us were too good to miss. Through all the frustrating wrong turns and lack of good directions or map, I really had a blast. I know I speak for everyone in the family. 🙂 — KLaff
Amazing adventure!!!