25/7/25
Sadly, we had to bid Shimian farewell. Jonathan could have quite happily stayed a while longer. As we travelled downhill out of the town, we half wished we weren’t. Many of the lorries left for the G5, Jingkun Expressway, that we would follow for the day. Familiar scenery, from a different perspective. We’d come this way from Ya’an on the bus.
The road wound up and round the valleys that led into the deep gorge of the Dadu River. It was taking us further and further uphill, more and more steeply. The gradients weren’t the hard part, rather the fact it was already 30+C and the humidity was ridiculous. Neither of us could say we were really ‘feeling’ it. Having taken such a long time off the bikes had made it hard to find a rhythm again. The benefits of our altitude adaptation were no match for the heat.
Rural villages were hidden on the hillside wherever viable. The villagers choice of crops revealed the climate was usually a hot one. Peaches, grapes, pomelos and cucumbers all growing on their doorsteps. Down below, the expressway thundered along in a straight line. Effortlessly crossing the open water and pummelling through the mountains. We, on the other hand, had to struggle up and down the sides of the steep mountains. Imagine if they built cycleways alongside the highway…nah, that would probably be silly.
Only a tiny portion of the road was under construction. Not like China, we thought. Spurts of lorries forced us to concentrate. Police cars escorted groups of them. No idea why. Frankie wanted to try raspberry pepsi, the flavour wasn’t very strong. Turtles desperately tried to escape a plastic box outside the shop. Ostriches watched us from a tiny garden as we cycled off again.
Truck drivers were comrades when they wanted to be. Appreciative of the long hard task of assailing the hills themselves and being on the road for long periods of time. They knew the deal. When traffic was coming the other way, it was all forgotten. Toot the horn. Coming through. Watch your back.
Tunnels were alluring for two reasons. Firstly, they felt like a triumph for overcoming elevation without any effort. Secondly, they were a welcome escape from the punishing Sun. Luobogang Tunnel was a mile long respite under a large peninsula. However, a shit tonne of trucks had just left the G5 for some reason, making the tunnel a nervous proposition.
Conveniently, a rainbow road went round the tip of the peninsula. The downside being, of course, that we would be cycling 3km further under the attentive gaze of the Sun. A ‘government worker’ stopped to give us his WeChat. In case we needed any help. The moment we stopped the heat became unbearable, much to his perplexity we rode off quickly to enjoy the sweet relief of a breeze.
Jinxin Hotel was a little dated but the air conditioning was top notch. Initially we thought we’d been upgraded, enjoying a wonderful view of the Liusha river at its confluence with the Dadu. Diggers were drilling outside, making annoyingly loud noises though. As it was still early, we had to hope they’d stop.
Hanyuan was spread out all over the mountainous peninsula. Seeking something to eat that wasn’t hotpot, we took a taxi up the hill. ChaPanda lured us in for a cold beverage, then we found a little restaurant selling tofu and chips. Jonathan’s stomach had turned against eating typical fried food in the evenings. Two young children observed us eating as they finished up their ‘ice salads’. Blatantly modernised but a traditional Chinese dish that contained ice, tapioca and fruit.
Uncooked potato was a popular dish. Historically, the starchy food has been treated as a vegetable, not a carbohydrate. We’d become accustomed to it. Everything in our meal was so spicy. The woman brought us a complimentary dessert to try, for free. Wonderfully cooling our senses down. We found the restaurant on the WeChat mini app ordering system and paid for it.
Walking slowly up the hill we spotted a barbecue shop. We could never resist Kaomianjin, roasted seitan, each stick was a mere 30p. Naturally, we bought a couple.
Back in our room we had to endure the sounds of a digger drilling the ground by the waters edge. Constant construction. Darkness fell, they put lights on. At 8:30pm they finally gave up and let us have some peace and quiet.
Surly They Won't Make It 