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China, days 33 to 40: Gansu & Xinjiang provinces
I spent a day exploring Jia Yu Guan while waiting for Hui Hui to come and join on the trip for 4 days. We then drove to Dunhuang for the week end and spent 2 days with my friend Julien and Anne his girl-friend, visiting a few of the hundreds famous sino-buddhists Mogao caves. They all flew back to Shanghai on Sunday while I got on a bus towards Hami, the first eastern city of Xinjiang province. From Hami towards Turpan I have been riding through terribly windy areas called "fong kou" (litteraly "wind cross") before to reach Shan Shan on Tuesday and Turpan on Wednesday. All together I bridged Gansu and Xinjiang province by car and bus for a total of 600 kms during 4 days that allows me to be on time with my schedule. I have to be in Kashgar on May 25th, the far western city of China, 1200 kms away, south west from Turpan.

Jia Yu Guan street....many are kind of "old communist fashion"...

A round about in Jia Yu Guan.

A bicycle work-shop... unfortunately I had nothing to fix on my bike. This man's hate shows "Ronaldino" on it, I would have gave him a cubano cigar and tell this shot was made in La Havana, many would believe me!

Hui Hui at the the fort of Jia Yu Guan, the very western point of the chines empire during the Ming dynasty.

The main buildings of the Jia Yu Guan pass's fortress, the gate through the western end of the chinese great wall.

Happy to be together again...

I did that shot in a super-market of Jia Yu Guan, nowadays anywhere in China one can find pretty much anything he needs. Here is a wild choice of chines "bai jiu", the famous rice alchool. The golden cans is the other famous beverage, "red bull", I drink 2 of them every morning before the ride...it is kind of a booster.

This is my chewing-gum master, after 34 years unable to make bubbles, Hui Hui took the necessary time to teach me how to become successful.

On our way to Dun Huang, we drive through endless wind turbines fields.

On Sunday I took a bus to Hami the first city of Xinjiang that I could reach. The road is actually a trail for about 250 kms. It is impossible to cycle here, sometimes the dust would be so thick that our driver would barely see beyond 10 meters ahead.

That's a fxxxxg long truck!

Some of the thousands cranes making their way to the chinese Far West.

On the next morning I left Hami and from my hotel cycled towards the G312. As you can see the sign boards are now in both chinese and arabic since Xinjang is inhabited by Han, Huis and Ouigurs peoples, the original ethnic group.

During a lunch break.

In the back stand the Karlik mountains range.

The Karlik range and an unexpected highway visitor...

We stared at eachother for 10 minutes...

Nigh fall at the toll gate station where I spent the night in a dormitory. This area is a wind-cross, it is therefor terribly windy and thus impossible to ride on a bicycle.

Tired but happy after 146 kms on that day.

The team of the toll gate station, some of them are Han, some Huis and others Ouigurs peoples.

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Silk Road 2011