Monthly Archives: June 2008

3-0-0-0

When I got up, I wasn’t sure whether I would get to the 3000km marker today. …well eventually I did, so I had to name this post “3-0-0-0”, but if it hadn’t been for that, I could have chosen from these three working titles: 1) “the Chinese dream” 2) “Aaah, it’s a foreign invasion!!” 3) […]


food court

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I already whined to you about my sore legs. Besides, those of you who have been with me for a while might already know that I am a total sissy. So today, I stayed in: Used the time to add 130 frames to the TLW-video. Well, anyways I stayed in all day. Only went out […]


twenty years

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Well, it wasn’t exactly pouring cats and dogs out there when I started walking this morning, but it kept drizzling down on me: …always a bit sideways from the front – it was so disgusting. Then there was the fact that I just couldn’t seem to get used to this new kind of walking yet. […]


Paul says: constipation is bliss

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I have this friend I was going to tell you about: I can’t reveal his name though. So let’s just call him Paul. Paul is also walking through China, and today he arrived at a park in Linze ไธดๆณฝ: It was the Western Army Memorial Park ไธญๅ›ฝ็บข่ฅฟ่ทฏๅ†›็ƒˆๅœŸ้™ตๅ›ญ: Just as Paul was walking through all the […]


Caboose

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I had bought 6 large water bottles, a considerable amount of butter cookies and a massive water melon, and stuffed it all into the big white box, along with my backpack and a basic repair kit. Then we finally made it out of town, the Caboose and I: You’ve probably guessed it: walking without all […]


Buddhist caves

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The Caboose was almost ready to go: It only needed some minor adjustments and a complete coating in white to make it more tolerant to direct sunlight. So I realized two things: 1) I wasn’t going to get anywhere today, 2) it was still before noon. So I hopped on a bus… …and went to […]


manners or bust

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Of course my postal scam got immediately busted: … I got criticized, and I didn’t hesitate to criticize back. They said I should go to the Department of Cultural Affairs to get a permit. I told them they were a bunch of hicks from the countryside, and then I went on to say some other […]


Herr K. and the corridors

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Mr. Wang and I had laid out a master-plan for the construction of the Caboose yesterday. Today I went back to talk about some details: Then the dudes got busy: I witnessed the making of the spine: Then I had to take off, because I needed to make a run to the authorities. What did […]


PMA

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After two days of digging through the markets and the back alley shops, I finally found Mr. Wang ็Ž‹ๅ…ˆ็”Ÿ: There was one thing I especially liked about this guy – his positive mental attitude. We both agreed that I needed something like Teacher Xie’s cart. I drew up something to explain. And Mr. Wang said […]


trolley trouble

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Remember my water problem? (what’s first) I figured with the large arid spaces that lay ahead, I now needed some kind of trolley to haul my stuff instead of carrying it on my back. So I went to the market: Nothing. They told me to go to the little garage repair shops, so I went […]


life unrecorded

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I stayed in my room all day. Had to, all my clothes were in the laundry. Teacher Xie (Teacher Xie) was also in town. Later that night, when I had my clothes back, we went out to the park. I chose not to bring my camera.


speech after speech

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I had spent the night at Mr. Lian’s ่ฟžๅ…ˆ็”Ÿ place. Mr. Lian owns a little shop next to the road, and he’s also head of the little settlement of Taipingpu: Nobody had told me about that the night before though, and I realized it only in the morning when I got up and Mr. Lian […]


Teacher Xie

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I once used to have a teacher whose last name was Xie ่ฐข. He held class on Thursdays, and we called him Teacher Xie ่ฐข่€ๅธˆ. Teacher Xie, though a gifted cinematographer and a household name in the Beijing advertisement industry, seemed like a very angry young man. His favorite words during class were “Fuck! ๆˆ‘่‚!” […]


oh thy dreadful burrows!

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How I loathed the day! After I had started walking just to get warm in the morning, all the pretty landscapes kept guttering by in a thick and pasty stream… …I felt tired and ill… Would you like to know a dirty little secret? In spite of all the countryside that has been generously laid […]


why canโ€™t frogs learn from ducks?

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I got up late and started walking through the fields and the little villages with the colorful propaganda murals on the walls: “love your fatherland, love the people, love work, love science, and love socialism ็ˆฑ็ฅ–ๅ›ฝ๏ผŒ็ˆฑไบบๆฐ‘๏ผŒ็ˆฑๅŠณๅŠจ๏ผŒ็ˆฑ็ง‘ๅญฆ๏ผŒ็ˆฑ็คพไผšไธปไน‰” It seemed very complete, and very ultimate. … I was on my way to Dafo Temple ๅคงไฝ›ๅฏบ, the home […]


good kiwis

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There was once a foreigner who lived in Shandan: He was here in the 1940s, his name was Rewi Alley ่‰พ้ปŽ and he was from New Zealand. He had a friend with him, a certain George Alwin Hogg ไฝ•ๅ…‹, and together they opened a school and invited foreign teachers to instruct Chinese students: Alley stayed […]


the dragon

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I didn’t know I would have to walk that much today. “Keep going for another 20k” they had said, “you will find a small settlement with hotels and restaurants there!” So I walked past the mules… …past the bushes… …past the violet flowers… …walked 20k until I was there – and I was surprised: Everything […]


lucky bastard

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Most people in Shuiquanzi are farmers that try to profit from their fields as well as from the highway: This morning, one family called me over to have their picture taken: “You’re a photographer” they said (word had gone around rather quickly), “please take a picture of us, will you?” Of course, the pleasure was […]


whatโ€™s first?

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One last look at all that beautiful green: …and then it was behind me, and nothing but dust and more dust were ahead: Sometimes there were these surprising little patches of green, just as if some landscaping god had dropped them there by accident: …but just because the plants can get water from the ground […]


non-horseshit beard advice

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The valley around Yongchang was so green and so nice, a half day’s walk of pure pleasure: The road construction team from yesterday had passed me again, only this time some of them waved me over for a chat: “Can I ask you a personal question?” said one of them, “we would like to know […]