Sichuan, China

Sichuan, China has been a massive highlight of the trip. So cool, so beautiful and what an experience for both of us.⁣

Sichuan is closer to how we imagined China. We love seeing the Chinese architecture as we cycle by. This beautiful architecture is found in bigger towns – the slightly more affluent places I think. ⁣

We’ve rolled through small villages and we quite like these. It’s always easy to find food and village-people are very friendly. We find if you can’t find what you want in one shop they’ll soon point you to their neighbour or the shop across the road. That’s village life in general though, isn’t it? It’s always that little bit more closely knit.⁣

The land is so beautifully green now. We took a few days off recently because we found worlds-comfiest-bed. What a thing to take a day off for, but it was so blissful! We’re both recovering from a cold too so a couple days off was helpful. ⁣

When we got back on the bike again I was wow-ed again by the greenery. It was as if I’d forgotten we’d left the desert until I rode again…it’s been a while out of the desert, but it seems my expectations of the day haven’t adjusted yet.⁣

It’s also greener than ever now and the Chinese make very good use of their land, it’s all used for growing crops. ⁣

Chinese towns continue to be immaculate. We rarely see any rubbish at all. They clean everything. When we were cycling in the snow we even saw women on the side of the main roads cleaning the very dirty bollards. Everything is cleaned and leaves are consistently brushed away.⁣

Everyday we cycle past fruit stalls selling all sorts – some we don’t even recognise, but will try. We’ve been eating oranges and oranges and oranges because they’re so delicious here this time of year.⁣

This part of China is so much freer and it’s very joyful to be here. All being well we will be in Chengdu tomorrow…and I hope it does go well because we’ve booked our hotel! We’ll stay in a hostel and we’ll have access to a washing machine! @ Sichuan