-- From Hangzhou to Linli

We left Hangzhou the 21/08 at the beginning of the afternoon. At the exit of the city we wandered in the tangle of the peripherals, our Bruno guide decided to take a taxi to leave there. But we did not find the entrance of the highway announced to HuangShan, either it did not exist or it was under repair. At the end of four hours of road, 128 kilometres, we bivouacked in the carpark of the local buses in the town of Yuqian. Around 9 p.m. 30, the police came to awake me to ask me for my documents which I refused to give of fear not to recover them. On the other hand I gave the telephone number of Bruno sleeping at the hotel. Half an hour later the police returned to give me a telephone number in the event of need. Of course, in these two occasions, there was a gesticulating and extremely speaking assembly of locals.

The road tracklog 
from Hangzhou to Linli 
from the 21/08/2006 to the 27/08/2006 

At the end of the morning of the 22/08, we visited a factory of ink in Tunxi. The process dates from the 18th century. After translation of our guide, it emerged that ink is the lampblack deposited on a bowl turned maintained over the top of another bowl in which it was deposited shavings of a tree whose name was not translated, mixed with pieces of skin and bones of donkey linked with oil and a wick to activate combustion. The visited workshop was not in activity have regard to the pollution generated by the fume. The factory of production is in the countryside.

Ink manufacture 
Tunxi 
22/08/2006 

At the beginning of afternoon of the 22/08, we made a detour by road 218 to visit the old villages of XiDi and HongCun. They are composed of stone-built houses whose walls of those at the periphery constitute the enclosure of the village. The interior of the houses is a whole of partitions out of wooden dividing space into a reception room at the entrance and rooms of dwelling around, with one floor for the largest.

XiDi 
the 22/08//2006

HongCun 
22/08/2006 

We arrived the 23/08 at the end of the morning in Tankou, we continued the road until the departure of the cable car to the HuangShan mountain. Alas, it was impossible to station. We turned over to the city to seek the bivouac announced by JC Griffoin. We did not find it, on the other hand a hotel at the periphery got a shaded carpark to us where I had rest in the afternoon. Following day 24/08 was also a day of rest and service of my vehicle.

The 25/08 we took the roads, 103, 220 and 308 to go to Jingdezhen where we arrived at the beginning of afternoon. The museum of the history of the porcelain is installed in a park where an old porcelain factory is. The various rooms of the museum occupy patriarchal houses and exhibit parts of the Ming and Qing time. Unfortunately there is confusion of the kinds with a mixture of rooms of the museum and stores of sale.

We took again the road to advance us towards Wuhan where we were to change guide on Sunday 27/08. We intended to bivouac on the service area at the entrance of the highway after Jingdezhen. But there was no hotel for Bruno, our guide. We continued until Jiujiang where we found a carpark for our vehicles and an inn for Bruno in edge of the expressway joining the highways. The night was very noisy due to the passage of the heavy Chinese trucks.

The 26/08 we arrived in Wuhan towards 12:00. We became acquainted with our new Yang guide which accompanied us until Chongqing. We bade our farewell with Bruno. The afternoon was devoted to visiting the city by bus, dining downtown and doing purchases of food in Carrefour supermarket.

The old bridge over Yangzi 
Wuhan 
26/08/2006 

The 27/08 we took again the road to go in Changde, but the road being long we stopped in Linli to bivouac in front of a factory of water purification. The temperature and moisture were very high making the drive of the vehicles very painful.

A new bridge over Yangzi 
on the way 
27/08/2006 

The following week was occupied by the way towards Guilin with the visit of the natural reserve of Wulingyuan.