From Grits to Chopsticks

After a 3+ month sabbatical from mountain biking, I finally had the chance to get out and ride this morning.  My student / biker buddy showed up at 8:35 and had us to the edge of the mountain within 15 minutes.  It’s really great to have something so interesting this close to our home.  The white dome of our school building is just over my left shoulder in the photo below (click to expand) with our apartment another mile beyond over my right shoulder:

Although we walk for miles everyday here, it didn’t take too much climbing to remind me of how out of shape I am.  Of course, the altitude (6300 ft) doesn’t help much either.  The trail is a mixture of rocks and GA red clay with a bit of Arizona tossed in:

There was also a pretty spectacular cliff area near the starting point:

Yunnan Province has been having a terrible drought for the past nine months, so things near the bottom are quite dusty and hardpacked.  After climbing for a while, you move out of the rocky zone and into one with more grass and softer clay:

Behind the first mountain, you ride into a heavily forested section, more remniscent of the southeast US.  At the top of the trail, we reached our destination – a temple built about 400 years ago during the Ming dynasty:

It was interesting to think that these buildings were here just as the first settlers were arriving on the shores of America.  But my contemplative moment was cut short when my friend told me that, although the temple site was etablished 400 years ago, the temple itself was actually rebuilt just ten years ago.  The buildings certainly look much older, but then, many buildings in China look pretty old within a few years of construction.

We walked across the grounds and bought some peaches from an old man.  While we peeled and ate them, my friend talked about a long bike journey he took last year.  They ran out of food after a week or so, but were glad to find peach trees (just like these) in the mountains.  Unfortunately, shortly after eating them, his group all had a very bad case of “la du zi” (say it a few times and you’ll understand).  He believes that the hairy surface irritates your stomach, which is another good reason to peel them before eating.

Many people come here to fill their jugs at the temple spring, believing the water to have unique powers.  While I don’t think that the water is anything special, it’s obvious that the climb up and down the mountain has some positive health effects on a number of the very old people who do it everyday.  We also enjoyed lunch prepared by the caretakers (for only 4 RMB each = 59 cents): a bowl of rice, beans, cabbage, tofu, potatoes, and some other things that I didn’t recognize (not an unusual occurance here).

I wish I could’ve taken some photos on the initial descent, but I was too focused on survival to give much thought to documentation.  There were some really great rock ledges to test out the new bike (and the old arms).  And my friend was long gone before I had a chance to hand the camera to him.  But he let me catch up in time for one final shot of him heading down the dry rocky section:

Very few people on this trail have ever seen a mountain bike, so they are pretty surprised to see someone coming down the trail on one.  And in case you’re wondering, the temporary sign on the right says “Protect the forest seriously – punish the man who sets fire to the forest.”  This further reflects the serious drought conditions we have here in our Province.  Two weeks ago, we had a rapidly spreading fire on an adjacent mountain which filled our city with smoke and ashes and almost destroyed a 500 year old temple (http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/1549/bamboo_temple_escapes_forest_fire_unscathed).