Slow Ride to Ping Guo

May 1^st is a special day here in China known as International Workers’ Day or Labor Day.  Most people have off only the one day off but the college gave the teachers and students a nice five day holiday.  A lot of students choose to travel home during this period.  I, however, was invited to join a small group for a bike trip.  Our destination was the city of Ping Guo Yuan just northeast of Beijing.  Our mode of transportation was bicycles.  Our distance to conquer was 220 miles. 

I travelled with three students (Leo, Solomon, and Vivian) and a retired teacher named Phoebe.  Phoebe is a relatively new member to the community of Langfang and one of my newest friends.  She moved to Langfang only a couple of months ago as the roommate of one of my good friends and the two of us soon became friends.  I’ve learned during my time here in China that people in Langfang are very community centered.  People like to do things in groups.  I get to meet all kinds of new people each time I meet with old friends.

Our trip began on June 30th at 8 in the morning.  I was actually joining the trip under the false assumption that we were doing a 50 mile bike ride to Tianjin.  One of the students (whose English is very poor) told me the wrong name of the city by accident.  So I was not prepared, or even aware, that we would be biking for three days.  I didn’t even know the truth of our destination until about mile 60 when I realized we were nowhere near Tianjin.  But it was okay.  Despite not knowing, I really had a good time.  We biked at a leisurely pace through the farmlands of northern China.  I got to see things I’ve never seen before.  Vast fields of rice, greens, and other vegetables for as far as the eye could see.  We saw beautiful forests, wide open plains, and many small little towns.  There were a few big towns that we passed through and even a few construction zones.  During our ride through one the dusty construction zones one of the bike tires was punctured by something sharp and became flat very quickly.  Thankfully, China is full of both bikes and bike repair places.  We did not have to walk for too far before finding a place that could repair our broken tire.  Within hardly any time at all we were back up and traveling.

The girls had come more than enough prepared for the journey.  They had packed a feast for each day.  When we would become hungry we would normally find a park or forest to stop and we then we would have ourselves a picnic.  Bread, fresh cucumbers, nuts, cooked chicken, and sausages were all part of the main course.  Then we would all settle down for a nap before getting back on the road.

Our first day of biking was quite the challenge.  We rode a total of 95 miles in a period of 13 hours.  We couldn’t stop for the night until we got to our destination so we kept powering-on even after dark…. And does it get dark in the Chinese countryside!  The stars were out in full force but the moon was nowhere to be seen.  It was so dark that you could hardly see anything in front of you.  So we kept our heads down and watched the white line on the roadway as we continued on to our destination.  We finally arrived in a remote village in the county of Ping Guo and we stopped for the night at a small motel.  However, we quickly learned that the hotel manager had given our room away by accident.  They apologized for this accident and then invited us to stay in their personal home.  So we did.  The guys and I slept in one bed while the girls slept in the other.  The sleeping arrangements didn’t bother me in the slightest.  I was so tired that I was out within a second.

The next morning we woke bright and early to prepare for the continued journey.  We ate a leisurely breakfast, sang songs together in English and Chinese, and then began our journey onward.  Our original plan was to go to a musical festival in the northern mountains but everyone decided they were too tired from the bike trip to do hillside biking.  So instead we headed into the peach tree orchards of Ping Gou to see the beautiful spring blossoms.  It was a simply amazing sight.  There was a vast see of pink blossoms for as far as the eye could see.  No matter where we would go we were still completely surrounded by pink trees.  It was like riding through a dream.  How different this beautiful morning scene was in comparison to the pitch blackness of the night before.

Phoebe started feeling bad and we quickly realized she was coming down with a cold.  We then all agreed that it might be best to start heading back to Langfang.  We biked for about 43 miles before finally stopping in the town of San Hua.  We stayed the night in a small hotel and we got Phoebe some medicine for her cold.  The students and I then headed out for the evening into the local park to enjoy the May 1^st holiday festivities.  There were many street vendors and I was happy to find a place that sold cheap t-shirts.  I hadn’t planned on a three day journey so I was still wearing my clothes from the morning we left.  I bought myself some clothes, took a shower in the hotel and then I felt much better.

The next day we began the long journey back.  We stopped only twice to visit a couple of beautiful parks along the way.  We would rest and eat each time we stopped as to give us all the energy we need to finish the journey.  Finally we arrived back in Langfang at around 6:00 pm that evening.  It had been a long hard journey but it was now complete.  Each of us felt better for having accomplished such a great feat.  However, Leo (our guide), apologized for such an agonizing journey.  He said that he had never done this before and he underestimated the time it would take to get there and back.  We all then agreed that the next time we would go biking we will make sure to space the journey out so that we will be able to enjoy our destination more.  It didn’t matter to me.  I loved the trip.  I really enjoyed the company and the sights.  It was a journey that will not be easily forgotten.  However, it did take two days for my legs to recover!