china Archives - Pierre Trowbridge

Xinjiang Cycle Tour: VeloTramp Summer 2017

June 14, 2017 by Pierre 9 Comments

The worst thing you can do to a person who struggles to make decisions is give them a lot to choose from. I know. I am that person. The problem is especially trying for me when I like all the things I am trying to choose from. This is the predicament I found myself in when trying to choose the route of my summer bike trip.

Xinjiang — Kashgar Grand Bazaar (Photo courtesy of Far West China)

Where to Choose, Where to Choose

There were so many amazing options to choose from that I struggled to make a final decision. I would think I had chosen only to wake up the next day and feel more uncertain than I had before choosing in the first place. It was a kind of buyer’s remorse: initially ecstatic followed the next day by feelings of wrong doing and regret. Eventually, using the factors of budget, weather, and time, I whittled away at a much longer list and got it down to three possibilities: Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China, Malaysia, and Vietnam. And after much deliberation I chose Xinjiang for my summer tour.

Xinjiang won in the end because it offered the most adventure, the greatest unknown. I love Vietnam and plan to ride the full length of the country some day. However, due to heavy summer rains and oppressive heat, I decided that summer is a poor time for that trip. Malaysia was enticing, too. It has a lot of great things to see and do and I hear the people are friendly and the food amazing. But it just wasn’t “wild” enough for my needs right now. It was too safe, too tame. It wasn’t “out there” enough. Like Vietnam, I plan to cycle there some day but it won’t be this summer. In the end, Xinjiang was the only choice for me.

Xinjiang in Brief

Xinjiang Autonomous Region is the western frontier of China and is the largest of the 32 administrative divisions that make up the country. At 1.66 million square kilometers, on its own it would be the 17^th largest country in the world after Libya and before Iran. Dense mountains, arid wastelands, and deadly seas of sand separate it from it’s neighbors. Led by the majority Uyghur people, Xinjiang is central Asian in culture, history, and location. They share little with their distant Han Chinese countrymen centered in the east and ruling from Beijing. This cultural distinction from the rest of China is one of the many things that draws visitors to this beautiful region.

I have already spent several hours poring over maps staking out towns and villages, and must-see attractions. I have created a route that satisfies all the itches that I hope this trip will scratch. The route reaches about 4000 kilometers to see all that I want to see. But I harbor no fantasy of riding all 4000 kilometers. Not in the time I have. My goal is to ride at least 3000 and use an occasional bus or train to make up the difference.

The Route

My trip will begin on July 5^th in the far west at the ancient city of Kashgar. Kashgar is one of the pearls of the Silk Road and a great cultural hearth. Long an important meeting place and center of exchange for east and west, Kashgar is home to the Grand Bazaar, the largest market in central Asia. It is also the site of the splendid Id Kah Mosque, and the Kashgar Old Town area which retains much of the rich cultural flavor of an age gone by.

From Kashgar I will proceed north first skirting the edge of the massive Taklamakan Desert before climbing into the tangled morass of rock that is the Tian Shan Mountains. Along the way, possible sites include ancient grottos that were home to thousands of early Buddhist texts, the Tian Shan Grand Canyon, and the vast and astounding grasslands of Ili. These grasslands, found high in the Tian Shan Mountains are some of the finest examples of alpine grasslands in Asia.

North to Kanas

The ride north will continue past beautiful lakes and mountains, interesting cultural sites, vast wastelands of sere parched earth, and sudden and unexpected forest until the road reaches the far northwest of Xinjiang and the gorgeous Kanas Lake. Kanas is not only a place of much natural beauty but also offers the opportunity to do a traditional yurt homestay with the indigenous Mongol and Kazakh people that call this region home.

From the northwest, the route will sweep an arc south east eventually passing near the eastern range of the Tian Shan and arrive in Turpan. Turpan (pronounced Tulufan) is the hottest place in China, where daytime temperatures routinely reach into the 40’s. The small city sits in the middle of the Turpan Depression. This is the lowest place in China. At 154 meters below sea level at Lake Ayding, it is the 4th lowest place on earth. Nearby is the Flaming Mountains. Here the red rock absorbs so much of the hot sun that surface temperatures reach above 70 degrees Celsius. Turpan is also home to many interesting cultural attractions such as Emin Minaret, the 2000-year-old Karez Irrigation system, and Jiaohe ancient city. Also, nearby to Turpan is Grape Valley. The grapes here are widely known as the sweetest in all of China.

From Turpan the plan is to head east across the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert to the small city of Barkol before ending in the oasis city of Kumul.

Lots to See? Better Take Lots of Camera Batteries

These are just a few of the many highlights that this journey through Xinjiang offers. They are too many to list here. And that doesn’t consider all the unknown things that are out there waiting for me to discover.

Last year I rode in Gansu and Qinghai. Many of my favorite moments were discovering the unknown wonders and beauty that I happened upon. They are not things that are marked on any maps or appear in guidebooks. Yet their beauty provides a type of wonder that the expected cannot.

That is not to take away from the many things that I already know from photos. In these cases, the excitement comes from wondering how they will look in person. How it will feel to see them? Can those grasslands really be as beautiful as they appear in pictures? Will I see the mountains that I have seen in pictures? Or will I see something different, perhaps even more wondrous than I imagined? Even in the known there is much that is unknown. And that is so exciting. And of course there are the people that I meet along the trail. People with warm smiles and open hearts. People that share a moment of their life with me that make any journey complete.

This should be an epic journey full of incredible sights and wonderful experiences. I can’t wait to begin this trip and share it with you. I hope you will all come along with me. Feel free to bring a friend.

See you soon in Xinjiang!

Goodbye Winter, Hello Spring. Welcome Back.

February 27, 2017 by Pierre 10 Comments

Winter comes just about everywhere. Even here in my Chinese hometown of Jianou, just a short hop north of the Tropic of Cancer, winter comes. To be sure, the very short and mild winter we get here doesn’t bear any resemblance to what most people in Canada would consider winter. Daytime temperatures spend little time below 10 Celsius and even during the coldest of times, nighttime lows are usually 5 degrees or more and only on those rarest of nights does it ever reach all the way down to zero. But regardless of recognition or lack thereof from my thick blooded Canadian brethren, here in southern China, winter does come.

Goodbye Winter — Heavy coats became the norm at the markets as winter set in. Regardless of how cold it got, I don’t recall seeing many people wearing gloves.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere There’s Signs.

You can see the signs of winter all around you. You can see it in the people as they are dressed in bundles of quilted garments that makes them resemble the Michelin Man. Others wear puffy down coats that early polar explorers would have envied. Students arrive for class so bundled in coats and scarves that little more than their eyes are visible. And the typical greeting at shops and restaurants is, Jintian hen leng- It is very cold today.

You can also see the signs of winter in nature. Like everywhere, the plant life is perfectly suited to the climate and the seasonal adjustments regardless of how minute the change may sometimes be. In fall, when the temperature is still worthy of shorts for me, the leaves begin to lose their green lustre, change briefly to dull red, and then find a resting place on the cooling earth, that grows lifeless, stale, and sere below.

A Time To Plant, A Time To Reap.

Soon after comes the fall harvest. Harvest time is one of my favorite times of year in China. It is a time of great activity and energy. The fields are full of teams of workers hurriedly harvesting, prepping, and loading crops onboard trucks. In other places, small warehouses full of women wrap oranges individually in small, usually red, plastic baggies and pack them into crates for shipping to markets near and far. In addition to the tea and bamboo that the Jianou region is known for throughout China, local oranges are a highly-sought after commodity. I can tell you from substantial experience, they are fantastic. At one point this fall, I had three different varieties of orange in my fridge. And yes, one of them was Mandarin.

When the last energy of harvest fades the once vibrant life-giving earth lies bare. The brown ridges of the field like a furrowed brow under worrying grey skies. Like the multitudes that work its fields, the earth rests. The winter sleep has come. But winter here is short, and soon the multitudes will return to the fields to prepare them for spring planting. As I write on the 27^th of February this work is well underway.

To Everything- Turn, Turn, Turn.

The signs of spring are all around. Daytime temperatures have been reaching into the high teens and low 20’s. There are still some cooler days, like the 3 days earlier this week where we had rain and highs of 6 and 7. But the colder days are fewer and fewer, and soon will pass entirely.

The light of the sun has begun to change to a welcoming golden glow, and the lustre is returning to the trees and plants. Soon, the spring rains will come and fill the rivers so full that they push against their banks. The spring crops will break through the crust of earth and breath their first of fresh rain filled air as the farmer tends his crop with the tender loving care of a parent in their perfect symbiotic relationship. Each relying on the other for their life and well-being. What you sow, you reap.

There Is A Season. Turn, Turn, Turn.

And so, the circle continues. Before long will we will be wrapped in the warm, nay, hot, embrace of summer. Fresh fruit and vegetables will available in such quantities and at such amazing prices it can scarce be believed. In this regard, I feel like I am in heaven. Man, I love the fresh produce here. It is to die for.

As I finish writing this post, drinking a cup of Tetley tea, the sun is burning through the seemingly ever present morning fog. At 10 a.m. on February 27^th, the temperature has already reached 12 on it’s way to a forecasted 19. I think it is time to pack my camera gear on my bike and head out into the countryside for a look around. See how things are going in the fields today. Winter is nearly over. I can feel it in my bones. I can feel it in my spirit. For not only the earth is filled with life at the onset of spring, we are too.

Until next time.

Spa Therapy: A Relaxing Afternoon in Jianou

November 14, 2016 by Pierre 4 Comments

It’s a beautiful, warm Autumn Sunday afternoon in Jianou. What can I do with it? I know! How about gather some friends together and head to the spa? That’s right. The spa. In China, a trip to the spa is a wonderful treat and rather inexpensive. So, what better way to spend a nice relaxing afternoon than have a good soak and an outstanding massage? Answer? There isn’t one.

Jianou Spa — The soak area. The pool closest was set at 43.1 degrees

Get Me to the Spa on Time

I finished off lunch around 12 and began to pack up to get ready. I was expecting to meet my friends Amy and Phillip and their 16-month-old daughter Daisy at around 1 p.m. At 12:32 I got a message from Phillip saying that Daisy was up from her nap and they would be leaving their place at around 1:30. I don’t know where my head was at, but I read it as “leaving our place at around 12:30.” I quickly finished getting ready and headed out the door. Don’t want to keep them waiting. D’oh!

After packing my bag, donning shoes, and riding the elevator down 14 stories I burst purposefully from my apartment building. I strode to the main road and in a short time I had flagged a taxi, negotiated a price, and was on my way to the spa. I was listening to Eddie Vedder sing Guaranteed on my playlist. It was a perfect song for riding in the car with the window down and the warm breeze of a 24 degree fall day blowing through the window. It was one of those moments of utter peace and tranquility that we all occasionally feel.

China is a place where the streets are usually full of noise and chaos. It is a rare moment indeed when you can glide down a busy street and enjoy the feeling of the warm wind and become awash in feelings of complete ease. It was a beautiful moment. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled as the song entered its lengthy acoustic solo outro. It is a gorgeous piece of music that touches me deep inside. It is music that I can become lost in. As I finished that long slow exhale I could feel the last of the tension leaving my shoulders. My mind was becoming quiet and calm, and…

BEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP!!! The insipid horn of an impatient motorist screamed in through my window. It ripped the solitude from my grasp with horrible callousness and set my heart racing. “You son of a b***h!” I thought as I fought the urge to extend one or both middle fingers. “I oughta take that horn and shove it up your a**e!! You motherless piece of shoe poop. You are the fly in my ointment, the sand in my Vaseline, the gum on my shoe, the booger on my fing…” Wait. Where was I? Oh, yeah. Quiet and calm. Humph. So much for that.

A short time later I arrived at the spa, paid the driver, and bound excitedly in the door. It was when I entered and didn’t see my friends that I checked my messages and came to the realization that I had misread Phillip’s earlier message and was quite a bit early. Oops. Instead of waiting outside I decided to take advantage of the extra time and enjoy an extra long soak.

Once you enter the spa you are greeted by a spacious and well decorated foyer that houses both the front desk and the shoe check. First, I went to the front desk to get a numbered bracelet and numbered shoe clip. The number on the bracelet is both your shoe storage number and your locker number. The next step is to check your shoes and get a pair of rubber flip flops. Then, you enter the change room. Once you enter here, an attendant will lead you to your locker and use first yours and his bracelet in sequence to unlock the door. I like the security of this arrangement. It means that no one that works there can open your locker. They must have your bracelet as well as their own. It is a very comforting policy.

Then comes the walk of shame.

Abandon All Clothes, Ye That Enter Here

I call it the walk of shame, but it isn’t really. It just kind of feels that way. After you change out of your clothes at your locker take what feels like a long walk to the showers past one, sometimes two, smiling attendants, while wearing nothing but your bracelet and rubber flip flops. It’s a little awkward. In truth, the walk isn’t that long. It just feels that way.

After the walk of shame comes a shower. Then it’s time for a soak. This area has two pools, a dry sauna, an area for drying your hair, and a tea room. It also has a drying area where you can find towels and a uniform of shorts and a tee shirt to don if you are heading on to the massage area.

It’s Like a Sauna in Here

The first and smaller of the two pools is the hot pool, usually sweltering in a water temperature of 42 to 43 degrees Celsius. Today the pool was set at an especially hot 43.1 degrees. The water stings when you first submerge yourself in it. It does get a little more comfortable in time but I find there is always a little bit of a bite, but it’s very therapeutic. After sitting in it for a few minutes I can feel tension disappearing and my mind becoming quiet and my body relaxed. I sat in the pool submerged to my chin for as long as I could until I started to feel like most of my strength had left me. Then it was time to move to the second pool.

The second pool is much larger than the first. Despite being a temperature of 39 degrees Celsius, it felt nice and cool compared to the first. This pool also offers some water jet massage areas. There is one that massages your neck, and one for your feet. Another is a lounge chair style area that massages all along your body. There is even one where you sit on a perforated steel plate where water jets out and massages your butt! I recommend keeping your legs closed fellas. It can get a little rough down there.

Some kids playing under the bridge. When they spotted us they quickly leapt to their feet and began yelling to us in the English they had learned at school

After you have your fill of the pools you can enjoy the sauna, have some tea, or dry off, don some clothes, and head off in search of a massage. Before you reach the massage, there is an area where you can sit in a nice comfortable chair and relax and cool down. You can even recline the chair and have a nap if you desire. After that, there is an area where food is served buffet style during the lunch and dinner hours. One of the great things about this spa is that there are no time limits. You can enjoy the services for as long as you like, and you can eat as much food as you want. The only thing that has a limit is the massage.

Get a massage. You Know You Knead It

On this day, there were three of us, so Amy, Phillip, and I all had our massages simultaneously in a three-bed room. To help Amy and Phillip relax and enjoy their massage to the fullest, the staff are more than willing to take care of adorable little Daisy and entertain her for the duration of the massage. I think they look forward to it. Daisy seems to enjoy it too. So, it’s a win-win situation.

The massage is 60 minutes of bliss. My masseuse today actually got on my back and massaged my back and legs with her shins and knees. It was so good at times that I was rippled with cold shivers and covered in goosebumps.

When your massage is finished, you are welcome to stay and enjoy the room for an unlimited time. You can bring in food and watch a show or movie on the big screen TV. I have been told that you can sleep there if you want. And all of this for the grand price of $22 Canadian dollars. To me, that is such a little price to pay to have such an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon with friends, and to walk away from it feeling so invigorated. It is without a doubt one of my favorite things to do in Jianou.

All the Tea in China: A Ride to the Tea Plantations of Jianou

October 19, 2016 by Pierre 14 Comments

Jianou is a small city tucked away in the mountains of Fujian province China in the heart of tea and bamboo country. There is also some rice farming in the area but it is tea and bamboo that stokes the fires of the beast. Fujian province as a whole is home to some of the finest tea in the world.

China Tea — A small gazebo stands amid the tea trees. Xiaoqiao, Jianou, China

The main reason I moved to Jianou from my previous home of Anhai was because of the access to the countryside for cycling. While there were many redeeming qualities to living in Anhai, in the end the lack of quality cycling opportunities nearly drove me mad as a hatter. So, when I decided it was necessary to move I fixed my eye firmly on the Chinese countryside. I made calls to three recruiters. On the second call I found Jianou. I had ridden through Jianou last fall while on a bike trip and remember thinking then that it looked like a nice place to live. So, after an interview, a few short negotiations, and a couple of days to consider the offer it was a done deal. I was goin’ down to the country. It felt as though fate had thrown us together.

So, far the 6 weeks that I have spent here have been great. It took a little while to shake off the inevitable ennui that followed such an exciting adventure as my summer cycling tour, but of late I am bouncing back into form. I have made some good friends with the other foreign teachers that we have here and have made friends with several local people as well. And of course, I have been enjoying the opportunity to get out and ride scenic country roads on a regular basis. I have even been invited to join one of the local bike clubs, and recently I had my first ride with them.

It was an absolute joy to meet the group early on a weekday morning for a 60k round-trip ride to Xiaoqiao. It was a fast paced ride through the lovely countryside as we rapidly skirted by many tea plantations stapled to the steep hillsides. We grimaced with the effort of pushing our limits as we trudged to the top of some long steep climbs, and tested our nerve as we raced at speeds in excess of 60 kilometers per hour down the back sides. What a magnificent day. A great ride with new friends. There is little in life to compare to the tremendous vibe of such a simple day.

When riding in a group like that it is difficult to take many photos. I did get a few, but there were some that it was just not possible to get. Hey, no problem right? I cycled there once, I could easily go back. So, that’s what I did a few days later when I went back to photograph some of the tea terraces that we passed during our ride.

As I mentioned in the opening paragraph, tea from Fujian province is among the best teas in the world. It is also home to the most expensive tea in the world. Just about a 1-hour drive from Jianou is the tourist city of Wuyishan. Wuyishan is home to some startling karst formations but is also home to Da Hong Pao tea which sells for over $1400 for a single gram! That works out to around $10,000 for a pot of tea!! You best not waste a drop. The tea plantation that I visited doesn’t have tea anywhere near as valuable as that, but they are quality teas just the same.

When I arrived there I wandered around the trails and pathways a while as I sought to get a feel for the place. I grabbed a few early shots checked the light and made some adjustments. As I shot I wandered further from the entrance and soon found myself deeper into the hills. The peace and quiet that I found was a thing to be thoroughly enjoyed. I continued to capture images and soon found myself getting into a groove, carefully composing the images and making adjustments for exposure. The light was mostly very flat and grey with an occasional short lived burst of blue. Not a great light to work with so I deduced that my best bet for some quality shots was to try to convey the mood.

A short time later, I stumbled upon a crew harvesting leaves from a hillside. I took a couple of photos at a distance and stood back and watched as the group of three men and two women executed their duties smoothly and seamlessly.

Many people that know me probably won’t believe it when I say this, but I do struggle occasionally with shyness. Especially when it comes to bringing my camera into people’s midst to take photos of them as they go about their business. On this day I decided that I would not let that shyness deter me from getting the images that I wanted and I trudged up the steep slippery slope where they working and with a few bumbling words of Chinese to tell them who I was and why I was there I settled in to take a few photos.

The men and women that I met there were gracious and more than a little bewildered, astounded even, by my presence. They smiled and laughed as I positioned myself among the bushes to try and get the photos I wanted. When I felt that I had accomplished my goal I bid them farewell and with some smiles and a few waves I was on my way again.

This woman worked the end of the row and collected any dropped leaves as the rrest of the crew made another pass — This woman worked the end of the row and collected any dropped leaves as the rest of the crew made another pass

I began to head for my bike to get home for lunch and get ready for a late afternoon class. I stopped for a few more shots on the way, including some of the many tombs that are dug into the hillside. Next it was onto the bike and back to the road for a quick dash home.

As I rode toward home I was struck by how great I felt after the mornings adventure. I was smiling ear-to-ear as I raced down a big hill in pursuit of lunch and a hot shower. It was so wonderful to be able to enjoy an adventure in the morning before going to work in the afternoon, and to be able to do it so close to home was he icing on the cake.