First the business. Cash more traveler checks, enough that I might not have to find a bank again until I get to QingDao, my final destination in China. And for the first time since I have been finding banks in China, I got the right office on the first try.
Then there was the question of which route to take east from here. With the help of a Chinese friend of a British friend whom I met when we were both here in 1989, I chose a route. This Chinese friend also provided provincial maps that take me the rest of the way to QingDao. They are in Chinese, of course, but that means when I show one to someone along the way, they will be able to read it and tell me where I am. As another part of my business here I spoke with a man whose English is pretty good, and whose home town is 90km east of LZ on my chosen route. He confirms that it is suitable for traveling by bicycle.
Also my new Chinese friend took me on a shopping trip to the main part of town for English language books, and a supermarket where I could buy raisins in a package. You can buy bulk raisins in many outdoor markets, but when I was here before I felt a need to wash them, but now I don't have any place to lay them out to dry. We went to a supermarket for that. It is in the basement of a large department store. If they dropped you in the middle of that store, you would think you were in a typical American department store. Anyway, the supermarket has so many things that I finally quit browsing. But not before I bought a package of Oreo cookies for the equivalent of about 75 cents.
I thought I might find another foreign traveler at my hotel who would be interested in trading a book, which is how I got the one I am reading now, in Urumqi. So far I have not seen another foreigner in LZ. There are surely some, but not very many - same as when I was here before. So we went to the foreign language bookstore, where they have rows and rows of "the classics." I bought two. Reading some of this old literature has been on my list anyway, so this will work. With the route I have chosen, I don't expect to see any big cities for at least the next six weeks.
And most important of all, my visa extension. I got one in Urumqi, good until July 28. I thought maybe the folks here would say that it was too soon to look for a renewal, but they didn't. Also, the Brits with the tricycle tandem I met in XinJiang said that they got a six-week extension in LZ, so that is what I requested. Not only that, but they give same day service here. Took my passport in at 11:00 this morning, filled out the paperwork, and came back this afternoon at 4:00, and there was a visa good until September 6. This gives me a full three months in China, plus some leeway, in case I have to wait for the boat to Korea, or there is some other delay in leaving the country. So, I will not have to stop in any more large cities. This is good.
Anyway, about the cabbages.
The postal system in China is pretty good, and was so when I was here before. Now, I think it is even better, and there are small offices all over the place. Every day I see at least one postal truck carrying mail from one city to another. They are about the size of a UPS truck, green with yellow lettering. Besides the Chinese characters they also say, in English, "CHINA POST."
This afternoon as I was walking to the bus stop to go back to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) to pick up my visa, I noticed a postal truck near the bicycle lane, crossways to the street, and tipped a little. And when I got closer, I saw another regular open truck parked next to it, in the bicycle lane. When I got even closer, I could see that the postal truck had been backing into an alley and had gotten too close to the trench that runs along that part of the road, as part of the infrastructure improvement that is going on all over the city. It was tipped at a pretty steep angle.
What does all that have to do with cabbages, you ask? When I got up to the trucks, I could see cabbages flying out of the postal truck, and being caught by two guys in the regular truck. One was catching them and handing them to the other who was putting them in large mesh bags so they would not roll off the truck. I don't think anyone is mailing a truck full of cabbages, more likely someone is moonlighting with one of their trucks. This is China.
All for this time. There is still the story about the Talent Show, which I should have time to write about tomorrow. Now that all the business is taken care of I have a leave day of Thursday (today is Tuesday). Tomorrow will be totally mine, and will be used for rest, email, re-packing some things, and a little bicycle maintenance. Tonight, I think I will splurge and have supper at the KFC that is near the PSB. I noticed it on my way there this afternoon. Lanzhou has changed so much since I was here 12 years ago that I do not recognize a single thing - except maybe the hotel I am staying in. They renovated the inside, but the outside is the same drab concrete as before.
Dale
