China 1: Giangxi province

Crossed into China around noon from Vietnam's Lang Son border crossing. I'd overstayed my Vietnam visa by a day so I slipped my last note (50,000 VND) in my passport and, after some dirty looks from border officials (it's only a couple dollars), got through with no problems.


Last photo in Vietnam



The gate to China

To say that I came to China unprepared would be a huge understatement. I didn't have a map, any idea where I wanted to go, couldn't speak/read any Chinese, and I thought I would just sort it all out naturally-I was wrong. China is not that easy, people are not very friendly, they seem to get annoyed when I don't understand them and they are not very empathetic or eager to help me out. My first days were very rough, I crossed the border and was on a nice highway with roman letters on the signs and I thought 'wow this is great!', then as soon as I got to a toll booth they wouldn't let me on the highway with a bike and I spent 3 days going in circles on unmarked back roads somewhere along the Vietnam border. It was a province called Giangxi and I knew that I wanted to go the capital city Nanning, but everytime I asked someone where Nanning was they couldn't understand and usually just pointed in any old direction. Finally I found a road that went to Nanning and I did 180k in 1 day to make it to the 'small' city (small as in only 6 million people).

Ginagxi province

What a nice road, it lasted for about 10k

A rare sign on the back road labyrinth that I was lost in, unfortunately I have no idea what it means

Sunrise, at least I know that I'm going east



On the final day to Nanning there was a 40k stretch of torn up road under 'construction', but I didn't see anyone doing any work





I was a mess when I finally got to Nanning around sunset, I was filthy, sunburnt, and extremely tired, borderline delirium. The city was much bigger than I expected and there were no English signs or anyway for me to find a place to sleep, wifi, or anything else that I was in need of. I went into one hotel and was turned away due to my appearance, with hundreds of Chinese people staring at me I almost exploded with rage. I considered getting drunk and sleeping on a park bench but finally I went into a hotel and paid over $20 for a room (an obscene amount of money in China), took a shower, then went straight to a corner store and bought beer and whiskey to erase the pain of the day's ride. I fell asleep dreaming of Vietnam, playing pool with my mate in Hanoi, and most of all, my girl in Saigon.

The next day things got sorted out. I found a place with wifi and used it to find a hostel where I spent the next three days studying Chinese, getting advice from dozens of other travellers, and eating tons of food...

gloomy Nanning upon arrival

Considered sleeping in this park after I was turned away from a hotel

Typical alley



Food street

 As for the food in Giangxi, it's got a lot of rice noodles, and soups served in metal bowls that remind me of the bowls that dogs eat out of. The food in China is really cheap and most meals are around $1.

They press these rice noodles through a sieve and into boiling water as you order them, very tasty with pork broth and various kinds of pickled and fermented vegetables 

Fresh egg noodles with mushrooms, green veg, and pork

Delicious little steamed pork buns, piping hot for under 10 cents

Grilled oysters, clams, and Chicken wings can be found on food street

This is the only thing served in all of the small rural towns I passed through: rice noodles with various pig innards in broth with pickled and fermented beans and vegetables. I ate at least 5 bowls a day while on the road.

After leaving Nanning I felt much better about things. I was well rested and better prepared with a map and a rough idea for a route across this massive country. As I made my way north it got more and more mountainous and beautiful.