Monday, November 29, 2010

Day 88 Thu 23/09 - Xia Zhuangzhen to Xia Guan

Today Distance : 93.6 km        Total : 4565.8 km
Today Weather : 20 - 33C      Sunny
Time On Bike : 6 hr  48 min
Ave Speed : 13.7 kmh             Max : 56.0 kmh
Ave Climb : 3%                       Max : 9%
Trip Altitude : 925 m                Max : 2242 m
Today Spend : 61 rmb             Total : 986.0 rmb

A day of long riding with mixed terrains,uphills,downhills,bad roads,good roads, passing a number of small villages and farming fields of paddies,corn and tobacco. Talking about tobacco, on my observation since entering China, 7 out of 10 Chinese are smokers and mostly are male, very seldom I see women smokers, even in the city, maybe the culture here is , young women smokers very hard to find boyfriend, and the married women smokers get scolding or may even get divorce from their husbands.Unlike their European counterparts, female smokers more than the male. There are a wide range of tobacco brands in the market in terms of quality and prices. The price for a pack can range from 2 - 100 yuan over.While quality of  a cigarette can be very personal, the expensive one might not suit your taste,so basically burning money, the more i look at it ,is for showing off their status, even the not so rich. And the Chinese smokers like to offer cigarettes to show their friendliness, especially in situation when they need helps.Understand this norm, so it is wise for me to carry them while on the road. There is one place I passed particularly caught my attention is the making of granite slabs for graveyard, the process include breaking,sawing,polishing,carving and painting.They are huge and tall with prices from 5000 to over 20000 yuan a piece. Soon I came to a superb wide road with lots of decorated carving giant stones of chinese writings,indications are that I am close to Dali.As usual I don't intend to stay in the city at this late hour, I prefer to explore in the morning. Xia Guan is my stay tonight, I saw a " binguan" sign on other side of road but it was quite hidden behind a truck workshop, 35 yuan for a std room, no towel,no soap but with aircond and tv.
                                                                 Tobacco farm
                                                          Harvested tobacco leafs
                                                                 Cow homes
                                                                   Granite industry
                                                                 Polishing
                                                  Granite caving and painting
                                                 They are huge and tall
                               Rock decoration on a superb wide road to Dali
                                                   Telecom tower up on the hill
                                          Hidden hotel in Xia Guan behind a workshop

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hi ming,

The photo is beautiful, Our great Brother Ming, keep the photo coming, feel like enjoying the trip with you through your update. keep going and take care of yourself. bye ! from all the TTK from Subang Jaya.

TY Chong