Random China

[95 Z/28 LT1]

I had to take another trip to China this year back in July. Spent 2 weeks there so had the weekend to see some sights and walk around a bit.


China has seemed to change a lot in the last 5-10 years. Road manners of random drivers has noticeably improved, things are a little bit cleaner (except the air...), maybe I am just getting used to it a bit more and the shock factor has worn off.


Police bicycle

Just haulin' my goats...

Bean flavored popsicle

Hotel I stayed at in Shanghai

High speed trains. These top out at about 300 km/h

Views from out the back window at a hotel I stayed at in Xuzhou

The tanks looking things with the pipes coming out of them on the roofs of the buildings are hot water heaters that use sunlight to warm the water. You see these all over China.

Huge open square area where people congregate in the evenings. There are different events depending on the night. Some times there are a couple hundred people all dancing together, other times there are old men playing with these top things that they keep spinning by whipping them, couples sitting around the fountains and the occasional live performance.

Police van

I have no idea what those purple and white sausages consist of. They bring this dish out to you along with a portable burner and you kind of cook it yourself at the table.

Found some kind of a back street market for food when walking around one night.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Some more random street shots.

I was told that this place specializes in dog.

You might notice that this is an Audi A4L. In China, several manufacturers offer longer wheelbase versions of cars because there are a lot of people with drivers and the owners will rise in the back.

You'll also see that many cars in China will have an emblem on the back that is in Chinese characters. This denotes the name of the factory and city in China where the car was produced. Obviously Mercedes is not building their S class cars in China but you may be surprised what is produced there that you would expect to be made in Germany or elsewhere.

So many scooters/mopeds.

We went to dinner one night at a place with a lot of steampunk art throughout.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

We decided to rent a boat on Saturday and cruise around Yunlong lake.

Unfortunately, the boats are electric and have two modes - forward and reverse.

And we're off...

Chinese version of a party boat.

You can see Yunlong mountain in the background and the cable-cars carrying people up to the top.

So we had to give it a go.

A few views of the lake and city on the way up.

The mountain is pretty big, so once you get to the top there is quite a bit to see.

Buddhist temple

West gate

Entrance to Xuzhou Museum. There's a lot of Han Dynasty artifacts here as the city has some excavation sites from those days and interesting finds.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

No trip to China would be complete without a visit to the local Walmart.

As you can see they are busy rolling back prices here to...

Baiju section

More baiju. They keep the primo stuff behind glass.

Walmarts in China carry live animals such as snakes, eels, frogs and turtles.

Saw some puppies for sale on the street.

Went to a foot massage place one evening. It's about $10 for a little over an hour.

It's 'like' Michelin

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

There's a really big complex in Xuzhou where the Western Han Dynasty was settled in the old days (206BC+). There's several excavation sites with a tomb, terra cotta soldiers and old carvings, etc.

The terra cotta figures were discovered in 1984. These are not really comparable to the ones in Xian but interesting nonetheless.

Some places in China are still using this technology

There's also an excavation site under a small lake.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Decided we needed to walk up to the bamboo temple. It's a bit of a hike.

Up at the top.

More randoms.

~$3400 bottle of Baiju

Chinese traditional medicine.

More scooters.

Having a bad day...

Caption this photo:

 

[DRAG-ULA]

Thanks for sharing!! Very cool pictures. +1

 

[AutoRoc]

Cool stuff!! I'm learning a lot about that side of the world through this ride report. Very cool sights, extreme hospitality, weather vs. Altitude..

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/long-way-for-a-wave.1070432/

 

[sardeanie]

Yes great set of shots. I have zero desire to visit Asia but I enjoy seeing it in photos. Very interesting. Thanks for posting.

 

[Bateater]

Always love when you post these types of pictures. Did you have any issues with police while being there?

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Glad you guys are enjoying the photos. I could editorialize a bit more but I figure I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.

I've not had any issues with the police while in China, and thankfully so. While many come across as keystone cops, they are not the people you would want to mess around with because nothing positive will come as a result. From what I have seen, many of them don't carry guns but there sure are a lot of them around. I think they rely on the visibility, presence (and fear) to keep things continually contained and will show up in huge numbers where needed to keep things tamped down in case there would be a protest or other trouble-makers inciting something.

 

[Detroit Gearbox]

Fascinating photos 95 Z... I'm always intrigued by foreign cultures.
Some of that food is nasty.... not sure I could handle some of it.

And Autoroc I read through this crazy bastards motorcycle trip....
Two things stick out, why the hell did he start the trip with a wore out motorcycle.... and #2 (and this is a big one)
Once he makes his way into China, they treat him like shit. He not able to even bring his motorcycle in his country... he get around to out smarting them by buying a 49cc scooter to continue his trip, but everywhere he shows up.. so do the police to rail him out of the city or village. No one is even allowed to serve him food or logging for the night this from a person vacationing in their country. I could only imagine what would happen if he snuck in the country illegally. I would be suprised if he makes it out alive.
http://advrider.com/index.php?thread...-wave.1070432/