Finally Well Rested, but It's Still Hot...

Rain was forecast for today, which meant the temperature was expected to be a bit more pleasant, with a high of 32 to 33°C. I woke up at 5:40 a.m. and could easily have gotten up, as I had already slept for eight hours. But I had the luxury of staying in bed for another two and a half hours, bringing my total sleep to more than ten hours. And that felt absolutely wonderful!

As a result, we didn't set off until shortly after 9:30 a.m. The plan for today was almost exactly 100 kilometers. Thanks, Wenxin, for taking care of the hotels and the detailed route planning.

At first, the temperature was genuinely pleasant, but before long it became quite hot again. After about 20 kilometers, we stopped for a break and bought something to drink. Right next to a beverage shop belonging to a well-known Chinese chain, a street vendor was selling bing, a kind of pan-fried flatbread. Jiabin really likes it, so I bought half a kilogram while thinking of her.

A few kilometers later, we left Henan Province and entered Anhui Province.

Shortly afterwards, we spotted a beautiful pond full of water lilies. As we stopped to take a photo, we heard a watermelon vendor on the other side of the road advertising his produce through a loudspeaker. This kind of continuous recorded sales pitch is extremely common in China, so we couldn't help following the announced watermelon prices. They had been dropping steadily and had reached an astonishing low yesterday of the equivalent of just under 5 Swiss centimes per kilogram. That's a serious problem for local farmers, because even by Chinese standards this is unbelievably cheap, leaving them with almost no income for their work. I assume the price collapse is due to overproduction, although I'm not entirely sure. Apparently, several famous singers have bought many tons of watermelons from the farmers and are now reselling them as a way to reduce food waste—an initiative similar to ones we know from elsewhere. Today's price was 0.4 RMB for half a kilogram, which is about 0.8 RMB—or roughly 10 Swiss centimes—per kilogram, so still incredibly inexpensive. (The following video is best watched with the sound on.)

To celebrate our arrival in Anhui, we had lunch with the province's famous noodles. However, the specialty contains meat, so I ordered something else instead. The owner was very sweet and asked whether her two sons could take a photo with me. Of course I agreed, and I took a photo of them as well.

Back out in the heat, and still riding into either a crosswind or a headwind, we continued along a small road that happened to be rather bumpy for a change. Fortunately, that uncomfortable section didn't last long, and soon we were rolling comfortably toward Fuyang on a larger road. By then, the temperature had dropped somewhat, and trees provided welcome shade. When we arrived at 4:45 p.m., the thermometer showed only 29°C. That was probably thanks to the forecast rain, although we didn't experience a single drop. Given my recent streak of weather luck, that hardly surprised me anymore.

Neither Wenxin nor I was particularly hungry in the evening, so we decided to go out for some street food instead. After successfully buying our food, another photo session began. A few Chinese people noticed that I was taking photos as well and called me over. They seemed very friendly, so I joined them. They offered me some of their food, and one of the gentlemen even went out of his way to buy me a drink. Only after a while did I realize that one of them in particular was quite drunk. When he wanted to make a 54-second TikTok video with me, he hugged me for almost a full minute and kept pulling my head against his, which made me feel a little uncomfortable. Naturally, meaningful conversations were rather difficult in that state. Still, no harm done—I don't think I'll suffer any lasting effects from it. They were genuinely hospitable and certainly meant no harm.

P.S.: Today I also received the finished video from the video blogger I met on Day 126, and she has now published it. It gives a very good impression of what such a chance encounter in China typically looks like (watch from 1:09 to 2:20). It also illustrates once again just how important food is in Chinese culture. 😉