China Round II

Edward Walsh
Oct 27, 2019
4 min read

After a great time in Europe, it was time to pack the bags once again and keep flying East until I hit Beijing. This was my second trip to China after visiting in 2017 with my old team. I knew a little bit more of what to expect, like what wall adapters to use, what foods to avoid, and how to say ‘Hi’ and ‘thank you’. Sadly, I wasn’t able to expand my vocabulary past that on this trip.

First day

The Tour of Poyang Lake is an eleven-day stage race that takes place in the Jiangxi province of China. Lucky for us, the racing was mostly away from very large cities thus avoiding the heavy smog and pollution. On my last trip to China in 2017, I saw almost exactly what I had expected based on what I had heard. There were vast industrial areas, hundreds of new empty apartments, and even entire cities that had been built and never occupied, like Xinchengzhen.

Buick is huge in China, Good someone likes them.

This trip was entirely different. We saw a lot more people living in poverty. Outside of the big cities where there were endless glowing lights - China for the most part looks like a third World country. This wasn’t news to me; it was just the first time I actually got to see more of the local conditions. The Tour organizers were certainly putting on a show for all the foreign teams, and they did not disappoint, but this trip was a bit more eye opening compared to my last.

Young Communist school, their title, not mine.

The Jiangxi province is a beautiful and diverse place. I got to see a fair portion of it over the 11-day tour, which has landscapes that vary from thick bamboo forest, to hoodoo type rock formations and a resemblance to places like Utah. There were, of course, some vast cities. Cities that likely you have never heard of that are larger than Toronto; Ji'an, Fuzhou and Nanchang. I do love going to China as it has some of the most respectful and friendly people of any place that I have travelled. Just don’t be late for the bus departure.

Taking a break from the endless transfers

The racing for me on this trip was a bit of a letdown to be honest. I think I was certainly tired from my efforts in Europe in the weeks prior, but I tried to make the most of it and fought hard every day. It was awesome to have a good team of guys on the trip, and it really brings you together as a group travelling in a place where nothing is the same as home.

A Chinese Orange

Finally a racing shot...

Our leader Ryan Roth was able to claim a stage win on the 10th day which will certainly go down as the highlight of the trip. Sadly, we took ourselves out of the overall contention after the 3rd stage, which was in the mountains around Mount Wugong, Jiangxi. Ryan and I lost about 1 minute to the lead group that day and with not many opportunities to get that time back it was a bit of a letdown.

Ryan Roth sitting in the 'hot seat' (very blurry)

The last night of our trip was spent in Nanchang, we had some locals working on the Tour who were kind enough to get a few of the teams downtown to find a great bar. It was a pretty fun time with people teaching us how to play the dice games and constantly supplying the beers. One of the German guys must have been warming up for Oktoberfest, he had a few too many and let off a fire extinguisher in the elevator. The police scared him straight pretty quick, and all they wanted was an apology from him, or else they would call the ‘Real police’ which was a little scary. Still a fun time though.

Amanda confronting the locals

After that it was a busy night of packing my bike and waking up after only two hours of sleep to hop on the bus for the airport and a 30-hour travel day. My longest ever flight - going from Beijing to Newark, 15 hours. Now I am back home in Nova Scotia and have been enjoying some time off. I’ve been dabbling in the local cyclocross scene which is always a great time thanks to the local racers. I like to fill my time with taking on odd jobs and working at the Canada Games Center as a lifeguard. I will have some news on what 2020 will hold very soon.