Qizi Bay, located near Changhua Town (Changjiang County / Hainan Island / China)

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

With approx. 1823 kilometers of shoreline, Hainan is home to some of the most beautiful beaches and coastal scenery in China. Along its seemingly endless sandy beaches and coastline are several breathtaking bays as of today, lets see what the future brings with all the new developments and construction in the planning stages. Many of Hainan Island’s most popular beaches can be explored along the eastern shores but for travelers eager to explore the less popular but also truly beautiful western region, there are plenty of fantastic beaches with spectacular views to discover.

VOLCANIC COAST NORTH-WEST HAINAN ISLAND around the greater region of Danzhou town, a prefecture-level town in the northwest of the Chinese island province of Hainan. Although called a "city / town", Danzhou administers a large area which was called Dan County or Danxian until 1993. The administrative seat and urban center of Danzhou is Nada Town, which is often colloquially referred to as Danzhou city. Danzhou was upgraded from a county-level city into a prefecture-level city in February 2015.

Basically the extended region around Eman Volcanic Coast is where most of Hainan's interesting volcanic formations are located. The bizarre rocks, sea cliffs and pillar-shaped structures along the whinstone coast cliffs, combined with strong waves, offer spectacular scenery. Fossil corals are widespread on the coast of northwestern Hainan Island, China. Most of these corals are exposed during low tide levels, indicating that a higher sea level may have existed during their life time. The radiocarbon data introduced by this paper in combination with those from other sources show that the corals were alive mainly during the mid- to late-Holocene. Mid-Holocene sea levels 1–3m higher than the present level were confirmed for adjacent coasts; however, the emerged corals on the investigated coast are not necessarily indicators of a higher eustatic sea level. They do predict relative sea levels of 1.5–3.4m when using 1m below the tidal datum as the upper limit of coral growth. However, using the Mean Lower Low Water as the coral’s upper growth limit, the relative sea level on the non-volcanic coast was almost as high as the present level, whereas that on the volcanic coast was 0.4–2.0m higher than present. Therefore, the exposure of these dead coral heads and their discrepancy in elevation may be the result of tectonic uplift caused by volcanic activities. From these results, the highest sea level of upward coral growth must be defined first when using fossil corals to reconstruct past sea levels. Meanwhile, vertical tectonics have to be taken into account as a significant factor when conducting high-resolution sea level reconstruction, although the South China coast is located in a “tectonically stable” region.

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

VOLCANIC COAST NORTH-WEST HAINAN ISLAND

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Hanging around the hotel pool for a refreshing relaxing dip, sorting through pictures and GoPro footage while enjoying the beach, sunsets and some great tasty Mexican dinner prepared by an experienced Chef from "Down Under"....

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Wuzhishan mountain ranges riding loop ~ having a sweet Xmas season snack at the impressive revolutionary monument has become a tradition during the last few years....
The monument is located in the mountains besides S313 Provincial Road / GPS: 18°55'46.6"N 109°28'13.5"E
The Wuzhishan Mountain is located at the center of Hainan Island, with the title of the highest mountain in Hainan Island makes it one of the symbol of Hainan and also one of the famous mountains in China.

Wuzhishan (Five Finger Mountain) was the center of Hainan Island for a long time, not only in a geographical sense. In 1949, the first Communist party base was set up in Wuzhishan with Wang Guo Xing as the leader of the Li people and as the general director of the Party on Hainan. In 1955, the first local government of Hainan Island was set up and Wuzhishan became the capital of Hainan Island. The capital moved to Haikou in 1988 when Hainan Island was part of Guangdong Province, not directly under the control of Central Government. In 1988, the Central Government set up the largest special economic zone at the time. It was Hainan Island with Haikou as its capital, then coming under the direct control of the Central Government, thus becoming a separate Province of the People’s Republic of China. Before 2001, this place was called Tongza which in local Li Language means “Rice field on the top of a mountain surrounded by rainforest .” The Li Language expressed the location of the community well. In 2001, the local government changed the name from Tongza to Wuzhishan Hainan (Hainan Five Finger Mountain).....

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Wuzhishan mountain ranges riding loop...

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Holiday Beach (officially Holiday Beachside Resort) is a well known beach and visitor attraction located along Binhai Road, Haikou, Hainan Island (China) = http://wikitravel.org/en/Haikou
The 7-kilometre-long, 33 hectare beach area was officially established in 1995. Since then, it has undergone development with the establishment of visitor attractions such as restaurants, swimming pools, an outdoor roller skating rink, and an amphitheatre. The land beside the beach has been landscaped and pathways created. The entire shoreline is maintained by workers who remove rubbish. Holiday beach is a popular destination for tourists. It is known by residents of Haikou as a place to eat "Chuanr" ( famous BBQ sticks) at night. The beach has also been the site of major competitions for such sports as kitesurfing and volleyball.

Last relaxed island afternoon ride along Holiday Beach (Haikou) and snack break watching the surfers and other water sports activities going on = http://kitesurfchina.com



























Done and dusted, another exciting winter run on Hainan Island / South China completed....

Hainan is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China, consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. Hainan Island, separated from Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula by the Qiongzhou Strait, is the largest island under PRC control (Taiwan, which is slightly larger, is also claimed but not controlled by the PRC) and makes up the majority of the province. The province has an area of 33,920 square kilometers, with Hainan Island making up 32,900 square kilometers (97%) and the rest divided among two hundred islands scattered across three archipelagos. It was administered as part of Guangdong until 1988, when it became a separate province; around the same time, it was made the largest Special Economic Zone established by Deng Xiaoping as part of the Opening Up of China. There are a total of ten major cities and ten counties in Hainan Province. Haikou on the northern coast of Hainan Island is the capital while Sanya is a well-known tourist destination on the southern coast. The other major cities are Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, Wuzhishan, Dongfang, and Danzhou. China's controversial claims in the South China Sea, including the Nansha and Xisha Islands, are notionally administered as part of the province.....





China is rapidly changing in many forms and various ways, quite a lot of "remodelling" and construction going on all around the country as mention elsewhere before in this thread. Well ~ having the great privilege to ride totally legally, fully licensed and freely (except Tibet / TAR) around the fascinating and diverse country puts a smile on my face and shall continue doing my PRC rounds as long as I have a home-base in the country and with the proper set up and right bikes at hand should be some very interesting riding. China ride reporting might be continued in the future...

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Seriously fried the Kawasaki KLX150 "Backyard Basher" clutch while riding in deep wet sand around the Hainan Island bays during the Winter Island Run and we got a Yamaha YBR125 as temporary replacement to trash around the island.
"Backyard Basher" all fixed during CNY (Chinese New Year) back at home-base Shanghai with new upgraded parts and some modifications like drilling the clutch basket for better lubrication and installing Honda clutch plates (wider / thicker) and Kawasaki KX85 clutch springs (stiffer) ~ clutch feels great and ready to roll again....

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Tea Run April 2017, just some simple shots taken around the mountains right after the long weekend national China holiday known as the Qingming or Ching Ming Festival (Tomb-Sweeping Day in English), is a traditional Chinese festival on the first day of the fifth solar term of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. This makes it the 15th day after the Spring Equinox, either 4 or 5 April in a given year. Other common translations include Chinese Memorial Day and Ancestors' Day. Qingming Festival is when Chinese people visit the columbaria, graves or burial grounds to pray to their ancestors.

The Qingming Festival is an opportunity for celebrants to remember and honour their ancestors at grave sites. Young and old pray before the ancestors, sweep the tombs and offer food, tea, wine, chopsticks, joss paper, and/or libations to the ancestors. The rites have a long tradition in Asia, especially among farmers. Some people carry willow branches with them on Qingming or put willow branches on their gates and/or front doors. They believe that willow branches help ward off the evil spirit that wanders on Qingming.

On Qingming, people go on family outings, start the spring plowing, sing, and dance. Qingming is also a time when young couples traditionally start courting. Another popular thing to do is to fly kites in the shapes of animals or characters from Chinese opera. Another common practice is to carry flowers instead of burning paper, incense, or firecrackers.
















Tea has huge symbolic and cultural significance in China, while its centuries of history in the hills of Mokhan Shan comes riddled with intrigue. Notable is a cunning act of bio-piracy in 1848 when England’s East India Company dispatched Scottish plant collector Robert Fortune to collect the finest varieties of tea to break China’s monopoly of the market. To gain easier access to China’s interior he shaved his head, leaving just a ponytail, and wore Chinese clothes. He travelled to the plantations near Mokhan Shan, collected plants and seeds and set up nurseries in Shanghai. In the end, Fortune dispatched more than 20,000 tea plants to India, a country that 40 years later was supplying 90 percent of Britain’s domestic market. Today varieties including Mogan Yellow Bud and Ming Qian Long Jing are picked on site at by women from the local community during the short harvest season that lasts from the end of March to early May.

The Qingming festival holiday has a significance in the Chinese tea culture as well since this specific day divides the fresh green teas by their picking dates. Green teas made from leaves picked before this date are given the prestigious 'pre-qingming’ designation which commands a much higher price tag. These teas are prized for having much lighter and subtler aromas than those picked after the festival.

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Tea Run April 2017, tried and tasted some fresh bamboo shoots yet???







Fresh Bamboo Shoots - How to Prepare (makes enough bamboo shoot for one stir fry)

Ingredients:

2 fresh bamboo shoots
1 tbsp sugar
6 cups water reserved from rinsing rice (or just plain water is fine too)

Directions: Wash the dirt off the bamboo shoots. Using a sharp knife, slice through the outer leaves along one side all the way from tip to the bottom of the shoot. Use your finger tips to pry open along the cut you have just made. Once pried open stick your fingers in and around the outer skin and pull away from the creamy white shoot inside. You should be able to remove the whole outer skin. Check the now peeled shoot to see if top layer tender. If not soft and tender, remove layers until tender. Shave off any knobby fibrous bits around the stem. Cut off around an inch of the tough end of the stem until you reach the tender part of the shoot. No woody fibrous bits should remain.
Reserve the water used for rinsing your rice until you have enough to cover the bamboo shoots by a good inch in a pot. Or you can also just use plain water. When water is boiling add in the sugar and the peeled bamboo shoots. Let simmer over medium heat for 30 mins. It is ready when a knife goes through with no resistance and there is no more bitterness. If still bitter change the water and let boil for another 5-10 minutes. Let cool in the covered pot. When cool enough, slice first in half lengthwise, then into 1/4" thick slices at an diagonal, or into 1/4" by 3" strips
The bamboo is now prepared! You can eat it as is, cool it in the fridge and make a nice salad, or add it into some delicious Chinese stir fries!

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Tea Run April 2017, testing the KTM450EXC bike set-up (offroading) with the recently installed Haan Wheels plus a few other things as usual around the vast hilly Moganshan bamboo forest regions. Getting sort of lost along the bamboo logging trails and tea plantations is always a relaxing weekend break from the "big smoke" Shanghai….

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Lost in Zhejiang “High Country"
Not really as quite in the know where I am at any given time. We always hang out around Moganshan (Zhejiang) for decades and this time around went back over to the Simingshan region in Zhejiang province of Peoples Republic of China scouting some new trail and enduro routes for the future. Reminds and feels a bit like riding the Aussie Victoria “High Country”…



Located on the coast of the East China Sea in the southeast of the country, Zhejiang province borders with Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian. It is the province with the most islands in the country, with 2,000 islands off its coast. Its southwest is high in altitude while the northeast is low. And its vast waters form the large offshore fishing ground of Zhejiang province. Being a province with a lot of ancient cities and towns, Zhejiang is endowed with abundant cultural and historical heritages. It is in this very place that the traditional Chinese culture is well-preserved. Visitors have the chance to experience the ancient life of Chinese people when travelling around Zhejiang province.

Lying between Ningbo (Zhejiang) and Shaoxing (Zhejiang), Siming Mountains are stretching from Yuyao in the north to Shengzhou in the south. The mountains rise to a height of 400-900 meters above sea level, with Jinzhong Mountain at the extreme southeast corner of the ridge being the highest peak at 1018 meters. As rainfall is abundant, the natural scenery here is green and the deep gorges hide fast flowing rivers and streams, dotted with waterfalls and natural pools.

During the summer, the temperature in Siming Mountains is significantly lower than in the blazing plains below, which makes the area a great cooling respite. At the height of winter, if you’re lucky, you will even be able to see the unique phenomenon of rime trees, where vapor rising from the rivers freezes on the bare tree brances, a very rare sight in China’s south.

Siming ridge is brimming with natural reserves, lakes, waterfalls and ancient mountain villages. The area also bears significance in Chinese revolutionary history, as many Communist Party branches were established in the villages here during the war against Japan and the civil war.

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Lost in Zhejiang “High Country" during April 2017...

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Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Lost in Zhejiang “High Country" during April 2017...

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Lost in Zhejiang “High Country" during April 2017...

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR

Lost in Zhejiang “High Country" during April 2017...

__________________
Somewhere down the road in China since '89 ~ along the route I've learned the hard way that pleasing everyone is impossible, but pissing everybody off is a piece of cake....TBR