Pingyao

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This post is about a 27km walk from Qixian to Pingyao. I rest between some graves, then some biker dudes insist on giving me a ride.

There are several songs advising people to “get on the good foot”. It doesn’t always work out, though. Today was another day I started on the bad foot.

It started when I stepped out of the door and saw this:

Dashan

Mark Rowswell aka Dashan ๅคงๅฑฑ was China’s favorite foreigner. He spoke Chinese flawlessly, and he seemed to have the right kind of attitude. His ads for electronic pocket dictionaries were everywhere, with him in his traditional Chinese outfit smiling at everyone. It always seemed to me as though Chinese people enjoyed looking at foreigners who were a bit on the whacky side. Why though?

Whatever. Qixian had an old town district, but I found it only mildly attractive:

Qixian

Maybe I shouldn’t have gone on a Sunday. Too many people. Too much noise.

I quickly made my way out of there.

death notes

Something is odd – I don’t specifically look for it, but I see a lot of things pointing towards death lately:

paradise bank money

This is money issued by the “Paradise Bank”. People burn it at funerals to ensure that the deceased has sufficient funds in the afterlife.

Taking this impression a few miles down the road I stumbled across a little makeshift graveyard:

revolutionary grave

This guy has lived “a life for the revolution, loyal to the Party.”

Wow.

I didn’t have a clue why this one was wrapped in red:

covered grave

Maybe he or she wasn’t so loyal after all? Or maybe they were extra loyal?

Whatever the case, I found this place perfect for a rest:

rest on the walk from Qixian to Pingyao

I had a pack of chocolate chip cookies and a bottle of grape lemonade. There was some straw to sit on and a few birds to listen to.

And so I sat there, a drifter, a vagabond, a vagrant, a floater.

tired

Then i was back on the road. I had to make it to Pingyao by nightfall:

railroad tracks on the walk from Qixian to Pingyao

I had grown pretty tired both physically and mentally by now. Christmas was at hand and I really didn’t feel like walking anymore. Much rather would I have hung out in a room full of candles and friendly faces and ginger bread cookies.

But I was going to rest in Pingyao.

Rest in Pingyao.

Rest in.

Pingyao.

These guys offered me a ride:

biker dudes on the walk from Qixian to Pingyao

I am not kidding, and neither were they.

Li Shuangyang ๆŽๅŒ้˜ณ, Song Kang ๅฎ‹ๅบท, Wang Junjie ็Ž‹ไฟŠๆฐ and Fu Liwei ไป˜ไธฝไผŸ were insisting that I should take a seat on their motorbike so they could give me a lift to wherever I was going. They seemed to think I really needed that lift.

In the end we all agreed that I would be able to pull off the last 6km by myself.

It just didn’t seem that much anymore after I had told them that I wasn’t just going to walk from Qixian to Pingyao. I had come all the way from Beijing.



  • Rubi

    yo du granate.
    frohe weihnachten wünsche ich dir!
    ich esse für dich was mit.
    heute nicht erreicht?!
    morgen vielleicht aus kommern.
    rubi

    Reply

  • Thijs

    I swear, all those towns, look like Pingyao. The youth hostels there are very nice though, maybe you can get some rest there and celebrate Christmas with some foreigners.

    Reply

  • Marvin

    Christoph,
    I am writing this on Christmas eve. We are thinking of you this Christmas and hoping that you are save, dry, and warm. Have a Merry Christmas.
    Love from all in Wichita, Ks. USA
    P.S. Ghostie even says "Whats up"

    Reply

  • Christoph

    Rubi: Hey Kleiner, hier alles gut! Schöne Grüße an alle!
    Thijs: You too, have a good and merry Christmas big guy!
    Marvin: I wish you (and Ghostie) a very very Merry Christmas! Will you eat a couple of extra donuts for me these days?

    Reply

  • Corinna

    Wir sind wieder zurück in good old Bad Nenndorf. Am meisten freut sich darüber Nase, der, wie jedes Jahr, entsetzt war ausgesprerrt worden zu sein ๐Ÿ˜‰ — ansonsten waren die Weihnachtstage zu kurz und Du hast gefehlt!!
    Alle lassen Dich ganz herzlich grüßen!

    In diesem Sinne: noch eine gute unbewegte Zeit ;-),
    C.

    Reply

  • Christoph

    Hehe, auch viele liebe Grüße an alle und vor allem an Nase

    Reply

  • froggyfrog

    ๅŽ‰ๅฎณ๏ผ๏ผ๏ผไผš็ปง็ปญๅ…ณๆณจ็š„๏ผ๏ผ๏ผ

    Reply

  • Christoph

    ๅ‘ตๅ‘ต๏ผŒไธๅŽ‰ๅฎณ๏ผ ๅๆญฃ่ฐข่ฐขไฝ !!!

    Reply

  • ataraxia

    ็บข่‰ฒๆ˜ฏๅ› ไธบ้‚ฃๅข“ๅ’Œๅข“็ข‘ๆ˜ฏๆ–ฐ็š„…

    Reply

  • Christoph

    ๅ—ฏ๏ผŒๅบ”่ฏฅๆ˜ฏๅงใ€‚่ฐข่ฐข๏ผ๏ผš๏ผ‰

    Reply

  • Hannah

    Hello

    I am contacting you because I am working with the authors of a book about blogs. I have seen a photograph of yours that I find interesting and would like to request permission to include it in this book. If you think this is something you might be interested in please send me an email at hannah@wefeelfine.org and I will send along more details about the project. Hope to talk to you soon!

    Sincerely,

    Hannah
    Hannah@wefeelfine.org

    Note: In order to locate your image later it would be much appreciated if
    you would include a link to this blog in your response. Thanks again!!

    Reply

  • Larry

    ๅ‘ตๅ‘ต๏ผŒๅๆญฃๆˆ‘ๆ˜ฏไธๅ–œๆฌขๅคงๅฑฑ้‚ฃๆ ท็š„ๅค–ๅ›ฝไบบ๏ผŒๅคชๅœ†ๆป‘ไบ†๏ผไฝ ๅฐๅญๆˆ‘ๅ–œๆฌข๏ผๆŒบไฝ ๏ผ

    Reply

  • Christoph

    Larry: ๅ“ˆๅ“ˆ,่ฐข่ฐข่ฐข่ฐข! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Reply

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