February 17, 2016
Lingxiuxiang, Wenmingxiang & Litianxiang
up & down on the S324
After marching north from Chenkou, the Reds went through the second row of Nationalist blockhouses somewhere between there and Rucheng. The mountainous terrain proved a challenge (tell me about it!), but they had no fighting to do. It isn’t clear where they actually went and the next places on my Long March list of towns were Baishidu and Yizang, something like 100km to the west of Rucheng.
That's too far for one day and it's anybody’s guess where I will end up today. When I leave the warmth of the hotel room all that's on my mind is getting some steamed mantou.
The temperature is just something like 5 degrees.
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It's just as well it's an early start as it takes 6km of riding around before the S324 is found. In that time I find a mantou stand and have three, plus a couple of hot soya milks. They take the sting out of the damp, mist-shrouded morning.
The S324 follows a river valley west for a short while and for the first couple of kilometres it's under construction. The widened stretch of road has no top surface, but then at the crest of a gradual climb a sign mentions the 324 and points left, so I take it and it turns out to be the original route.
Old concrete markers are battered, but it's a bucolic treat with not much traffic. And by now the sun has burned off most of the mist and patches of blue are starting to appear, just as the weather forecast predicted. Life is good.
It'd be nice to have a dollar for every time I hear the word ‘wigoreng’ – foreigner. It's repeated as I cycle past farm houses, shops and by riders of motorbikes and scooters. Clearly I'm an unusual sight around here.
It's tough day. One climb is a killer. It only lasts 4km, but I have to walk a couple of them. My warm, fleece bottoms are cooking me. There's a bus shelter right at the top where I can change in some sort of privacy, so my knees finally get some fresh air again with my shorts on.
The descent drops me in the small own of Lingxiuxiang. I have a cold drink outside a shop and people soon gather around. As I sit and eat some kumquat, a woman gives me a pear, then a younger one from Guangdong who speaks English asks the usual questions, then her sister gives me a hard boiled egg. It's a nice, relaxed interlude, sat in the sunshine, being the centre of small town chit chat.
The gist is Litianxiang has a small hotel and is about 30km away, and half way there is a town called Wenmingxiang, a place marked on my map. Everything is falling into place.
There are more long hills to tackle before reaching Wenmingxiang, where the 324 forms the town’s main street. It's a busy little place and again the sound of ‘foreigner’ can be heard as my wheels go slowly past shops and cars. I don’t bother to brake, which is just as well as it's almost 4:30 when I finally roll into Litianxiang, after so many climbs that I’ve lost count.
Today's ride: 65 km (40 miles)
Total: 937 km (582 miles)
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