My first three days I went all over Wuhan meeting up with friends of friends, couchsurfing members, and my hosts. The last two days I actually rested. I needed rest from my rest. Ha. Wuhan is a pretty city, a number of parks, and quite a few lakes. Though one problem plagues my perception, the haze. It’s hard for me to appreciate what could be beautiful under a blue sky, but its muted by grey air. I’m 1000km from Shanghai, and air has been a problem the entire time. The trip from Shanghai here was a bit rough. I thought there’d be a bit more scenery, and what scenery there was is shrouded in in a yellow fog. Or dotted with monstrous constructions sites. The landscape is strange, but its actually interesting in that way as well. The hospitality and friendliness of people I’ve met along the way has been amazing. Now I have not-occassional, but very frequent questions of where I am and if I’m okay. Wuhan had been no exception.
Leaving today. Three days from here to Yichang, where a friend is training over from Shanghai to meet me. We’re going peruse a road and topography map, and explore some villages in the Three gorges area.
I’m so ready to be in the mountains.
I have not yet been to Asia. And regrettably wished I had gone to China earlier before it became….polluted air-wise. How are the roads for cycling and drivers?
All drivers in Asia will piss you off if you’re coming from the west. It can be every man for themself on the road. The most dangerous things I’ve experienced are oncoming drivers overtaking.. and the worst is people turning onto the road right in front of you.. But too be honest, it’s not that bad.. These maneveurs are more annoying than dangerous in my experience. Basically I haven’t had any really close calls. The highways are busy but not crowded. What will really grind your gears are the engine noises and horns. Here’s my strategy.. I try to ride on anything smaller than a state road［(sheng dao 省道）（yellow line orange marker on google maps)] or country road［（guodao 国道）（yellow line red marker on google maps)] which would be: countryside roads [（xiandao县道) (bold white line on google maps)] village roads [(xiangdao乡道） or avenues (dadao大道) (both faint grey lines on GM）］Avoiding the state roads and country roads will add milage.. and require a few more times of looking at your gps or list of directions, but they are often very quiet, and lined with real life(homes/farms/stores) The road quality overall is fine, a bit more often with pot holes, cracks, broken sections etc.. But if you’re not riding for time.. than the slower pace is worth it. IMHO. Soooo, it all comes down to you tastes/preferences/tolerances.. Feel free to ask more questions.. but if you do, make them more specific and I hope to give you better answers.. as I have covered much distant in China, and the roads/situations are different in every place