Ming Bling

Parts 1 to 4

It's hot outside.

But here in this shady stone café it's cool.

Cool, and cool.

The iced coffee helps too. (Note the fake Ray Bans).

Great spot to people watch.

I've been strolling around marvelling at this incredible small ancient city, Jianshui. Some of the architecture takes my breath away. Most of it was constructed during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), although the original town was founded a whopping six hundred years before that.

The Ming period is regarded as one of the greatest eras in the history of China. The development of agriculture and trade brought huge wealth to the kingdom, and the many legacies included the flourishing of art and music, huge leaps in medicine and production techniques, and, of course, the construction of glorious cities like this one.

The back alleys here are swirling and bustling at certain times of the day.

But they're all dead quiet now, during the afternoon heat.

It was a big big day yesterday, on paper my most difficult cycling day of the whole trip.

But off paper it was actually totally fine. Big, but fine.

I way prefer to live off paper. I mean, the paper thing's becoming more and more problematic these days, as I can hardly use a pen anymore anyway, which I guess is probably true for all of us.

My legs constantly seem be getting stronger, as the hills get bigger, steeper and longer. They don't seem to phase me so much anymore, the hills that is, I just take it easy, not really thinking about the climbs so much.

I just lock in to whatever gear I need to be in, my legs do their thing, and my mind then inadvertently wanders all over the place.

It's such a blessing, as I get to have all this time to be alone.

Lately I've needed to plan a few things in advance, as I wanna meet up with some dear dear people, and I've been trying to work out the best way to arrange everything so it suits everyone. Unfortunately this isn't always possible of course, despite my best intentions.

Leaving Yuanyang yesterday, the back road began to climb steeply almost immediately, rising quickly higher and higher, and eventually I was perched way above the Red River. And while the road and the hills rose quickly, I rose slowly.

The Yellow Gate Bridge

There weren't many settlements on the way, and all were small, just a few old houses and farms.

It was a killer ascent of 1800m, without any downhills, and then a further 200m later in the day.

Kitschy cladding

I stopped for some cold drinks at a tiny hole-in-the-wall, and chatted with a village guy, who was busy smoking a big bamboo pipe. Yeah, I had a puff.

Then he gave me a pile of mulberries. So sweet.

Him, and the fruit.

There was a section of roadworks which was really tough, because the road  was still heading up steeply. At one point I had to ride on sharp gravelly bitumen for a few kms, poor Bewdy's limbs got coated in hot sticky tar.

I passed through more bamboo country.

Close to the top of the big hill I stopped for lunch, at a sort of grimy, depressed sort of town. There were lots of people just hanging around, it was hard to know who they were, or what their situation is, but they were poor, dishevelled, and not very smiley. Wish I could speak Mandarin, so I could understand what actually's going on there.

I could still get a delicious bowl of noodle soup though, and baked tofu. And lots of sugary drinks.

Further up the hill there was a crowd waiting outside the prison, maybe someone big was being released.

It was super dry up there.

I finally made it to the top of the big hill. It took me six hours to get up, including a short couple of stops. It felt like a big feat to climb like that almost all day, on a loaded bike.

And it was a different world on the other side, which high passes have a tendency to create, I've noticed.

Red earth

Yeah, bananas in this type of soil. Seems weird, somehow.

As I descended I passed by, and then through, huge areas of glasshouses and food producing areas.

It got tricky as I approached Jianshui, because, as usual, I'd timed my run so I was entering at peak hour, the approach backroad was narrow, potholey and hilly, and everyone was rushing to get home.

I was also dead, from such a huge day.

But of course I eventually found my tiny little family hotel, in an interesting district in the newer part of town. Well, new in the sense that it's not about twelve hundred years old.

Jianshui

I love my room here.

All that was missing was my imaginary girlfriend/travelling companion, getting around in patterned flares, Indian sandals, and a psychedelic hippy top.

Oh, oops, wrong era.

That was last century.

My body's no longer in its teens.

But my mind .... well ...

So off I strolled, as dusk dawned.

My street

Two and three-wheelers

I wound through some laneways towards the old city

Plenty of hangovers in those vats

Yes. Walmart. Sad but true.

Fancy bakery

Entrance gate to one part of the old town.

The old city here is huge. Even in the Ming days the city was large, by the standards of the day. These days there's still a whole number of districts with incredibly interesting and very old architecture.

There's also parts of the city that have more recently been refurbished, but in a good way. The character of the place has been tastefully preserved, in a much more low key way than in some other famous ancient towns in China, like Lijiang in the northwest for example, which I visited many years ago.

Yeah, also sad but true. I gotta say though, it was pretty empty, and I haven't seen a busy Maccas anywhere in the country so far (not that I've seen that many of them tbh). There's so much tasty cheap food around that it's pretty hard for Maccas to compete.

Chaoyang Gate, a beautiful and imposing eastern entrance to the central part of  the old city. The gate was modelled on the Gate of Heavenly Peace, in Beijing.

Outside the gate I met Ray, a New Yorker, we chatted and strolled for ages, while his Chinese wife and their daughter shopped. They all live in NY, but come to China for a month or two every year, and stay in Nanning for a few weeks, a city northeast of here, which is where his wife's from.

He immediately told me he's a news junkie, and that he hates Donald Trump, and the influence he's had in his home country. I told him many Australians are absolutely incredulous that a guy like Trump could even get close to being elected in the US.

But then I remembered Tony Abbott and Scomo. I told Ray that in my view the armies of very intelligent people who've worked tirelessly to manipulate millions of voters and cloud facts, and who now have global reach through social media, have definitely also muddied the cyberwaters of the US's great so-called pacific ally, Australia.

Ray was a bit lonely, as he doesn't speak Mandarin (tut tut, after all these years!), and was very happy to be able to fly through some English conversation for a change. If you called Newyorkese English, that is.

We later sat and had a cawfee, but he had to go, as they were on a tour, and he had somewhere to be. Ray had no idea where he was going that night, nor anywhere on his seven day tour. "It's all taken care of," he said to me, disinterestedly.

I continued on my beer quest over dinner, then strolled through the back streets home.

Ancient Treasures

I've been so blown away by the beauty of this town.

The next day I spent the whole day marvelling at it.

Brekky across the road from my hotel, cheap and delicious. I'm eating a lot of eggy noodle soups, you might have noticed.

It's really common around here for people to sit around a table with a charcoal griller, and eat small pieces of grilled tofu. There's a lot of tofu variations in China, I can tell you. I've had so many already.

Some of Jianshui is old and run down, some is being knocked down and replaced with things like this:

But a huge part of it has been preserved, and that's not just in the tourist parts, it's also in the old residential areas, people still live and work in those old buildings.

Raise the red lanterns

Urban centres I've visited in China are really a great place to ride bikes. The thing is, a huge number of people here ride electric scooters (motorbikes), or electric pushbikes, and so the whole place is set up for them, there's bike lanes everywhere.

The amazing thing is that in many places I've seen so far, China's really gone electric. By my straw polling, around 99% of the motorbikes in this town are electric, and quite a large proportion of the cars too. It's so great to see.

And it has a huge impact on the vibe of the place.

Firstly, it's quiet!

It's the first time in my life I've been riding in busy traffic in Asia and it's not earpoppingly noisy. It just can't be compared to, say, a city in India, or Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi, where the noise can grind you down. It's so much more relaxing here.

Although there is a down side - you can no longer rely on your ears to know what's going on. Electric vehicles zip around from all directions, silently and quite fast, and you've really gotta watch out, especially as a pedestrian.

And the second important thing about having all those electric vehicles around is that the air's so much cleaner. It's a treat.

Arty electricity enclosures.

There's beautiful ancient gates and walls all over the place.

And temples. This was a beautiful Buddhist one, small and lovingly maintained.

Looks like the bassist in some Romanian metal band.

Street after street in the old town is lined with beautiful Ming buildings, renovated and converted into businesses, shops, restaurants, and private homes. Loads of trees have been planted all over the place, long enough ago to make the place shady, cool and relaxed.

Later in the afternoon I explored a bit of the newer city, on my way to a famous ancient bridge.

It was dry and hot, and totally different out in the newer part of the city.

Twin Dragons Bridge, a Qing masterpiece, built in the 1700s, and added to in the following century.

I strolled through some laneways and found this little market.

There were lots of people selling baked stuff. Of course I bought some, didn't I.

They've got their ducks lined up

Note the helmet

House guardians

Once when I went to China I travelled to Tibet. I bought a hat like this, and a big warm Chinese army coat. I took the stars off though, you know, being in Tibet'n'all, and it being army clobber.

Wish I had some pics.

Even the womanholes have been carved.

The city is famous for its earthenware pots, and loads of shops and stalls are selling it.

These guys on the right are actually cigarette holders, you put your fag in the hole at one end and suck away.

Now come on, that's not what I meant.

It may feel like you're doing the same shit over and over, but every round you're a little higher and a little wiser.

The place was crazy at night. Thousands of people everywhere, all eating, drinking, walking, hangin' out. It was super interesting people watching, as usual. And there were one or two electric scooters around.

Hoop game for the kids. And the adult kids.

Alex in Wonderland

Herbal medicines

At night there was a light and sound show at the eastern gate. Loads of people sat around and watched. Shame I couldn't understand a word.

Confucius Temple

The Jianshui Confucius temple is one of the most important Confucian complexes in China, and is a sight to behold. There's loads of beautiful temples within the grounds, educational facilities, living quarters, a huge lake, gardens, and a million nooks and crannies.

The temple itself was constructed in 1285, and has been repaired and expanded over fifty times over the centuries. During the Ming and Qing dynasties it was the cultural and educational centre of southern Yunnan.

Confucius, in case you don't remember, was around in the 5th century BC, and the influence of his teachings is still widely felt in east Asia today, as well as in many other places. He is regarded as one of the most important and influential philosophers in Chinese history.

Confucius (or Kong Si in Chinese), taught the value of a strong sense of personal (and government) morality, correct social relationships, justice, kindness and sincerity. He taught that it was a leader's responsibility to rule with virtue and compassion.

And so, as a co-Guardian of Mother Earth I hereby decree that all world leaders are now required to graduate from Confucian training with High Distinctions or above in the subjects of Virtue, Kindness, Appreciation of Nature, Sincerity, Empathy, Generosity and Compassion.

Otherwise you're not gettin' the keys to the palace, ya wankers.

It's so chilled wandering about the gardens here in the middle of the day. There's no one much around, everyone's having lunch or asleep.

Wisdom rays were everywhere in there

The man himself

And some trusty disciples

Holy water. Yep, it ain't just a Christian thing.

The woodwork everywhere is so elaborate and beautiful

Carved temple doors

Prayer cards. These are prayers or wishes that people are seeking, either for themselves, or for their loved ones.

Desire and hope are alive and well in this world.

Circular portals. Passing through them is cosmic, because when you reach the other side you're suddenly no longer the same person, but are thrust into a rebirth, as a new avatar of yourself.

It's true. Try it if you don't believe me.

Beautiful flowers. They're real too. Real plastic. Fake flowers aren't frowned upon in Asia as they are almost everywhere in the West. It's only in hip retro op shops and grannies' flats that they're still acceptable.

Confucian classroom

Temple rituals, from old photos and paintings in the complex.

Confucius getting around, back in the day

Original rammed earth building

It got really tiring becoming a new person all the time.

The temple also produces its own earthenware.

Colourful joss sticks

This is an old wiry cypress. I bet it's seen a thing or two in its life. When you stand underneath it it lovingly refracts wisdom into your heart and soul, and, if you concentrate, you can actually see the wisdom rays entering your being-portal as rainbows.

To my great good fortune, I happened upon an amazing traditional music performance while I was there. The musicians were dressed in all their ancient garb, which perfectly matched the age of the players and their instruments.

I chatted to this friendly guy afterwards. He was very keen to pose for me, so I obliged with a portrait. He played a type of erhu, a two-stringed instrument, this particular one was pitched very low. He was basically the bassist.

I won't carp on about how many fish there were in this massive pond, but it was at least a carple of thousand.

These statues represent the Confucian graduates receiving their exam results back in the day. I really wish I could still grow a piggy like that.

And the successful ones got to go on a horse parade through the city, the little heroes.

Zhu Family Garden

At the end of the day I visited the most beautiful of ancient residences, a magnificent mansion and gardens, lovingly built by several generations of the Zhu family, over many hundreds of years. It truly is a stunning place.

Making more pots

Sitting by this pond I met a lovely bunch of Western women speaking French. We chatted for ages. Ursula is from Berlin, but lives in Bodrum in Turkey. Munia is Algerian. There was a woman who has close connections in Kyrgyzstan, and a few who live in France, but they're all French speakers, and know each other from University days. They've all come on a trip to Vietnam and China together.

We all got along famously. I get the feeling I'm gonna meet up with some of them again. I hope so. Sometimes you just get that vibe. In any case I may well be in their hoods at some point in the not too distant future, it would be so nice to meet up again.

They left, and I wandered around the beautiful mansion. There was hardly anyone there at that time of day, everyone had gone off to eat.

The feng shui of the place, and the whole vibe in there, was so calming, so peaceful.

Everything was old and beautiful, and so attentively maintained.

City Bound

It's probably about a 3 day ride to Kunming, Yunnan's capital, and tomorrow I'll jump back on Bewdy and continue to climb into central Yunnan, and eventually reach that big beautiful city.

Hopefully.

The whole area in between here and there is full of beautiful lakes, all sitting at a couple of thousand metres above sea level.

And there's plenty of hills all 'round 'em.

Ahhh, hills schmills. I love 'em. They can be tough, but that's the geography of this part of the world, and I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to be here.

Every day I get the chance to go up, right up, to the top of yet another world❤️

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