Monthly Archives: March 2008

Pingliang

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“Angus” – That’s what I was going to call this one. I went sightseeing at the Mosque fairly early that day: What a nice building: This was erected in the 1990s solely through the efforts of the community – just like the church I had visited two weeks ago (watch my back, Lord). Too bad […]


babies walk on roads inclined

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It’s not the shoes, it’s the road: Looks like a nice strip of concrete, doesn’t it? Well, here’s the thing: it seems as though all roads in this part of the country are inclined towards both left and right. This is obviously some sort of intelligent design to help with the drainage of rain water […]


leaders of the valley

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First of all, here’s my shoe after the repair (1 good thing, 4 nice people, 1 bad thing and a possible solution to a problem): Walking feels a bit weird now, but I guess I’ll get used to that. Let’s just hope the glue and the stitches will last. … As you can see on […]


1 good thing, 4 nice people, 1 bad thing, and a possible solution to a problem

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I had a nice big fat dragon fruit for breakfast: Da most prettiest of all fruitz: Srsly. Then I went to check out Wangmu Palace ็Ž‹ๆฏๅฎซ, constructed in the 1990s: This Wangmu ็Ž‹ๆฏ (wangmu) or Wangmuniangniang ็Ž‹ๆฏๅจ˜ๅจ˜ plays an important role in the Chinese mythological pantheon: In Taoist belief, she is linked to immortality and […]


inner linings

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I walked such a short distance today! Basically just a stretch of clean road… …had me limping into the center of Jingchuan: Limping? Limping: I know these blisters don’t look so bad, and the one on top is really nothing – but believe me, the bottom one hurts like a bitch! Here’s why: Guess I […]


questions unasked will remain questions unanswered

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The backyard of the pharmacy I stayed at last night: They had two roosters there that started crowing their hearts out at dawn. This kind of made for an early start in the day, but that was okay; I had a lot of walking in front of me anyways. You know I’m navigating by GPS […]


Long

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My last day in Shaanxi, my first day in Gansu ็”˜่‚ƒ. I’m excited. There’s a Tang-dynasty temple in Changwu, it’s called Zhaoren Temple ๆ˜ญไปๅฏบ: It was closed when I got there, so I went to the market instead: Then I hit the road. One thing that is really noticeable about spring: People are creating homes […]


the knots

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See the curve right at the start of the red line on the map? Now, that’s one long bad-ass bridge: Today’s weather was a perfect 10: Not too cold, not to hot. A blue sky with just the occasional pretty white puff lounging around. A beautiful day even for one-handed traffic cops: It was in […]


revenge of the prime target

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This part of the province heavily depends on coal mining – much like the areas of Shanxi I had come through a few months ago (definition of hurt, mountain temples): I wondered at this dude sweeping the ground in a world full of dust: But then there were also other things to look at besides […]


speacial or what

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Just like I had promised myself: I didn’t do any walking today. Instead I slapped on my blue slippers and took a slow stroll around town: This pagoda is Binxian’s landmark. People here call it Bin Pagoda ๅฝฌๅก” and it is originally from the Northern Song-dynasty (ๅŒ—ๅฎ‹ 960-1126). They’re fixing a large central square around […]


a beginnerโ€™s guide to 50k

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Okay, two things up front: I never walked 50k, but I came really close today. As much as I enjoy the wacky side of life, I’m always trying not to sound funny when I’m talking about serious things. So anyways, here’s the two versions of my how to walk 50k guide : Version 1, you’re […]


just how old do I look?

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I left my stuff at the hotel and went out to ask someone for the way to a cybercafe, because I figured it was raining and my feet hurt anyway, so I might as well rest up and do some maintenance on the site. I found some guys who were standing around looking idle, and […]


prime target of the dumb

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Chinese history has seen families rise and dynasties fall, it has seen aristocrats and barbarians wrestle for power, and it has seen many different Emperors from all over the country seeking to rule the land. But only one woman has ever made it to the Imperial throne: that woman was Wu Zetian ๆญฆๅˆ™ๅคฉ from the […]


watch my back, Lord

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“Traffic in Asia always looks so chaotic, but there hardly ever seem to be any accidents!” – have you ever had people tell you stuff like this before? If so, let me help clear this up for you: Bullshit. Freaky driving – lots of accidents. Simple as that. Well, but then I’m just walking and […]


kids & apples & the gift of pain

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Today was a warm day – what am I saying – a hot day! So hot indeed I first took off my jacket, then my sweater, then my shirt, and at some point around noon I was laying down taking a siesta under an apple tree, trying to get a tan. As sexy as bearded […]


walk

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Oh yeah, I’m finally doing what I had originally set out to do: walk! The last three days had seen me looking outside my window like a sick dog (time can what time doesnt) – but today I packed up, went out, and walked down that road I had been staring at for so long: […]


time can what time doesnโ€™t

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Time can only do one thing: it can pass. And it doesn’t seem to give a damn what people do with it. You could be outside walking around, or you could be in your hotel room just looking outside: By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube […]


my cave

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Well, well, well, if it isn’t Chris, the Adventurer! I’m still in the same hotel, waiting for my foot to heal: The days never seem to pass, and on top of that I am having trouble finding sleep. So here’s what I do: I sit there all day, with my foot-washing bowl and my ointments […]


โ€œwitness a declineโ€

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Not much to say: I’ll just leave the words to the Ramones then.


tiny riots

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I don’t exactly understand how, but my computer died on me because of the Internet connection in my hotel last night. So I reinstalled the operating system and then took a walk over to another hotel. On the way, I noticed a lot of people standing around a pair of shoes: Well, they weren’t exactly […]