Day 231 (China): Xining II (bike fixing)

daily distance: 10km
total distance: 13,355km
riding time: 1/2h (it was fun) 

It was bike fixing day … or at least I hoped it would be. The day started out dull and grey and with what I thought was snow on the roof of the next house. It wasn’t, but my bleary-eyed negativism made me think so at first. Out with it I decided after taking another look. It was still dull and grey, but it was just some white powder on the roof. Not snow.

Off I went with the bike, pushing myself with one leg the 5km or so to where the bike store was. I had not much else in mind at that point and when I got to the bike store we got to work. The guys liked the bike and the bike seemed to like the derailleur alright. We fixed it on and it seems to be working alright. The bent frame is a bit of an issue, but the re-bending in the middle of nowhere seemed to have done the job. At least for the time being. I don’t want to jubilate too early just yet. So do keep your fingers crossed. After fixing up the rest of the things that needed to be taken care of after the truck and bus rides (breaks, wheels and the like) I was on the bike again and cycled back to the hotel. The sun was just burning away the fog and I was smiling again. Things were on the brighter side of life and it was Spoil-Markus Day. Or so I decided. Well deserved. Or so I thought at least.

And so I set out …

And I wasn’t the only person for whom this city was new … these guys had never seen the steamed dumplings. They refused my offer however.

I milled around and did whatever seemed the next best thing to do. I strayed in places where foreigners probably don’t go and was stared at (I’m used to it by now and let the camera stare back at times).

I’ll call them early adopters …

My straying included lots of food and trying out whatever life threw at me. And there was lots. With my stomach back in shape, things were better on that front too. Instead of telling you all about it, here are some of the more than 50 pictures of today that I posted. For more, take a look at the flickr site. Here are some market impressions …

It was good times to say the least. The city is extremely multi-cultural. People in red robes (you can figure out where they are from), people in other colored robes and many more Han Chinese make for a colorful mix in the city.

Although he wasn’t happy to have his picture taken … (he came after me when seeing me, but I disappeared in some side streets)

And the city is big (and you should view this in larger size, so click on it).

It was a good day and my mood has brightened considerably. I am looking forward to reaching the Yellow Sea (or thereabouts) without however breaking a leg in the process (and taking the bus if necessary once again). We shall see what happens …

PS: I want to thank all of you who sent me notes to cheer me up. These messages make my day and you won’t believe how much they help in what can be frustrating times. So THANK YOU!