The Really Great Wall Of China 4

Ao Nao, It's Mao!

Mao Zedong was one of the founders, and then the Chairman, of the Chinese Communist Party, which has been the sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China since it was proclaimed in 1949. It currently has 98 million members in China, roughly one in every 14 people in the country.

After leading them in their fight against the Japanese occupiers in World War II, Mao's People's Liberation Army successfully defeated the ruling Chinese Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, who escaped to Taiwan. (With a huge horde of national treasures, I might add).

Mao set about trying to modernise the country. He introduced what was called The Great Leap Forward, his push for China's rapid industrialisation. But this endeavour was probably one of the saddest misnomers of all time, for it led to the greatest famine in world history, with up to 45m Chinese citizens starving to death, basically due to a collapse in agricultural production as a result of forced quotas.

Yes, that's right. Up to 45 million.

So, after that unfathomably huge tragic failed disaster, by the mid 1960s Mao had effectively been sidelined politically.

But not wanting to let little mistakes get in the way of his ambition, Mao decided to reestablish his power in China by beginning what became known as the Cultural Revolution, to rid the government and the country of what he regarded as the remnants of capitalism, and the scourge of traditionalism. What an uncanny coincidence that the traditionalists he was talking about happened to be his political enemies.

He took advantage of student dissatisfaction in the country, and created the Red Guards, fervent young loyalists, and basically encouraged them to rebel against many established older party politicians and their ideals.

It soon got out of hand.

According to Mao's new ideology, any of the "four olds" should be destroyed - old ideas, old culture, old customs and old habits, and his actions ushered in a very dark era in China's modern history, which included the complete or partial destruction of countless irreplaceable ancient sites, temples, mosques, churches, libraries, and traditional art and scholarly works.

Private homes were ransacked. All schools and universities in the whole country closed down.

Oh, oops, and let's not forget the killing of between 1 and 2 million people, which included Mao's political enemies, intellectuals and scientists (who were called the "Stinking Old Ninth," because the traditional ninth caste were regarded as scum), as well as teachers, university lecturers and anyone who was deemed to have capitalist or traditionalist sympathies.

Gangs of violent youths attacked people on the streets, just for wearing what they regarded as "bourgeois" clothing, or because of their hairstyles. Many people were publicly humiliated before being beaten to death, or were driven to commit suicide.

Once Mao realised it'd all gone to shit he then ordered the army to restore order, and they ended up killing more people than the gangs had. In fact, Mao's army killed about double what the Red Army had during that period. So cool. The army also used the chaos as a perfect opportunity to crack down on separatists within the country, and forcibly moved 10m urban students into the countryside for reeducation.

The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution only ended with Mao's death in 1976. But the intergenerational psychological trauma it caused lives on.

Ah, what a guy. Mao was arguably singularly responsible for more deaths than any other person in world history, even including those other 2 main contenders for that vile, blood-soaked crown, Stalin and Hitler.

So those cool t-shirts with Mao on them? Errr, not so cool.

Hanging at the Overhanging Great Wall

After witnessing the grandeur of the fort, I rode off another few  clicks northwest, to another part of the wall.

It was a classic Great Wall scene, just like you see in the pics, and there was hardly anyone there.

We climbed along the top of the wall to the summit of a hill. The hike was the equivalent of climbing a 55 storey building, according to the sign, but it didn't feel like it to me, as my bionic legs hadn't already cycled 100kms today (only about 15), and they actually didn't feel a thing.

Maybe because they're officially dead, after what I've put them through.

As you can see, the wall's been reconstructed on its old base, to represent what it used to be like, so tourists like me can take snaps and say they've been to the GWOC.

It was still amazing though, I reluctantly admit.

Gobismacking. Not the factory, the desert.

Once I made it to the top, I flopped over the other side and went for a stroll. All alone in the bushless bush.

Looking north across that vast deserted Gobi Desert.

Hey, I've just right now finally realised why they call it a desert.

See, you never ever stop learning.

Down down down, alongside the multitudes of locked and rusted dreams.

Ancient monks and scholars on their long journeys.

There's been a tad of rain. But just a tad.

There was a caravan trekking along the Silk Road. They were travelling so bloody slowly, it'll take them forever to get to Venice at this rate.

Oh, well maybe not, if they've got creatures like these. Reminds me of some sort of dragon-esque movie creature, but I can't quite remember which one.

One last look.

Archery for kiddies on the way out. It's becoming a big sport here, and has long historical roots in this part of the world.

Just in case you need it.

To Market to Market

I rode to the centre of town.

Bewdy's still growing, and her wheels are now nearly as tall as my legs.

There's a couple of great small market districts in town, this one was full of Muslim stalls and all sorts of other things. I loved it.

Wish the green ones were cheese and spinach rolls. I'd kill for one of those. They're actually a sweet roll, but not too sweet. I couldn't work out what was inside, and the woman couldn't explain it to me.

Maybe I'll see them somewhere else.

Spicy rösti, a grated and spiced potato pancake. Mmmmmm. The best pre-dinner snack ever.

Straight out of the oven.

Friendly baker

Yet another sweet treat

Men playing xiangqi, a chess-like strategic game that has been played here for thousands of years

It gets dark very late here, given the weird Chinese time zone system, ie, everything's on Beijing time.

And it's not even summer yet.

To The End Of Gansu

It's probably about another 400 clicks to my final major destination in Gansu, the incredible Mogao cave grottoes near Dunhuang.

I've already ridden almost the entire length of the province now, well over a thousand clicks, and the final stretch of it will be the most dry, desolate and barren of the lot.

Well, let's just say that I think that's true.

Because I have no real idea whatsoever of what's between here and Dunhuang.

And, as you must know by now, that's exactly the way I like it❤️

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