Imagine the hottest and most humid place you’ve ever been, add about 30% to that, drop the air quality significantly, and you’ll pretty much have the kind of weather we rode 440 kilometers in yesterday. Add bee swarms (no kidding, actual swarms of bees) during segments of the ride and you’ll have yesterday’s trot down a Chinese freeway pretty much dialed in. Our destination was Jinin (it’s pronounced “Jee Nahn”) and we made it, but boy oh boy, it was rough riding.
Our first stop in Jinin was the local Zongshen dealer, who also had a clubhouse for the Jinin RX3 owners group. I grabbed a few photos there…
Lu in the Jinin RX3 Owners Clubhouse. His look pretty much captures how we felt after the day’s ride. Check out the artwork behind Lu.
Ah, the Wild Angels, starring Peter Fonda and Nancy Sinatra. I remember seeing that movie when it was first released. The Chinese love American pop culture.
Dong, the Chinese version of Peter Fonda, in front of a Dave Mann poster in Jinin, China.
Jinin is a city of 6 million people and the capital of Shandong province, and we had another awesome dinner there last night. The email I’ve been getting keeps asking for more food photos. We are eating our way through China. It’s a healthy diet, though, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. So, about those food photos…here we go!
A tofu, pork, and assorted vegetable mix, with rolls.
An egg dish with pork and veggies. It was delicious.
A chicken with all the parts.
Pork slices with rolls. Gresh said it was outstanding.
Shrimp with tofu.
Cucumbers with other veggies, pork, and garlic.
Fried lotus with pork. It was incredible. We are in Shandong Province, home of one of the four unique Chinese cuisines. I could do a book about eating my way through China.
Fish with cornbread patties as a frame.
Fried pork. Shandong cuisine has a lot of fried foods.
More pork, with other things included.
String beans with pork, garlic, red peppers, and octopus.
Mixed veggies, with an egg cover. This was outstanding. All of the dishes were outstanding, but I really liked this one.
A seafood selection, including a starfish. I’d never heard of eating a starfish before last night.
Sean showed me how to eat a starfish. I passed on the opportunity. He said it was just okay.
Deng, Joe, and Tracy on the walk back to the hotel after dinner last night. You can see the humidity hanging in the air. It’s worse during the day.
Today we only covered about 100 miles, but it’s because we visited four Zongshen dealers and two of them were in Jinin. We didn’t get out of Jinin until around noon. At the dealers, it was more of the Dajiu and Arjiu show (lots of photos), and then we slugged it out on country roads through Taian to arrive in Qufu, which is where I am writing this blog. They tell me Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius. That’s nice, but to tell the truth, the only thing I care about tonight is that the air conditioner works (and it does).
At breakfast this morning. As soon as I took the camera out of the case, the lens fogged over.
The clocks in the hotel lobby this morning. What’s wrong with this picture?
A “prizer” box. Some of the signs I’ve seen over here are pretty interesting. Still, their English is way better than my Chinese.
Yep, it was that hot in Jinin this morning.
In front of one of the Zongshen dealers we visited today.
A 150cc motorcycle with a sidecar in front of the Taian Zongshen dealer.
Tomorrow we make Qingdao, and folks, that’s our final destination. We’ll be there for two days. It’s a short hop back to Guangzhou after that, and then a long haul back to Los Angeles.
That’s all for now, my friends. Ride safe. We sure are!
TT250 Enduro
SG250 San Gabriel Cafe Racer
RX4 450cc Adventure