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
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
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
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 ไธญๅฝ็บข่ฅฟ่ทฏๅ็ๅ้ตๅญ: Just as Paul was walking through all the […]
Caboose
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
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
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
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
After two days of digging through the markets and the back alley shops, I finally found Mr. Wang ็ๅ ็: 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
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
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
I had spent the night at Mr. Lian’s ่ฟๅ ็ 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
I once used to have a teacher whose last name was Xie ่ฐข. He held class on Thursdays, and we called him Teacher Xie ่ฐข่ๅธ. 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! ๆ่!” […]
oh thy dreadful burrows!
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 canโt frogs learn from ducks?
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 ็ฑ็ฅๅฝ๏ผ็ฑไบบๆฐ๏ผ็ฑๅณๅจ๏ผ็ฑ็งๅญฆ๏ผ็ฑ็คพไผไธปไน” It seemed very complete, and very ultimate. … I was on my way to Dafo Temple ๅคงไฝๅฏบ, the home […]
good kiwis
There was once a foreigner who lived in Shandan: He was here in the 1940s, his name was Rewi Alley ่พ้ป and he was from New Zealand. He had a friend with him, a certain George Alwin Hogg ไฝๅ , and together they opened a school and invited foreign teachers to instruct Chinese students: Alley stayed […]
the dragon
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
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 […]
whatโs first?
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
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 […]