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  1. #36 Anyang 
    C-Moto Regular cryptographicide's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Yantai, Shandong
    Posts
    96
    Anyang July 30th
    Odometer 7474 (+200km)

    Well, How Come These People Are Nice?
    I woke up in the middle of the night again with wheat belly. This is getting tiresome. I had, like the brilliant bastard I am, eaten a terrible snack of stale bread right before bed. I was lucky and the early morning discomfort was all that took place during the day.


    Sometimes it started to get muddy.

    We got into Tai Hang Shan (太行山)Grand Canyon. It was a brilliant ride. Really, quite quiet. We drove through rolling hills that were spotted with villages. We could see the gorges begin to be carved out below us. As the gorges became bigger and deeper, the road moved into the bottom and began twisting through them. The road was very small, really only one car could fit. This of course didn't stop our land rover owning friends from politely sharing the road. (I've adopted a strong sense of sarcasm, lately) The gorges were deep and lush. There wasn't a river at the bottom so much as a smooth rocky surface. Perhaps it was too dry for water to be running. Later on, the gorges got deeper and wider and the river become more significant. The road was in good condition and often took quick turns and would occasionally tunnel straight through the mountain. The only fault was a significant amount of smog. This was surprising because we were a long way off from a city.




















    We eventually left the gorges, but the road remained fantastic. Got the oil changed in a little town. The mechanic was napping in the back as it was around noon and really hot. He only had 10w30 oil. I figured that new oil of the wrong weight was better than old oil of the correct weight (15W50, or close enough since that is a really rare weight). Please correct me if this is wrong. He quickly set us up, we drove out of town and the check engine light came on. Then baidu maps said, "you're going the wrong way". Pulled over, checked to see if anything stupid was wrong with the bike...e.i. no drain plug, no new oil, something like that. Everything looked good and we carried on. No problems for the rest of the day.

    Anyang was our next stop. Anyang is an ancient capital of China. They have bone oracle stuff. Probably, that means little to you.
    Bone oracle script is a form of Chinese writing dating back into early pre-history. It is an early form of the writing system we know as Chinese. Royal fortune tellers would take a cow scapula or a turtle shell and write sentences in this script on the bone. Next, they would throw the bone into the fire and see where it cracks. This method of fortune telling depends on upon which character the fire produces cracks. This will determine what the soothsayer can predict of the future. Then, they would take the shells and throw them in a pit and bury them. These pits have been discovered and given archeologists and linguists excellent insight into the history of the Chinese language and especially the Chinese script. As a linguist, I studied this place in university and it was fantastic being there and seeing the actual pit. Hella Geek-cool.

    We spent a few hours at the site. When we got there, we bought the tickets. Then the guy checking the tickets asked us to remove our backpacks. I asked, "Where can we put them." He replied, "It's not a problem, you can keep them in the reception room for free". The reception room wasn't fancy but it had two things that cannot be over appreciated. It was air conditioned like a fridge and there was a place to put our packs that was actually safe. We were encouraged to sit and rest in the cool. What hospitality.


    Ancient underground water pipes.


    Important pose with the special turtle shells.






    A cow scapula.


    A translation of the writing on it.

    Here is the pit.

    This exhibit board was inside the building with the pit. I stood and read this board from what seemed like ages. Guess why.

    Next stop, the museum of Chinese Writing. We arrived at 5:30. They closed at 6:00. The security guard waved us and on the bike and smiled. Then, he asked politely and patiently, if we wanted to see the museum. I noted his strange use of clear and simple words. His accent was tough to understand but his language was perfectly suited for foreigners. Nice security guard. We park the bike and walk. We get to the security checkpoint and get through. But, were warned there is only 30 minutes until the museum closes. We say we will see it quickly. We looked around for ten minutes and realized it was a fantastic museum and we would need to return tomorrow.

    I checked Meituan and Baidu ditu for local hotels. We, at this point, had had all the camping experiences we needed. 100 yuan hotels were a far better option than the scrapes, fear, inconvenience and complete lack of comfort provided by camping. We called a hotel. I asked if they allowed foreigners. They said they had never had one, so she would check. She came back laughing and said of course. Why wouldn't foreigners be allowed. This town is fantastic. Found the hotel, room is cheap and air conditioned and whatever other shortcomings it had, I didn't care. Helped the young desk clerk sort through the mysteries of our passports. Found some secure storage for the bike across the street. We asked the front desk where there was a shao kao restaurant. She wasn't sure but directed us to a place nearby. By the time we got there, she was waiting there to tell us that it wasn't a shao kao. We actually didn't care, but she insisted we not eat there. It seemed busy inside, but I have learned if someone says "You don't want to eat here." you probably shouldn't eat there.

    So, we walked around until we found a malatang soup place. (Choose your own soup ingredients). We loaded a huge bowl up with vegetables and told them clearly and with no uncertain indications that they were not to put noodles into the soup. Travelling in China, you quickly become sick of noodles. And my Laduzi problems of the past few days had clearly left me nutrient deprived. Vegetables boiled in water with a spicy peanuty broth tasted as good to me on the scorching evening as my mothers turkey dinners tastes in my memory. They would have been enjoyed equally.

    Return to the hotel. Andrea passed out as I finished up the journal.

    Last edited by cryptographicide; 12-30-2015 at 09:15 AM.
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