Pickled chicken feet
Plum wine
Beer

Need I say more?

Wow, what a great day in Shaxi…. I took a ridiculously long ride on our so-called rest day; up into the national park Shi Bao Sun Mountain. I lost the rest of the gang behind me on the hill, so was on my own for six hours of pleasant riding and exploring; visiting the 600 yr old stone carvings in the caves; enjoying spectacular views from up there, probably 1000ft above the valley floor. Because the road into the park is only one way and I didn’t want to ride out the same way, I chose to walk down the mountain on a steep path with hundreds of steps. Fine, except down the two hours trail carrying my bike for at least half of it; an exhausting but fun day! I was very exposed to the sun, so used some unusual means to cover my face… Such beautiful views from up there. I finally made it back to town to find the others worried I had been missing so long.

I showered and walked over to find a cold beer, and Jimmy (Singapore) joined me. Sharing a beer and some pickled chicken feet that were surprisingly tasty, we got to talking about world politics, and especially Asian historical perspectives, world politics, the Chinese view of the USA, Asian views on many things…a very fascinating and enlightening discussion. I surreptitiously recorded about 30 minutes of our chat; anxious to listen to it when I get back. One thing to note: if you represented the world population by a value of 100; 57 would be Asian and all the peoples of North America combined would only be six!!! I often think that Americans do frequently fail to understand there is a whole world out there that does not revolve around the USA.

Then, out to dinner with the gang; was just ok. After din, had a Chinese version of a Magnum ice cream, then back to the hotel as the rain started about 9pm.

After that was the true highlight of the day! I wandered onto the little square there, meeting up at the little local bar (run by the young woman we saw at dinner two nights ago) with Jah, Ken, Mr Wong, Jimmy and three women they had met from Taipei, Hong Kong, and Beijing.

What a great fun time that was!!! Drinking beer and plum wine, it was fascinating to be part of that truly international gang talking and laughing about so many things uncommon to my experience. Trying to understand everything spoken in mixes if Cantonese and English was a thrill; so many differences, so many commonalities. And I am rather slow moving this morning as a result…

Day 10 – Shaxi Village Rest Day Shaxi started as a trading point of tea and horses during the Tang Dynasty (618 – 907). The prosperity of the town was at its heights during the Ming and Qing dyn-asties (1368 – 1912). This is probably the most intact horse caravan town on the Ancient tea route leading from Yunnan into Burma and Tibet. The Sideng market square of the town of Shaxi was added to the World Monuments Watch List of Most Endangered Sites in 2001.Today is a rest day in this interesting little town. This old town nestled in a valley is a perfect place to explore the surrounding vil-lages and countryside. Lao Mandian Hotel.