Had to leave my JL bike behind in Dongguan and in the "Big Smoke" Guangzhou right now for business meetings. Guangzhou = foggy - misty - humid moloch city.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guangzhou Looking out the windows right now - need to be reunited with my bike soon and hit the road again further South to the big island called Hainan.....
Headed out from SongShan Lake (Dongguan) in the morning with the plan to hit either Zhanjiang (Guangdong) or Xuwen (Guangdong) for the night. Tried to visit the Dongguan (Humen) Opium War Museum but the roads leading to it were blocked by police due to a VIP visit of some big wig, fine with me - next time.... Some info about the Opium Museum here: http://www.ypzz.cn/en/ and the famous burning of some dope in the old days. We are talking about 1188127 kilograms of burning Opium here...... 1188.127 metric ton, thats quite a lot of drugs going up in smoke....... Come to think of it, really ~ just from the spreading smoke, greater Dongguan area must have been high as a kite for weeks!!!!! Sex, Drugs and Rock n' Roll (rock playing in my Schuberth helmet via Bluetooth) and it was time to leave Sin City Dongguan.... Took the ferry to cross the river from Humen to Nansha in foggy misty weather, just a big ferry boat loaded with cars and one lonely awesome Jialing ADV Cruiser....
Was in really good spirits in the morning - little did I know what a day of riding lay ahead with two strong thunderstorms (incl. hail / heavy winds) and by the time I had a piss stop next to Snoopy the weather turned really nasty for hours. Grabbed a large coffee from a McDonalds across from defunct Snoopy Park but rain continued and took off in the rain.... Rain... hail... more rain but once your wet - your wet and just carried on, no point in resting during the middle of the day and why bother to stay in a cheap roadside hotel or restaurant to waste the day away doing blog updates or emails and listening to some local bloke who wants to know where you from - how much you make a month - where are you going - are you married - do you like Chinese girls - how much does the xxxx costs (xxxx = motorbike, helmet, jacket, boots, GPS, mobile, iPad, etc... etc).....
After lunch time the weather cleared up a bit (no rain for a few hours) and made some good progress due to good roads riding along towards Zhanjiang (Guangdong) with great scenery.....
With lightning speed, the mighty Jialing JH600A went all the way down the peninsula to Hai'An (ferry docks to Haikou - Hainan Island http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haikou) Rolling into Xuwen / Hai'An district its quite a sight to see, hundreds of trucks lined up waiting to have a run over a huge weight bridge before being allowed to drive into the Hai'An ferry dock waiting area for loading and boarding. Looked at a few hotel beside the road towards Xuwen county http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hai'an,_Xuwen_County but not really into the KTV - Hotel - Massage treatment the natives prefer and went to check out the ferry docks. They operate 24hr. and decided on the spot to get on a large ferry boat to Haikou (approx. 2hr. passage) for 68RMB all incl. and access to the climate controlled passenger lounge area with food & beverage options and entertainment was granted as well at no extra charges.....
The promised lounge area with seats existed, climate control = open doors / windows and let the warm humid air flow through..... the power cable to the air-conditioners were cut off for whatever reason. The cafeteria / lounge area reeked of sweat and other odors, fitted right in with my filthy smelly clothes after 12hr. on the road watching some Chinese soap opera on the TV sets. The Sound & Smell & Experience = Priceless!!!! After some reconnaissance of the ferry boats facilities, decided against a quick wash up and clothes change in the executive ferry on-board rest rooms. Let's stink up the executive lounge like the rest of the truckies..... no worries, who cares anyway!
Some night shots of the Haikou skyline, sorry for the picture quality, only use small pocket digital cameras after destroying too many expensive ones while travelling. Arrived at the old Haikou ferry port around 23:00hrs. Thursday (28/03) and driving off the ferry was easy after the diggers and trucks got off the boat before.....
Did the real cultural and touristy part of my trip to bridge a few hours between meetings and visited the tomb of Hai Rui in Haikou.... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hai_Rui
Makes me really wonder how much longer this Haikou neighbourhood shrine will survive the wrecking crew....
While heading out of Haikou (G324 National Highway) had quick pitstop at the Volcano Cluster Park for future Haikou visits but taken that one of the "must visit places in China" as its a typical tourist trap crowded with tourist groups by the bus load. The park hast just a few small mountains with some holes on top anyway..... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haikou_...Global_Geopark
Rolled down National Road G324 to Yalong Bay (Sanya) from Haikou, the road goes through the middle of the island and covered the trip previously (JL sidecar run in this thread). Nothing major to report, seems a anti drug campaign going on as I have seen a few signs today. Funny coincident, while I loaded the bike up in Haikou, got a phone call about my mates and family boarding the plane up at HQ Airport Shanghai and thought to myself, hey ~ Top Gear style race, who is first at the Yalong Bay / Sanya hotel reception? The others won by approx. 15 minutes.... The mighty Jialing ADV Cruiser met the Big Golden Lion at Yalong Bay Sanya on 15:30hrs. Saturday 30/03 (my final destination for the Shanghai - Sanya Run to the Sun meeting mates and family). The Jialing JH600 motorbike performed very well and deserves a good rest for a few days, only problem was the fried battery in Jiangxi province. Sanya.... balmy +30 degr. celsius and the sky is a perfect shade of blue.....
Had to go to the Hainan Rendevouz the other day, some display vehicle pics attached.... no motorbikes displayed anywhere inside or outside the show: http://www.hainanrendezvous.com/en and we have the Shanghai event in October: http://bundclassic.com/en
Very interesting week I must say, HRV = Hainan Rendevouz, 200+ supercars around greater Sanya area, invited super rich clowns ($$$$$'s doesn't always buys class and style), 10 heads of countries and one Big Chief for the pre-meeting leading up to the BOAO forum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boao_Forum_for_Asia staying in Yalong Bay international hotels and never felt so safe in my life staying in the special security zone ... nuff' said .... Sanya probes sex party rumours SHANGHAI DAILY Apr 6, 2013 Government officials in Sanya said yesterday they were investigating rumors of sex and drugs parties at a trade show, aimed at China's richest people, in the Hainan Province city. Online posts featured photographs of high-profile celebrities and young Chinese models at the Hainan Rendez-Vous Lifestyle and Yacht Show held from last Saturday to Tuesday. The posts quoted "participants in the event" as saying one model earned 600,000 yuan (US$97,000) from sex parties over three evenings and that more than 2,000 condoms were used at just one party. Several celebrities quickly responded to the rumors stating they were either not at the event or clarifying what really happened. "Time will tell and the truth should be known: My family is the most important part in my life," wrote Wang Xiaofei, a millionaire businessman who is married to Taiwan actress Barbie Hsu, on his microblog. Wang said he was in Beijing and Taiwan when the yacht show was being held. He even posted screenshots of the flight information from his mobile phone to prove his innocence. Xu Yajun, husband of Hsu's sister, Taiwan actress and TV hostess Dee Hsu, wrote on his microblog that either the "sex party things" were purely rumors or something that very few people did during the event. Other celebrities told reporters they took part in events at the show but described them as "high-end" gatherings or wine parties. Some said the rumors were probably spread by people who weren't able to join them. The event's organizer published an announcement denying the online allegations. "False reports about the event have been spread online, damaging the reputation of the event by spreading information unrelated to the company," the announcement said. "Currently all the rumors widely spread online are not true. The company has never organized such parties and never authorized anyone to do so. All the participants in the event can prove that such things never happened." According to the rumors, police in Sanya were said to have raided a party and taken some people away for drug tests. However, police have not commented so far. The annual Hainan Rendez-Vous lifestyle show features hundreds of luxury brands of yachts, business jets and other products. Last year's event in Sanya attracted more than 20,000 visitors, according to its official website. ************************************************** ***************************************** Back to regular hard island life and bike cruising, went down to Sanya Bay watching the Sanya Cricket Club as some mates play this "game" or lets say look the part while drinking beers ..
Departed Yalong Bay to head up the West Coast to stay with a mate involved in a huge construction project (hotels and amusement park) after a pit-stop at Sanya Dolphin Sportsbar (Dadonghai): http://www.sanyadolphin.com Did a bit of grocery shopping opposite Dolphin Sportsbar, called Summer Mall (Corner's Deli 5th.floor for future Sanya visitors, pricey ~ but they carry the best range of imported western food products in greater Sanya area: http://www.corner-s.com A few new "No Motorcycle" signs are up around Dadonghai and Sanya CBD but seems nobody cares. Quick sprint up on the G98 Expressway as motorcycles are not banned it seems....
Took the Nanshan exit to cruise up the Western coast line (National Road G225) but skipped visiting Nanshan once again as its by far the most popular and crowded tourist attraction on the island today. Look at Nanshan here: http://www.nanshan.com/en/
The Salt Field (Incun - Yinggehai at Hainan West Coast facing Vietnam) going on forever.... Located in the south-western seashore of Ledong County, the salt field is one of its largest kinds in Hainan and has long been a famous fishery production base. The beach here slopes gently and the sand on it is fine and white and soft to feel. Established in 1985, the salt field covers an area of 38 km2. As the ridges of Jianfengling block the way of north wind, cloud and rain, the salt field exposes to the scorching sun all year round and the seawater here is the saltiest in the world. Sun and high salinity in seawater are the advantages that this salt field enjoys as a quality salt producer.
Trail riding around the mountains between Dongfang / Longmu Bay and native burial sites are scattered everywhere in the mountains and beside the roads.
Brickworks in the mountains, always enjoy looking at this kind of things and manufacturing in general.....
Vegetable (string beans) trading near Foluo, mate says frequently police is heavily involved as fights break out as its quite common that the scales are rigged, China at its best.....
