In the week since completing the ride there has been some photo sharing. In the next few days we will post the best of best…..China at its best!

I also look forward to sharing with you over the coming days the other riders perspectives from our great adventure and some more insights into the Melbourne Hope School.

What a great way to finish our ride! An official ceremony in the schoolyard of the renamed Melbourne Hope School. The Project Hope riders were seated at school desks formed to make a circle under a willow tree, sitting alongside officials from China Youth Development Foundation (CYDF), local Government representatives and the Headmaster of the School. We were also in the presence of six, 13 year old students from the school (children are currently on school holidays).

There were several speeches and I represented the Project Hope riders. We received words of appreciation and thanks from the Deputy Secretary General of Education for CYDC, local representatives and the Headmaster.

With the now familiar cicada serenade we learnt of the plans to rebuild six grade 1 to 3 classrooms over the coming six months. There are currently 486 students in grades 1 to 6. We toured the classrooms to be rebuilt and discussed teaching methods and teaching aids in a typical rural school in China.

I was invited to be a Honorary “Master” at the school and also invited to attend the Official opening scheduled for March 2009. In turn I invited the Deputy Secretary General to visit Australia.

It was an appropriate end to a long but thankfully safe ride. The ride had many a purpose but adding to the more than 1,000 new Project Hope schools across China each year was arguably the most important. All the Project Hope riders have personally benefitted from a high quality education. It is therefore fitting that as a small token of our appreciation for having enjoyed a wonderful adventure, we could contribute in this small but meaningful way.

I would like to thank all donors personally and look forward to updating you on the progress of the schools program in the coming months. Finally a huge thank you to Bill Xiang of ZTE for his personal attention to detail and support while we have been in China and also to my fellow riders….you are quality people.

The Project Hope riders have been treated with courtesy and respect wherever we have travelled. One of the most often asked questions is “where are you from?” and when we reply “Australia” the standard greeting is “Welcome to China!”

Today it happened a number of times, most notably with a motorcyclist at the lights of a very busy intersection and when we stopped for water on the long (over 200 km stage). It is the second situation that was the most powerful.

Water and food stops almost always attract a large crowd so today was no different. Zhang Deli is an 87 year old who was cycling past. Fascinated with our modern bicycles he stopped for a quick comparison with his bike….even attempting to ride one of ours….Zhang is about 150cms tall and Pete Gregory is about 190cms tall, so the maths was never going to work!

Zhang then asked for a pen and paper and proceeded to write the following note for Peter Vial….. “I don’t know what your name is, but my name is Zhang Deli. I’m retired. I’m living in Shaqiao County, Helian City. Welcome to China! Salute! p.s. my son works in Beijing at Air force” (please see attached photo).

We have had an excellent variety of food on the trip. Every province has its specialties and it is hard to imaging how many varieties of similar kinds of foods we sampled over the last 7 days. Having travelled 160kms before lunch today we spent many hours on the smooth, tree lined roads. The now familiar hum of cicadas ever present in the background. So while we always expect to hear them in the nearby Cotton Woods and Plane Trees we did not expect them as part of the lunch banquet! Around course 10 of the banquet was the platter. The Cicadas were deep fried and definitely tasted better with Salt! In addition we were presented with “drunk” yabbies. Live yabbies marinated in white wine….a little slow moving after an hour in the wine but very much alive. Only Pete Gregory and Mark Goldblatt braved the experience with the rest of us politely declining for the clean white rice (carbohydrate) alternative.

In addition to completing a “double” “double” more than 200kms on successive days, we also celebrated Paul Denver’s birthday. Generally we have only had fruit or small sweet cake for desert (a good choice) so a layered vanilla cake was a big hit as was the double espressos we had on arrival at our extraordinary hotel.

My final comment is reserved for the hotel - the Grand Epoch City. A direct copy of the Emperor’s Summer Palace, it is located in the Xianghe Economic Zone in Hebei Province. Built in 1992 at a cost of 3billion RMB it has vast sprawling grounds, an inner and outer city on its 2.66 million square meter site. A fitting place to end the longest days of our journey.

Tomorrow we attend the Project Hope Primary School in Hebei Province, the first of our Project Hope Schools!

Best
David

It is usually only after a task is completed that it can be appreciated. Today was one of those times.

Jinan to Changzhou was our longest and hardest day (so far). Importantly everyone who started the ride finished the ride and we did so as a group.

The Project Hope team were tested in temperatures well into the 40°C for today’s long ride. Over 200km in high temperatures and humidity on busy, dusty roads and even “no” roads (due to construction) was a fair test…..and that was before the punctures!

Pleasingly Bill Xiang achieved his first “century” (over 100kms in a single ride).

Notwithstanding some enjoyable scenery….from the Yellow River, to vast crop plains to seemingly thousands of “hot houses” and the now familiar “cotton wood” or poplar and plane trees lining the roadway (growing every 10ft!)…..the highlight of the ride was the dinner at the Hotel!

Michael Gannon led an “insights” discussion which included relevant personal history, reflections on Project Hope, the ride and the individual riders, and on China generally. There was plenty of laughter, spontaneous humour and strong sense of camaraderie knowing we also have a purpose underpinning the ride.

Two days of over 200kms back to back in tough conditions will be something new for the most of the group ……we will be able to reflect on that over dinner tomorrow!

Best
David

Arriving in Jinan, a vibrant city of 6 million people and the capital of Shandong Province, our discussion turned to both the two long (over 200kms each) days ahead and the Project Hope School we will attend in three days time.

The riders are looking forward to seeing the first of the Project Hope schools in Hebei funded from the ride proceeds.

We started the day with an early ascent of one of China’s most famous and sacred mountains, Mt Taishan. The 1500 metre mountain has borne many a myth and legend. It has inspired poetry, art, literature and personal reflection. Over 80 emperors, over 5000 years, have taken the journey to the summit via the east and for the last 1500 years south routes. We were fortunate to have a spectacular morning with clear blue skies and wispy white clouds for our journey. Along the way we learnt of the legend of the Monkey King and the stories of the worlds of Chinese myths. It was great to see so many families and particularly young people braving the steep climb up a stone stairway to “Heavens Gate.”

After lunch we continued our journey towards Beijing via Jinan in good spirits and with a favourable tailwind! We made good time arriving at the Hotel with three hours of daylight.

Each rider then spent some time preparing for what will be a solid test over the next two days.

Best
David