Crossing the Red Sea

The irony of our present situation becomes especially apparent amidst the booming new Yingkou. We took this long northern detour in order to avoid the over-industrialised region of Tianjin that would have laid on our way to Beijing. Instead, we landed from the fire directly into the frying pan. Here …

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City of Kites

At the foot of Mt. Tai we review the present state of our journey. The prospects for the next days are bleak. The planned biking through idyllic countryside in Shandong won’t happen: the side-roads we were supposed to take are either undergoing repairs or have dilapidated, as we have learned …

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Road Works

After two non-biking days it feels good to be back on the saddle again. It seems I’m becoming a cyclist, after all. We leave the hometown of Confucius quite early and in high spirits, planning on a noodle brunch somewhere on the way. Volker has mapped a route of side-roads …

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Making History

When the family is reunited after two days, I tell Volker of my Tai’er zhuang experience and we make a brainstorming. If Yaowan was Toontown, then what Tai’er zhuang Ancient Town should be? Chinese Disneyland? – Fitting, for the whole “ancient“ town is newly built and it displays some historically …

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