Day 2: From Langfang to Tianjin

Distance: 78.2 km Riding time: 04:11 hours

Today we rode southeast along the flat river. It rained heavily the night before last, leaving huge puddles on some streets. The underground tunnel route we planned was flooded, so we had to take a detour. As the saying goes, "the process is the goal"!

We rode along the Bei Yunhe for a few kilometers, where the frogs seemed particularly active. Whether it was because of the hot weather or the rain, their loud croaking accompanied us all the way south, even drowning out the noise of the cicadas. When planning the route, I reminded Sascha that we would pass through many villages. The number of villages and the size of Tianjin far exceeded Sascha's imagination. His assessment of Tianjin was like this: super modern, super stylish. When the city lights up at night, it reminds people of a utopia from a sci-fi movie. Drones in the sky create beautiful patterns, skyscrapers turn into giant screens, boats on the river emit a futuristic glow, and even city buses are equipped with a large number of LEDs. Sascha was very impressed by China's internet technology and payment apps. For example, the traffic lights are connected to the internet, and the navigation app "Gaode Maps" shows how many seconds are left before the green light turns red. This is very helpful for cyclists. I would remind Sascha, with 10 seconds left until the light changes, to hurry up. When paying cash at a small shop near the national highway for our post-meal, the shopkeeper would say, "Sorry, I don't have change for you." Alas, we never know when our cash will run out.