I'd like to think that the reason I had no particular problem with pedaling up as much of the road to the Stone Buddha Temple [石佛寺] as I chose to pedal up is because I've gotten stronger. I'd like to think it's because of doing squats at the gym or because of the crazy mountains I dealt with in Vietnam. However much I would like to think this, however, I have to admit that's it's much more likely because the 10kg or more more I'm carrying on my body is matched by 10kg or more less I'm carrying on my bike; also, the current super granny is like having two additional gears in back.
I didn't bother going all the way up to the Stone Buddha Temple. The only part of the temple that was interesting in 2012 was the Buddha Caves and this time I knew where they were to look for the turnoff. There were a bunch of people planting trees in the area who I originally thought were doing some kind of farm work but I later realized were park workers.
On the way out of Zuoquan, one of the best "don't jaywalk" barriers I've seen in China. Instead of fences that challenge the ornery or thoughtless to cross anyways, the median has been made inconvenient with a mix of water features and large flowers. As can be seen in the photo, people are still crossing, but not a lot.
Large flat metal statues of traditional Shanxi papercuttings are part of the median. In addition to looking a ton better than a barrier would, they are actually easier to traverse than a barrier so, if someone does jaywalk, the chances of them falling into traffic and causing an accident are lowered.
I'm willing to believe that, in 2012, when the monk said I was his first ever tourist (of any kind) in the ten years or so since the temple had been built anew that he was telling the truth. In 2012, the temple was on the far outskirts of the city, nearly two kilometers past the end of the closest village which, in turn, was a kilometer and change off the main road. The main road has changed course and the village is now more like 100 meters away. There's even a bus stop. And a bus. Which apparently goes all the way up to the temple at least a few times a day. And that's without even counting the not quite yet finished Stone Buddha Temple Suburban Forest Park just down the road which looks like its going to have a bigger, brighter, better version of the Stone Buddha Temple probably in a mix of new commercialist style and "rediscovering our cultural heritage" with no place for random monks or temple caretakers to be living.
It'll be interesting to come by again in another 6 years and see what's happened to the Buddha Caves.
Park workers in the foreground planting trees. Buddha caves in the background.
Right now, they mostly aren't materially changed from what they were the last time I was there. Visitors can still wander inside without paying an entrance fee or being stopped from uncivilized behaviors like flash photography or touching the carvings. The missing heads on a few of the main statues have been temporarily replaced with clay carvings in an artistic style that can, at best—and only with the greatest degree of generosity—be described as "well-intentioned" and which are certain to only currently be in place because no one at the National Bureau of Antiquities has visited recently enough to have found out about them.
One of the new heads. On the one hand, because it's so poorly done, I love it. On the other hand, this is on top of 800 year old carvings and I want to hurt the person who thought this was a good idea.
The expressway has been open since only a few months after the last time I was here so I had to take the surface road the whole way to Yushe. As nearly all of the large trucks which had previously been on the surface road were now on the expressway and recent environmentalist measures have cleaned up the culm and truck filth which used to line the road (and which, from my bus ride, is still present on the G207) it was an absolutely gorgeous ride in every way imaginable.
I had to literally force my way through a corn field to get to this pagoda which I had spent the last 6 years being miffed at my not having been able to visit.
Now that I've gotten to explore this pagoda, I'm actually kind of glad that I missed it 6 years ago. Not because it wasn't interesting but because I didn't have the contextual knowledge 6 years ago to make it interesting.
Back then I'd only just started to recognize that the red guy with the beard showed up in a lot of places, that he was usually grabbing at his beard, and that he usually had an attendant on his left holding a yellow box.
Coming on the tail of the incredible amazing wonderful mind blowing Buddha caves, instead of seeing these statues as representation of the modern reaquisition of traditional faith that was built solely for the people who built it and not for outsiders or tourists, I would have instead thought these were a badly done pastiche in modern materials.
In point of fact, although I presumably had to go a bit higher than I would have if I'd had tunnels and viaducts to help me through the mountains, I think the many different curves and swerves that went hither and thither and round the many many peaks meant that I actually had a ride which, overall, worked out to be less consistently less climbing. That, or my legs are stronger after Vietnam. (The four days since I last rode my bike clearly have nothing at all to do with the amount that nothing hurts.)
Last time I was looking down at the trucks from an empty not quite finished expressway. This time I'm looking up at the trucks from a completely abandoned surface road.
This is great for me (except in terms of finding food). It's not so great for the people who used to have businesses along this stretch providing water and food to the trucks.
Because this was such a major road, it has all kinds of decorations. Some of them (like the dinosaurs or the planters made out of old tires at the rest stops for the tired drivers who are no longer here to be rattled and fussed by the sharp curves) are kind of cheesy. Others, like this set of imperial dragons holding the China Highway Authority symbol (instead of something normal, like the sun) are super cool.
I stopped at the same Martyr's Memorial on the outskirts of Yushe [榆社] as last time. It was crumbling then and it's still crumbling now. If anything, it's crumbling even worse. The museum part is still locked up. From up on top the hillock where the memorial is located, I could see that something was going on in the village down below so I stopped there next for a very mediocre bit of very enthusiastically performed Opening Ceremonies for some local "Patriotic Song and Dance Tourism Festival" that I might have stayed for a bit longer if enthusiasm hadn't been the primary positive quality it had going for it.
Lots of looking at all the different mapping options available to me indicated that I could either call it a short day in Yushe or I could head south and west to Yunzhu [云竹] which used to be named Yuncu [云簇] because apparently "Cloud Bamboo" sounds better than "Cloud Cluster" to the people who thought the nearby reservoir should be transformed into a tourism area. Yunzhu is just to the south of Heyu Township [河峪乡] where I spent the night in 2012 and had what is certain to forever be described as one of my nicest ever encounters with the Chinese police.
The very friendly police in Heyu in 2012 were really about the only thing in Heyu that was "nice" and Yunzhu (with two main roads and ten cross alleys) not only had the benefit of being a "town" instead of a "township", the topo map showed that it was a flatter ride than the ride to Heyu would be. It also looked like it was more closely intertwined with the newly developed tourism area; this meant that even in the non officially tourism-centric areas it was bound to have lots of restaurants and places to stay.
The S102 along the west side of Zhuozhang River [浊漳河] is no longer the main road and is currently getting some much needed roadworks so I basically had the road completely to myself until I got to the turnoff for Yunzhu. That was a very ratty tatty road which looks like it has been mostly left to rot since the expressway was built and all the important traffic to the area started to come in on the fast road. I imagine it will probably get something done to it in another four or five years but it's currently merely "potholed" rather than "potholed and rutted and impassable" and there's definitely a tendency in this country to not do maintenance work but rather to let things completely fall apart and then replace them altogether.
Most random wall paintings are still super patriotic and super Communist, but they're starting more and more to be something that (if you squint at it right) could be called art instead of Big Character Slogans.
I had a lovely meal of dumplings at the first apparently open restaurant which I saw after which I checked out the closest hotels. The 30 yuan a night place was perfectly acceptable but the 100 yuan a night place was willing to be talked down to 55 and it was a lot lot nicer.
Today's ride: 71 km (44 miles) Total: 923 km (573 miles)
