Back from Rizhao-an adventure

Friday, at 2:30 we rounded up one of the Rizhao drivers and Lucas & I were ready for our trip back to Changyi. At least we thought we were. The driver was a young guy and he drove fast, having to brake hard several times for pedestrian & cart traffic.


It is said to be about 2.5 hours by car. I don't know what time the trip took, but it would have been shorter if not for the diversion.

We were speeding down a relatively new highway, with 2 wide lanes. and suddenly came on a man frantically waving at us. Then, several other men were visible further down the road doing the same actions. The driver was speaking to Lucas and I had no idea what the deal was. I asked Lucas and he said the road was under construction and the local people who knew the unmarked rural roads through the villages were waving cars down to charge the drivers for directions. During this short conversation, a concrete wall, at least 8' tall, & maybe higher, came into view. It was built across the highway and there were not a lot of signs identifying the roadblock prior to seeing it. It looked like a building was built in the street.

We turned around, while dodging the waving herd of people, and the driver felt he knew the area well enough that he did not need a guide. We pulled off at a small, narrow dirt road and shortly, we were behind a small SUV traveling through the countryside. We continued to move along at a speed faster than I would have driven; we had right angle turns, potholes, dips and hollows, and traveled through a couple of villages with the first cattle I have seen in China.

Finally, in the 3rd village, we came to a halt behind the SUV and another vehicle. At the end of a row building, like a row of houses, was narrow path that led through a garden area. A man had what appeared to be a fresh load of topsoil dumped in the path. The path had apparently been the ‘road’ traffic had taken through the village. But no more. He wasn’t allowing traffic to come through. Each of the vehicles turned around and followed our car back up the road. A group of villagers was huddled together at a corner and a lady in a nearby alley was yelling at the cars. Our driver pulled into the alley where she was standing and she approached the driver-side window. She was demanding money to pass through her (?) backyard, from which we could access the dirt road again. Lucas told me later she was demanding 5 yuan (75 cents) per vehicle, but the driver told her he only had 2 yuan, handed it to her and drove past her before she could do any more arguing.

Later, we did reach pavement again and were on our way. For some reason, the side show reminded me of the movie, Romancing the Stone, without the gunplay.

The ladies at the Changyi were glad to see me and 5 of them came out to assist in carrying my ‘stuff’ up to room 205. I think it is mostly because I helped them with the snow on the parking lot a couple of weeks ago.