# A ride of the two provinces ( Fujian and Guangdong ) report



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Over the rides that we had done together in China, Chi-ming had got stronger and became more confident to deal with the target distances that I had set to achieve each day. We both thought that we were ready to go for rides with a bit longer distance. We rode 600km this time in 6 days averaging 100km each day including some cross country rides (road under construction) in harsh conditions, steep zigzag country road up mountain. The earthen houses of West Fujian had been picked for the highlight of the tour and we rode all the way back to Chi-ming’s place at Zhangmutou of Dongguan.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Arrived Yongding train station (by train) at 3:30am. There was nothing to do that early, we decided to ride to keep us going as well as to keep us warm, no illumination on those cross country roads, rode very slowly to avoid accident and got use to the darkness after a while.

Breadfast at 7:30am, rice noodle with meat on top. We thought it was beef when we ate, but we found out later that it was donkey’s meat (local fresh delicacy), no wonder it tasted so strong and a bite strange.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Earthen houses in sight, a square one in this case.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Care to know how they made bricks in Fujian ? One shoveled some earth, one shoveled some clay, materials dropped into the machine.
Rectangular material extruded from the machine, got cut to shape.
Left dry in the open air and then baked in the oven.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

A duckling herds man.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

In search for earthen houses.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Earthen houses represent a vernacular architecture specific to Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces following the flow of the Hakka people from central China to the South. As most Hakka resided in mountains, communal houses made of compacted earth were built to provide protection against bandits and wild animals. The older examples of this style of construction consist of interior buildings enclosed by huge peripheral ones holding hundreds of rooms and dwellers. With all the halls, storehouses, wells and bedrooms inside, the huge towerlike building functions almost as a small fortified city. Earthen houses are made of earth, stone, bamboo and wood, all readily available materials. After constructing the walls with rammed earth, branches, strips of wood and bamboo chips were laid in the wall as "bones" to reinforce it. The end result is a well lit, well-ventilated, windproof, quakeproof building that is warm in winter and cool in summer.
The American once mistaken that those round earthen houses were missile launching sites when aerial photos were taken from their satellite.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Posted in front of a round earthen house and some interior shots of that house.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Some scenic shots of the village.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Stayed in this guest house at Zhayang. Name of the guest house is “Hot Spring”, mega bath tub in the private bathroom of our room, 24 hours of hot spring water supply, great for us travelers. We had bath before bed and one more time in the morning next day before we left.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Breakfast cooked by this woman.

People of Fujian are very friendly, they like to chat, have tea and make friends. We had been offered fresh brewed tea after breakfast with no extra charge. Tea pot and cups were small, tea tasted strong with great flavour.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

This was one steep zigzag country road up the mountain that we had to go through before reaching the main road to Meizhou, 15% or steeper.

Freshened up a bit by these colourful young cyclists.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Stayed in this hotel at Meizhou. This was one of the best of this trip, Y$100(US$14) for a double room with private bathroom.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Morning exercise in Meizhou.

A bridge for pedestrian and non-motorized vehicles in Meizhou.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Found this house on the way to Xingning, after a little persuasion, the owner gave us a short tour of his house, it was built by his great grand grand father.
The second last picture of this series of shots showed the right side of the internal fan shaped courtyard, the left side is symmetrical.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

In struggling to stay in the draft of a motorbike at 35km/h, my knee hit the bottom of my camera case hanged in front of my chest, the camera just jumped right out. With the fix of some rubber bands to keep the battery lid closed tight, the camera was ready for action again. I was surprised to see this plastic camera survived in such fall.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

On the way to Xingning.

Bamboo strips placed on the road side for drying.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Lunch in style at Xingning. Half a chicken, steam fish, bean curb stuffed with meat, vegetable, and steamed rice. Do you think the two of us could finish all these ?
We almost finished all except 1/3 of the fish and a little bit of bean curb.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

After the big lunch, I felt exceptionally strong, tucked in the aero position, with a bit of tail wind I enjoyed the sensation of speed. I received a compliment from two young guys on a motorbike passed by, “Fast like an aero plane” with a thumb up.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Met these kids on the road, the one in the middle didn’t even had shoes to wear.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Couldn't find a decent guest house at the end of the day, we had to take this for the night. That was Chi-ming’s bed, mine was the same. Y$10 per person with a large bucket of hot water for bath.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Farm women commuted to work.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Family recreation.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Things were not always good on the road of China. I always kept some masks in my backpack. I put on a N95, finished with a ‘Had’ scarf to make me looked nicer.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

We didn’t always have a feast for lunch, we took whatever we found on the way. Dumpling, noodle and soya milk on that day.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Some shots on the road to Chikim.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Not all kids took sweets from stranger, this little girl turned down my offer. The grandma also refused to take my sweets too, she reminded me in return that I had dropped my gloves on the ground that I didn't know.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Another pair of grandma and kid picked tree branches on road side.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Firecrackers for celebration of a wedding.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

A shot at the East River.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

A self portrait in front of the hotel at Yueng’s Village.


----------



## Beantown (Nov 29, 2001)

*Kai Ming, you 'da Man!*

Awesome Photos and captions. I always enjoy your trip reports and am inspired by them.

Thanks!

Pat


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Beantown said:


> Awesome Photos and captions. I always enjoy your trip reports and am inspired by them.
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Pat


I am glad you like the report !


----------



## KeeponTrekkin (Aug 29, 2002)

*Extraordinary...*

Another remarkable portrait of a healthy, rural China.

By the Way... how did you learn English, how did you find this website and how did those bikes get into China?


----------



## wooglin (Feb 22, 2002)

The brick kiln is interesting enough by itself, but the rammed earth structures are absolutely fascinating! How long have they been building them?


----------



## bigrider (Jun 27, 2002)

*Fabulous*

This ride report is simple fantastic. You captured the architecture, food, people, and the scenery in fine fashion. I was mesmerized. It is like viewing a documentary on tv. Keep em coming.


----------



## MarkS (Feb 3, 2004)

*An amazing report*

I always enjoy your reports. This time you have surpassed all of your past reports. The photos and the narration captivated me. Thank you.


----------



## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

*I almost had Miss M convinced we should ride in China*



kai-ming said:


> Arrived Yongding train station (by train) at 3:30am. There was nothing to do that early, we decided to ride to keep us going as well as to keep us warm, no illumination on those cross country roads, rode very slowly to avoid accident and got use to the darkness after a while.
> 
> Breadfast at 7:30am, rice noodle with meat on top. We thought it was beef when we ate, but be found out that it was donkey’s meat (local fresh delicacy), no wonder it tasted so strong and a bite strange.


Alas, there is no way she would eat donkey meat.

BTW when I used to visit China on business when we ate we decided that the only thing we really wanted to know about what we were eating was if it was hot or not. Otherwise it was just "some kind of meat" or "some kind of seafood" we didn't want more details than that.


----------



## divve (May 3, 2002)

Very nice. The earthen houses were especially interesting. One of your best reports yet!


----------



## SteveCnj (Oct 6, 2003)

*Amazing as always...*

Kai-ming; 

Your reports are always amazing, each one is better than the one before. I always learn something from your pictures and narration.

Thank You!

Steve


----------



## M.J. (Jan 28, 2004)

*great report*

thanks


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

KeeponTrekkin said:


> Another remarkable portrait of a healthy, rural China.
> 
> By the Way... how did you learn English, how did you find this website and how did those bikes get into China?


I was brought up in Hong Kong when Hong Kong was British Colony, English was my second language at school. I found this website when I got crazy about cycling, one main reason I like this website is I can post pictures here and people here like my ride report. I learn a lot from these people too. I think our titanium MTB frames (no brand name) are made in China ! The bikes were brought into mainland China from Hong Kong.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

wooglin said:


> The brick kiln is interesting enough by itself, but the rammed earth structures are absolutely fascinating! How long have they been building them?


All I know is hundreds of years.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Just tell me what Miss M likes most, I may try to bring in those elements in my next report to help attracting her to come.


----------



## colker1 (Jan 2, 2003)

it's the second of your posts i send to my non cycling friends.. fascinating report. thanks.


----------



## Wayne77 (Oct 17, 2003)

Thanks for posting such wonderful pictures! Very inspiring. I would love to visit China someday. I've spent some time in Korea, Hong Kong, but never mainland China..someday...


----------



## terry b (Jan 29, 2004)

Excellent!

Thank you for taking the time to share those wonderful photos.


----------



## wayneanneli (Jul 8, 2004)

Hello Kai-Ming,
Your photo journey really touches close to home for me, since I am Canadian-Chinese. My father's mother immigrated to Canada at the beginning of 1910?, I think. I have always wanted to visit China and find out where my father's family came from. Thanks for the terrific journal and please keep posting your photography and bicycling stories on this forum. As you can tell by our response, your adventures are well appreciated. 
Cheers, Wayne Chan


----------



## Marcus75 (Feb 17, 2004)

Yah, the pics are great! Were you able to communicate with the locals? Don't they speak Mandarin?


----------



## Fogdweller (Mar 26, 2004)

Thank you Kai-Ming. Another fantastic ride report.


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Marcus75 said:


> Yah, the pics are great! Were you able to communicate with the locals? Don't they speak Mandarin?


My mother tongue is Cantonese, I learn to speak Mandarin only when I do cycling in the mainland in recent years by speaking with the locals. So you see my Mandarin is still poor which some times caused misunderstanding, that is the reason why we misunderstood "donkey's meat" with "beef" when we ordered that breakfast. However, I am happy that my Mandarin is improving.


----------



## The Walrus (Apr 2, 2000)

*You always do amazing reports...*

...but I think this time might be the best. The shots of the earthen houses are especially good, especially the sequence of the interior. I also really appreciate your inclusion of the ordinary, day-to-day activities of the people you encounter, whether they are working, traveling or just enjoying themselves. Absolutely fascinating....

Sorry to hear about the donkey meat, though!


----------



## boneman (Nov 26, 2001)

*Great report*

Kai-Ming- The trip, pictures and descriptions are great. My mother is from Shanghai and speaks Mandarin while my father is from Peking and speaks Cantonese. Well, they met in the States and my mother's from a large family so he's had to come to grips with Mandarin with the usual results.

Keep up the trips and posts.


----------



## moschika (Feb 1, 2004)

thank you for another great story. i love how you share a part of china that i think many of us outside of china would never see or know about. 

terrific as always.

i look forward to your next trip.


----------



## Bonked (Nov 11, 2002)

awesome...thanks! by the way, what is the symbol in the upper left of some of the photographs?


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Bonked said:


> awesome...thanks! by the way, what is the symbol in the upper left of some of the photographs?


That is my avatar, my name in chinese.


----------



## rwbadley (Apr 13, 2002)

kai-ming said:


> A duckling herds man.


Yum- they look like dinner!

Thanks for the great report! A favorite for sure!


----------



## cycleaddict (Dec 24, 2002)

*Thank you so very much for the report!!!!*

I enjoy all of your reports very, very much. Some of the conditions you ride in seem to indicate to me that you are an incredibly strong and dedicated cyclist!!!!

BRAVO!!!!


----------



## Bonked (Nov 11, 2002)

do you put it there or does the camera do it?

thanks again for the great report. i've had dinner now, but was stuck at work without food and was dying for some chinese food after reading your report!


----------



## kai-ming (Oct 3, 2002)

Bonked said:


> do you put it there or does the camera do it?
> 
> thanks again for the great report. i've had dinner now, but was stuck at work without food and was dying for some chinese food after reading your report!


I have to put it on each picture by Photoshop. Glad you enjoy the report !


----------



## the_dude (Jun 25, 2004)

wow. awesome ride report and pictures. thanks for bringing a part of the world to those of us who otherwise would have never experienced it. looking forward to your future posts.

the_dude


----------

