D36: 邓州 → 黄集

July 11, 2022

#1 Rule of Traveling: Always stop at any food shop with an unusually long line

I had a very late start on account of translations for the Haikou Foreign Affairs Office regarding the current Covid outbreak and closed management¹ of Haidian Island², then a trip into the historic downtown where most nearly everything was either "not very historic" or "currently the focus of a massive renovation project".

Then, with the exception of a detour which takes me to a astonishingly not locked temple that I then decide not to visit because I'm uncomfortable leaving my bike outside, I spend the whole of the day on the Truck Route.

Ye olde historic street, this might have had old buildings on it 3 or 4 years ago

A truly stupendous door found while trying to find some way to the pagoda on the other side

Noticing similar studs on a temple door later in the day, I wonder what purpose they serve

It's flat. It's mostly straight. It's narrow enough that the truck traffic cannot go so fast as to freak me out while also being wide enough that I've got a reasonable amount of space between me and them. However, it's a truck route.

Unless you are the sort of person to be fascinated by gas stations which not only offer a free car wash with a full tank but also have washing machines for your laundry, there really isn't much to see.

Being as I am the sort of person who finds the little things like gas station amenities or the first scrawled "guns for sale³" of the trip to be interesting, then there are in fact things of interest.

Washing machines and showers at a gas station, only available for customers (but very polite about asking people who haven't gotten a fill-up not to use the facilities)

I would love to know what was going on with this particular town and their rather dramatic Closing of All the Petrol Stations

However, even with my finding that sort of thing interesting, there is very little that is actually fresh or new or exciting.

A mostly painless crossing into Hubei is, strangely enough, expedited by my not being able to get the local Health Code to work. They aren't doing swabs at the border⁴ and the guy manning the checkpoint is just confirming that I've scanned the code, and that the result which pops up is not red or yellow. I have the scanned the code and the resulting ERROR MESSAGE is neither red nor yellow, therefore I am good to go.

Unexpected Furniture Series (take note of the two posters in the background)

Apparently this region has a Lei Feng award which this bank has won. Knowing this doesn't actually alleviate my confusion.

"Controlling population growth will allow society to progress"; and "practicing birth control will help the local economy flourish"

I was well amused by this apparently closed restaurant having a bit of handwritten English to welcome customers

Somehow all the vaguely acceptable looking hotels in the first town on the Hubei side are on the wrong side of the street and I'll pass four or five before I reach a good spot for a u-turn. Stopping at the first one on my way back, I'm treated to an experience that balances out so many of the shitty hotel experiences.

Initially thinking I'm from Xinjiang, the hotel owner quotes me 70 (instead of the 80 his wife will say 5 minutes later) and defends to her his choice to give me a lower price because "I thought she was Uighur, and people don't treat the Uighurs fair."

My video regarding my initial copy of this particular Rural Safe Electricity Usage mosaic tends to really impress people with how much I know about Chinese culture when, in reality, I'm really just being a pretentious art history snob

About 15 years ago, a man and two of his sons contributed what was then a shit ton of money to pave some of the village roads. One of his grandkids studying in the UK contacted me after seeing my video about the dedication stone.

The traffic police's rather polite warning that the speed limit will decrease in 200 meters is a great example of the difference in social status (at the time this sign was made) between the traffic police and the average car owner

For some people, afternoon nap time is a sacred occurrence

Since the exchange of money happens after watching Tom & Jerry with the grandkids and getting fed dinner, I scan 80. "No, no, that was just out leftovers," they protest and I'm sent to my room with a can of "western" beer so bad I pour it in the toilet and a very large not quite ripe watermelon.

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¹ Closed management is different from static management. Under static management, people can't leave their communities. Under closed management, places within a region are allowed to be open but people and goods are not allowed to leave

60s or 70s building made with structural brick

Some of the great early 90s architecture seen throughout the day

² Haidian Island is one of two river delta islands at the north end of Haikou.

³ I wouldn't have thought I was anywhere close enough to where hunting was a possibility though. Assuming it's not a scam, it could be a modified nail gun or black powder.

⁴ Yet

One of the few truly interesting things about truck routes is the sheer number of mid 90s buildings they have. While I'm no fan of the blue glass, white tile aesthetic, I have to admit it's far more creative than a lot of modern stuff.

Modern slogans for a modern world: Good girls don't get caught up in brushing schemes. Good boys don't chat naked.

The grandkids checking out the drilled pennies I gave them

Today's ride: 50 km (31 miles)
Total: 2,144 km (1,331 miles)

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