Pedal power around Dianchi, and Chinese trucks (Part II)

As promised, here are shots from the first day of our ride around Dianchi Lake, Yunnan Province. When we stopped for lunch at a road-side restaurant, this young boy followed us around at a short distance. Before we took off from the restaurant, I asked if I could take my picture with him. If you are wondering about his smile, this is the general smile for many of the people with whom I have come in contact. He seemd thrilled about having his picture taken and enjoyed seeing his own face on my camera. Sorry, I did not get his name.

Here is a shot of three of our group as we enter Kunyang (the sign behind us says welcome to Kunyang in Chinese). On my left is Sarah; she teaches fourth grade. To her left is Suli, she assists with junior kindergarten. The rest of our group is close by, and one of our group is snapping the picture. A new bridge across a narrow inlet to the lake shortened our first day by about 20 km. According to those who went on the trip last year, that bridge had still been under construction the previous year, making the first day a bit longer.

This picture is taken from on the bridge mentioned above. Because our group stopped numerous times for pictures, we passed and re-passed this gentleman. My personal bike (I rented a bike for this trip) is like the one he is riding. I pulled up next to and said, "Ni de che heng ku! Wo yei yao." (Pronounced--knee duh chuh hung koo! Woh yay yow.) It means, "Your bike is very cool! I have one just like it." He smiled and started asking where we were from and where we were going. His smile was very pleasant, but he stopped on the far side of the bridge, as we continued.

This picture was taken from the top of the Zhenghe memorial park. The picture looks out over a part of Kunyang. Beyond the apartment buildings are rows of green houses, and beyond those is the lake. The entire second day was spent pedaling past enormous complexes of green houses. It almost seems like the Dianchi valley is prepared to produce all of China's produce. However, there are a lot of people in China.

This last photo displays a statue of the great Zhenghe himself. The stairs behind him are only the last set many similar staircases one must climb in order to reach a high point over Kunyang. In Zhenghe's right hand is a scroll: possibly a nautical map, but more likely a letter of invitation, because Zhenghe sailed for the Chinese government of his day. He rests is left hand on the grip of his sword. He travelled to Singapore, Malaysia, India, and even visited modern day Iraq. His story is quite intriguing, and I look forward to spending more time looking into him when I get more time.