D39: 吴店 → 安居

July 15, 2022

There's a suggestive lump where the bits ought to be but that's all

In most respects, this was a great day. While still quite definitely "summer" weather in an age of climate change, the heatwave that had kicked my butt had sufficiently subsided that I wasn't risking heat stroke by being out and about in the middle of the day, and I was back on small roads where there were once again things to look at.

None of them were particularly fresh or interesting things but compared to what I'd been getting with truck routes and civilized villages and all that malarkey, having something other than colorful swathes of planted wildflowers to look at was—so far as I'm concerned—a major improvement.

Although I knowingly skipped the Biggish Tourist Temple nearby and unknowingly skipped a historic street apparently full of old buildings, a stop on the way out of town to investigate a peculiar residential building near my hotel earned me my 7th 100,000 view TikTok of the Tour.

The white and red tile and the reflective teal glass of the windows dated it to sometime between the mid 80s and the mid 90s. Appearing to be only two apartments (maybe four) and two shops, the fact that it was literally built crossing a road made it seem to be the sort of thing that China's often quite zealous urban management offices would have long since insisted on knocking down. That it not only took up obvious public space but also managed to mix elements of a paifang (ceremonial gate) with the winding dragon columns of a southern Chinese temple just made it that much more peculiar. Placed along a straight line of sight from the local Touristified Temple Complex, I can only assume that it has (or had) some sort of connection with the temple but, whatever the origins were, the fact of the matter was it was a hideously ugly mismatch of styles and materials located in a very very wrong place.

Long Distance Coach Tickets and Barber Shop

"Taking part in the collective medical insurance program benefits the nation, benefits the people, benefits yourself" and "male or female, whatever the child is, it is the future of the people"

Resolutely strike down and refrain from any leniency in dealing with the organization of evil cults like Eastern Lightning¹

In the video, I didn't particularly mention my absolute horror at the aesthetics. Notwithstanding my true fondness for very badly made things, I generally save my sarcasm and public disdain for more modern things. Besides which, the fact of it being ugly helped to make it more interesting rather than less. In any case, it seems that wanghong (even ones like me with a mere 43,000 followers) don't often make a habit of posting videos from this town and everyone had to come by the comments section and share to their friends "hey look, we're on Douyin!"

A squigglety wigglety line to the east and south from here took me through the sort of deep countryside where I start thinking about rationing my water because I still haven't successfully replaced the small bidon² and whatever drinks bottles I'm currently carrying in my panniers won't take hot water fresh from the kettle.

Former courthouse (closed for about a decade, built sometime in the 80s) that does not use Sino-Greco-Roman Revivalist

A lot of school gates are decorated with either a pencil or a brush pen.

In the town where I don't spend the night, I get turned and twisted around on account of dangerous bridges and newly built ones and one that's just plain missing which leads to me finding all sorts of brilliant stuff like an old hospital that probably was using traditional characters on their gate as a style thing (it really didn't look older than the 70s), a supply cooperative with peeling concrete calligraphy "take grain as the backbone in consolidating the base levels of the economy", and a metal placard from 1992 for a Clean Household.

I have dunch at the first open restaurant I find, shoveling the rice that I usually don't eat into my mouth and practically inhaling the food. The restaurant wanting me to scan in is also when I confirm that the Hubei Health Code for Foreigners needs me to reapply for it every single time I use it. Luckily, they don't actually check that my scanning in succeeded or that I have a green code as my perpetual status of "not yet confirmed identity" will mean I remain gray coded for the whole province.

Old village houses, one with just the first character of an old slogan barely visible

Ford style bridge on top of a dam. Photographed from the top of the modern bridge.

Small suspension bridge over the expressway

From here, I'm on the National Road and—since I wasted sunlight in eating—riding in the dark with my headlight. It's alright as there really isn't anything to see at this hour and the trucks that take this route mostly don't want to drive at night.

First hotel in Anju is more than I want to pay. On my way to the likely candidate found on Maps, I see a group of men playing cards on the sidewalk outside an early 90s guesthouse named for the bus station that is no longer there and end up getting a room there.

The beds are rock hard and I'm reasonably sure that their computer registration's automatic facial recognition scanner (which correctly identified my age if not my gender) doesn't actually register me but I've made sure they have all my details in case anyone official wants or needs them³ and I honestly don't care.

I do believe these are the first citrus trees of the trip

I sat here eating popsicles for like an hour. The old folks were very amused by me.

¹ I have very little experience with Eastern Lightning outside of what is reported in the Chinese media. About 10 or 15 years ago, they used to have a particularly pushy missionary in Haikou who insisted on shoving flyers at every foreigner; also, one of the Chinese girls studying at the quasi-illegal Bible College told a story of being kidnapped and held by them for about a week. However, this was after the publicized stories of kidnappings and other experience with this same woman marks her an unreliable narrator

² Judging from the many bike shops I've had an excuse to stop by, it seems that the sheer variety in drinking vessels available online has made these no longer a thing for bricks and mortar stores.

³ Quite randomly, I recently got a message from a hotel I stayed at over a year ago asking for my phone number because the local police wanted it

The most interesting thing about this Cultural Heritage Protection Site for someone who died 2,000 years ago is the sign. There isn't even a museum.

First hotel seen in the dark, I didn't like their prices

An almost 30 year old sign telling visitors to take care of their valuables

First "ankle breaker" shower of the trip where the squat toilet is part of the shower stall

Today's ride: 67 km (42 miles)
Total: 2,324 km (1,443 miles)

Rate this entry's writing	Heart	2
Comment on this entry	Comment	0