(reading China Road by Rob Gifford)
Flew Air France from Charles de Gaulle
Ten hours flight time to Guangzhou
Realised belatedly, we're quite tall,
Cramped in a 777, me and you.
Clive had flown that day from Heathrow
Dropped off by Linda, without his bike;
"Wu liu" logistics will make things flow
And Gifford's book I rather like.
Our China Road will be quite different
With World Expeditions at the helm;
Expect to hear a lot of comment
From bikes, as we tour the "realm"!
Monsieur - Attachez les ceintures!
Mangez francais ou a la chinoise?
Worry no more about damn denture
Dreamt of Verdi and his choirs.
Well that's enough for just one flight
Tomorrow will bring some reality
And so I wish you all goodnight
To dream Communist practicality.
Day Two - from Guangzhou to Zhaoqing
Met by Frank who runs our agenda
Hotel Canton thence by van;
Team meeting with lovely Brenda,
Richard, Pete and Stan the man!
Round a table trying chopsticks
Drinking beer and eating rice
Lazy Susan's foodie bowl mix
Some of which was also nice!
Drove forever through the city
West along a crowded highway
A car on fire, more's the pity,
Disembarked at little Xiaozhou
Now on bikes we cycled westward,
An embankment was our dusty path
By West River churning seaward
We're having fun and quite a laugh,
Saw fisherfolk beside the water,
Buffalo all caked in mud
Oncoming bikes where they didn't oughter
The MTB's coping with the crud.
Lunch en route, more of the same,
Then scary highway, cars and roadworks
Where topiary's the name of the game,
To Songtao Hotel, where by a lake it lurks
Over supper Frank waxed so lyrical
Chiang Kai Shek and Mao Ze Dong
History explained - it was political
Told what fuels the current boom.
Sure it ain't all communism
Sick and incapable left to starve
Much more rampant capitalism
Rushing on, the pie to carve
Day three - trip to Mt Dinghu and Boading Park
Today a rest day in the park
Said Stan, but was not to be-
Zhaoqing Dadao on cycles, hark!
Crossed six lanes with not much glee
After lunch - more rice and chillie
Climbed up on up to visit Buddha
Thinking this was really hilly
Tortoise coining made us gooder
Learnt from Frank the Chinese characters
Meaning "environment" and "wind"
5,000 minimum parameters
Thousands more are there to find.
Awesome aubergine we ate tonight
At last a meal to savour
Chicken, cashew, pakchoi, right-
And moderate behaviour!
Then in the dark the stalker struck
Clipboard poised, persistent bit
Of unrelenting down on her luck
Till poof! We did a five way split.
Tomorrow there'll be lots more cycling
Promised Frank, a smile upon his face
9am start and no more hiking
Great how well he knows this place
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