Day 8: Inner Mongolia - Zhongwei, Ningxia

In the morning I got on the S302 and headed towards Zhongwei, Ningxia. Before long I reached Yanchi, the first city in Ningxia. I had crossed the border at some point, but it wasn't obvious I was in a new province as the terrain continued to be relatively flat and arrid. Once I realized I was in Ningxia, I saw an access road up to a cell tower, so I rode up and took a picture.

Ningxia:




A little further up the road was an opportunity to take the mandatory picture of a massively overloaded tractor:




Some areas were deeply eroded, it probably doesn't take much water to cut through the dirt:



It soon became obvious that I was no longer in Inner Mongolia. Ningxia is an automous region for the Hui people who are largely Muslim, and soon I started to pass mosques along the road.

A mosque, blue skies, and windmills:




Another mosque:




I was also started passing a lot of Hui villages, the men wearing their white hats and women with covered heads:




As I got deeper into Ningxia there was actually some elevation. A train passing in the distance:




And then I saw this guy! I had heard about these cop statues used to police remote areas, and finding one absolutely made my day:





After snapping this picture, instinct kicked in, and I jumped back on the bike and ran! After I was sure the cop wasn't in pursuit, I stopped for lunch. At the restaurant they seated me at a table for eight, which quickly filled up as the chefs came out one by one and sat down. I'm continually amazed at how friendly and open people are in this country. Almost without exception at every meal and every stop I make new friends:




After lunch I got back on the road for Zhongwei. The land continued to be arrid, and yet at every turn there were farmers hard at work, trying to grow crops up out of the dust:




And often with remarkable success:




Women working in front of a cement factory:




As the road shifted north, I decided to leave the named roads to take a "short" (potentially long) cut and head straight for Zhongwei. It was just after four o'clock, and the road was full of kids walking home from school:




Before long I reached Zhongwei, a city on the southern edge of the Tengger desert. On the way in, it had that "New China City" feel to it - large eight lane roads without a car to be seen!



The center of the city was much more lively, complete with a Drum Tower (Gulou) which reminded of Beijing. It was still early when I arrived, so after finding a hotel, I went out to find dinner. There was a pedestrian street not far from the hotel, wall-to-wall with KTV/Chuar places. After a dinner of chuanr, I walked up and down the street four times in vain looking for a "normal" bar. Denied, I opted for what was probably the wiser decision of an early night's sleep.