in Chinese hotels, everything seems to be lettered normally
The start in the morning was nice, because I had breakfast at a Chinese buffet and only two times took something “wrong” (too sour for my taste).
It was not easy to get my bike down the stairs but to get it through between the cars parking directly in front of those stairs, was really hard. Other people ma not have a bike but big luggage, how should that work?
The road today was mostly ok, sometimes even good. The wind was not to strong and sometimes the sun was visible. Not in that strong version where you even feel it but brightening the grey view that dominated the last weeks. I had started with gloves and my normal shoes. They are not much warmer, but you can move a bit, the bike shoes are very tight. The glove of the right hand I soon changed back to the bike glove, because I couldn’t use the touch screen of Mr.G. And maybe because of the sun, it became warmer and warmer in the next hours and finally, I was going in T-shirt and bike jacket and feeling comfortable.
a proposal for a small detour…. 
…from Mr.G: go left and come back after 50m!
When I had my belated 45km break (at km58, because today, I wanted to go 58+48+38km), I turned on my phone and received an email with a cancellation of the booking in Lianjiang, because the hotel was not allowed to host foreigners. (I had this before, but I also have a -yet not cancelled- booking of a hotel where it was written that they are only allowed to host guests from mainland China. Now I saw three options:
Going to the after next city, even farer, going to Lianjiang to another hotel or sleep in my tent. I wanted to decide that at my next break (+48km). But at km100, I was in a small city and saw a big hotel. I asked (with translator), if I could stay for a night. They answered in Chinese, without translation and my translator has no Chinese writing and without WiFi, I cannot use voice translate. I showed that I didn’t understand, and they started to write it down on a paper – but only Chinese characters, as if someone who cannot talk or understand Chinese would have less difficulties with the signs!
So I asked some questions for “yes”- or “no”-answers and it was again the foreigner problem. I don’t understand why this hotel had some English writings and also “HOTEL” written over the entrance when they only are allowed to host Chinese. At the end of that city, Qingpingzhen, there was another hotel, this time it was only written 酒店 (there are also other characters for hotel, as I later saw).
But I wanted to try it, and this time, I was successful. I still wonder why, and I also wonder why this small city has 2 big hotels.
In the evening, I wanted to get food and dinner. The only place after walking for nearly a kilometre, was a gas station with a small shop. And a little bit ahead, I found a hidden restaurant, hidden at least for people who cannot read Chinese. Even when I was there, I was not sure if it was a restaurant. At least the people tried to communicate with me and after some minutes we enjoyed the fun of the situation with typing or talking in our phones and showing each other the results. They served me rice and vegetables
and even wanted to take a photo with me, a chance for me for also taking a selfie with two of them, because one had that big sling for carrying babies that I had seen often in the last days but had no chance to take a photo. Now I had, but the photo again is blurred.
I don’t know how that works, because I only press the button and 3 sec later, the camera takes the picture automatically, so it cannot be my fault. Maybe it was too dark?
Back at the hotel, I posted on FB that 10000km are done.
10000km and travelling 182 days, and still I “learn” something: Today I developed a new technique for packing my bags. So far, I closed those where I believe they are ready to get the feeling, something is done and after each bag the rest is easier and clearer. I often had to re-open one bag, because I found something what had to be stored in it. Now, I leave all bags open until I don’t see anything belonging to me in the room. I only place the bags that should be complete nearer to the door to give me the feeling of having something finished.
Great invention!