1 October, Xinyu to
Zhangzhu/Nanchang, 97km (a)Leaving Xinyu this morning, we felt like salmon swimming
upstream. It must have been rush hour, with a huge tidal wave of bicycles flowing into
town fifteen solid kilometers of Flying Pigeon-straddling commuters. Leaving
civilization behind, we climbed up through forests of carefully arranged pine trees, then
down through plantations of bushy plants that might have been mulberry for silkworm food.
Back on the alluvial plain, rice was in the process of being harvested. The latter part of
todays ride, though, looked like Nebraska or Kansas, with barren rolling hills and
nary a soul in sight.
We stopped for lunch in the nasty little railroad town of Linjiangzhen, watching
villagers outside unload cages of dogs from atop buses. They were of the big, German
Shepard type, bred for their meat rather than companionship. The noodles we had ordered
were so spicy as to be almost inedible, and we wasted no time getting back on the road.
The wind had kicked up and was blowing straight at us, making the cycling no fun at
all. It wasnt hard convincing Fred that we should bus it from the next town to
Nanchang, Jianxis capital city.
An hour and a half later we were crossing a huge bridge over a huge river into the huge
town of Zhangzhu (also known as Qingjiang why do so many Chinese towns have two or
more names ?). Finding a bus took no time at all, and soon I was looking out the
window from my perch next to the driver, very glad indeed that we werent riding on
such a busy road.
Outside Nanchang the road joined a superhighway that looked like it was teleported from
the future. When the town appeared Fred and I were stunned. It seemed to go on forever in
every direction, with no apparent center. Is Nanchang the LA of China ?
We rode into what people had indicated was the center of town, along a broad avenue
filled with all kinds of traffic. Nanchang is the kind of place that makes you realize
that these people (i.e. the Chinese) will soon be masters of the planet. We stopped beside
a massive square decorated with big balloons and giant portraits of Mao and Zhou En
Lai. What"s going on ? I asked one of the many people milling
about. Its National Day, he reminded me in a tone usually reserved
for speaking to morons (a tone I find myself using a lot in this country full of ADD
sufferers). The same man told me that the best hotel in town was just down the street.
The Jiangxi Binguan is not only the best hotel in Nanchang, but by far and away the
best place weve stayed in China. Built for communist officials in the
60s, the rooms are huge and solidly constructed, and its the only place
weve seen that features actual character. Add in great food, incredibly helpful
staff and a whopping 50% discount (on the countrys biggest holiday, no less) and
youve got the recipe for bestowal of the BikeBrats Award for Excellence in Lodging.
We had decided to join my father and Leslie in Hangzhou rather than in the mountains,
due to our aversion towards climbing and lack of anything warm to wear. So our main
concern upon arrival in Nanchang was getting tickets out. Both the front desk and the
business center told us that the first available train tickets they could find would be
some six days later not an acceptable option. What about CITS ? we
asked, referring to the Chinese tourist authority allegedly able to fix such problems. The
response wasnt a welcome one : CITS has an office right here in the
hotel, the desk staff informed us, but they won"t be open for another
four days due to the holiday weekend. The thought of a four-day weekend in this land
of workaholics floored both of us. We caught our breath and asked what we could do. They
told us to try the train station, where we elbowed our way to the window only to get the
same negative response.
How about flights to Hangzhou ? I continued to pester the
receptionist. She told us that the only flight available was the next morning, but that
they wouldnt take bikes. Some brainracking yielded the idea that we could ship the
bikes by train and fly the next morning. As both of us were looking forward to a
well-earned day of rest after three tough days of riding, we werent exactly thrilled
by the prospect, but we accepted our fate as the only one available to us. We went
upstairs, packed up our bikes with everything we wanted shipped, and went down to the
business center to buy the air tickets. A last-minute call informed us that the train
wouldnt ship our bikes without our possessing tickets, and we found ourselves back
at square one. I put on my most pathetic expression and asked once more if anything could
be done, to which the remarkably clever young woman behind the counter said, Yes,
there is actually one possibility. Come back here at nine-forty-five and Ill know if
we can find you some train tickets somehow. Just how this somehow works
is a mystery to me in byzantine China, but I assume it has something to do with party
connections. In any case, we figured we were now entirely at this woman"s mercy and
went to one of the hotels many restaurants for dinner.
Here we ran into a large group of Americans adopting Chinese babies. One couple sitting
at the table next to us were feeding a totally adorable little girl. Next time
were going to Vietnam, her new mom explained, you can get boys
there.
During our post-dinner walk around town we were overwhelmed by the masses of humanity.
The towns central square was now jam-packed, as were all the streets around it.
Thousands and thousands of people, and all of them Chinese. It wasnt easy fighting
our way through the crowd, but the diminutive stature and general calm demeanor of the
people made the experience more bearable festive even-- than the expected
claustrophobic nightmare. Nevertheless, we sought a quieter way back, wending our way
through a labyrinth of narrow alleys and getting utterly lost.
We made it back to the hotel just before the appointed hour, and the woman at the
business center was wearing a big smile when we ran in, fairly panting in our
anticipation. I found you a pair of tickets, she said with a hint of
triumph in her voice, but theyre for tomorrow rather than the next day and
theyre in hard sleeper rather than soft.
Well take them ! we chorused, and went upstairs for bed, sad to
be leaving this interesting town a day earlier than wed hoped, but happy to be on
our way to see Jack and Leslie. Both of us felt ready to see some familiar faces among all
the alien strangeness of the Middle Kingdom.