February 8, 2016
Yudu via the 323
starting point of The Long March
I'm first at the museum, freewheeling into the parking area out front at just a few minutes before 8:30. After paying for a ticket, the chill in the air has me walking briskly from the reception towards the main group of buildings, which include the Red’s bank, their propaganda printing workshops and accommodation, plus the more famous conference hall.
The museum is about 6km northeast from center of Ruijin in an area known as Yeping and it was here in 1929 that the First National People's Congress of the Soviet Republic of China was held - in an old temple. The building was also used to house various government departments and after taking a self-timed shot on the stage under portraits of Lenin and Marx, I look into a few of the rooms. They're small and furnished in a very basic way, with just a desk or a bed, and usually a simple chair. There are very few visitors around at this time. It takes me about 90 minutes to see what I want.
The six female members of staff at reception all want photos taken with me when I go to pick up my bike, which has been stored in an office. After all that is done with, I pedal off to find another of the Red’s buildings which is on the west side of Ruijin, the direction I'm heading in.
The wide road looks like a failed work in progress, as do a lot of the city’s northern outskirts. High rise buildings are in various stages of completion, but there doesn’t appear to be much urgency or cohesion to it all. Sections of road are in terrible condition.
By mistake, I end up at Hongjing, another Red Tourism site in Ruijin that includes more government offices and a well said to be dug by Mao Zedong. By now everyone is up and the place is buzzing. Some English speaking guys direct me to the right place, a meeting hall at Ersuda, which is fortunately just a ten-minute ride away.
There are fewer people at this spot, where the Reds built an octagonal hall as a venue to have large meetings. Their second Congress was held there. Above the entrance is a large red star framing a globe, while inside rows of wooden benches radiate away from the stage, above which are the now familiar prints of Lenin and Marx.
All this sightseeing is taking time, but there is nothing else to keep me and in a matter of minutes I am at the start of the S323, which shoots directly west. I have no idea where the rest of the day will take me, except a place called Yunshi Mountain.
Prior to the March starting in October 1934, some government offices were transferred to a hilltop temple on this low peak, located about 15km west of Ruijin. It’s accessed from the S323, the road to Yudu, so it have penciled in to my itinerary. Somehow I miss the turning. It only becomes apparent when my computer says I’d ridden 20km.
The upshot is I carry on cycling along the S323 - the original plan had been to go from Yunshi Mountain on a northern loop to Yudu, which would no doubt have included a few hills. This main road is very quite, probably due to the fact that it is New Year’s Day and everyone is at home enjoying a family dinner, playing cards or a traditional game mahjong. I’ve certainly seen lots of men seated outside at tables, smoking, and enjoying the warm sunshine, with the red paper shells of used firecrackers littering the roadsides.
It's so warm that I change my merino top for a short-sleeved polyester one and as my computer keeps clocking up the kilometers, it seems feasible to not only reach Yudu, but to do so before the sun goes down. It'll mean something like a 100km day, but thereis certainly nothing much to stop for, with drab low-rise buildings strewn along the side of the road when villages appear between the unspectacular landscape.
The road is pretty flat and the two short pit stops I make for cold drinks end up being little tea parties, with extended families intrigued as to where I'm going and where I‘m come from. To be frank, people’s friendliness is something unexpected, as I’d been warned about rudeness and overpricing, yet everyone I’ve encountered has been wonderful.
The sun is disappearing when I cross the bridge over the river into Yudu. A sign says it's 3km along the bank to where a memorial to mark the start of The Long March is and when I pull on to the piazza, the thing is in shade, so the light isn’t great for a snap. However, it doesn’t seem worth coming back to take one in the morning and after stuffing the camera away, it's just a matter of riding back to the S323 and finding a riverside hotel.
The first price the 20-something women at reception quotsd me is 320rmb, which makes me cough. I'm walking out the door when the price comes down to 250rmb, which includes breakfast. Bingo.
My bike gets wheeled into the lobby and locked to the staircase’s handrail. The interior is very reminiscent of the one in Ruijin, with a regal carpet along the corridor and similar décor in the spacious room. The price seems a bargain and the start of The Long March, the bridge back over the river, is just a block away.
Today's ride: 80 km (50 miles)
Total: 417 km (259 miles)
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