Day 8 - 10: From Kenli to Laizhou along the Bohai Bay

Distance: 212 km Travel time: 10:42

We spend a few days in Kenli. A highlight is the trip to the Yellow River Delta, where the yellow river water meets the blue sea. The dividing line is said to be clearly visible in good conditions, but unfortunately it is barely noticeable today. The Huanghe ("Yellow River") is the second longest river in China and the fifth longest in the world at over 5,400 km and washes millions of cubic meters of sediment onto the sea coast, creating around 14 km2 of new land area every year.

After many years, Zhaoyang meets a good friend again and that has to be celebrated properly. She and her husband invite us and two other friends to a boozy dinner in a seafood specialty restaurant. Chinese hospitality is exuberant, and that was the case this evening. I'd rather leave out the further details, but after that I need almost two days to recover from the hangover and alcohol poisoning (as Zhaoyang puts it so beautifully: It's your own fault!).

Day 8 : It rains in Kenli in the morning and we take advantage of the clearing up at lunchtime to set off anyway. Unfortunately, the rain catches up with us after a few kilometers. Instead of driving 65 km to Yangkou, we shorten it to 35 km and book into the chic Bella Hotel, which is opening in 2024. We are allowed to take the bikes with us to the fully automated room (there is no other room): wireless charging of cell phones, voice control, massage chair, automatic curtains, etc. It's a shame that we have to leave again the next day...

Day 9 : It was supposed to rain in the morning, and Zhaoyang wanted to meet her friend again, and we would have extended our stay in the hotel by one more night. But the weather is surprisingly nice, and so we start our tour towards Weifang under cloudy skies and after saying goodbye to our friend. We ride along roads with little traffic in temperatures below 30 degrees to the sea, which has retreated (again). We leave Dongying and cycle for many kilometers through a reed and swamp area. Then we continue past oil fields and pumps, over several kilometers of muddy roads, sometimes with a tailwind, sometimes with a headwind.

We pass countless salt pans with mountains of piled-up salt, protected from environmental influences such as rain by tarpaulins. Later we noticed a bright turquoise on the horizon. As we got closer, it turned out to be a sea bay, shimmering unearthly before us. How can that be? We asked someone nearby, who explained that the entire bay was made up of concentrated salt water and that the salt crust was responsible for the esoteric shine.

Day 10 : Once again, we follow a highway (mainly the G206) for almost 80 km in the best weather. The temperature rises to 38 degrees and it is hardly possible to compensate for the water lost from sweating by drinking. Each of us easily drinks 4 to 5 liters of water on this (tor)tour. A stop for lunch in a remote but air-conditioned restaurant is very welcome. Then it's back to the "baking oven" or onto the asphalt. Only at the end of the tour do we cover the last few kilometers in the countryside and partly in the city.

So far we hardly need any cash. We pay for everything easily with our cell phones using the Alipay app, one of the most widely used payment systems here in China. In small shops or restaurants you scan a barcode, enter the payment amount that the merchant should receive, and the payment is completed. There is a small box somewhere from which a voice can be heard announcing the payment amount received. Super simple, can be used anywhere - and practical for us, as we can get by without the hassle of changing money or withdrawing cash.

Oh yes, while we were out walking in the evening we were surprised by people who were looking for something in the bushes with their flashlights at dusk. At first we thought that a pet was missing? We spoke to a boy who showed us a bottle in which unidentifiable chunks were floating in a liquid. Could they be berries? The boy's father came to us and held out a hand in which there were three thumb-sized cicadas, then he put them in the bottle. They were later fried and eaten as a snack like popcorn. Well then, enjoy your meal! As we continued our walk we met many other enthusiastic cicada hunters...