day 16: 方顺桥 (fangshunqiao) – 望都 (wangdu) = 13,9km

I couldn’t see. Everything was white, and it wasn’t snow:

Holding the land in its soft embrace, the fog brought destruction to the ones who drove hastefully (I counted 4 massive accidents today), but it brought me pure and absolute joy:

Everywhere…

…and everything…

…got magically beautified.

Stumbling through that beautiful white I accidentally went to the 庙会 annual market at 孔村 (kongcun), a small village where virtually everyone seemed totally at ease and of a certain happiness that was utterly charming: A police officer gave me tangerines to eat and patted me on the back, some people cracked jokes about the size of my shoes, one guy got his 1,6m buddy and asked him in front of everybody: “You and this foreigner – who’s taller, eh?”

Laughter and hallo!

Some people even came up to me and wanted to have their picture taken:

(The eyes of a happy man and the eyes of a man with hurting feet.)

I hope they can all see this picture! 看到这张“孔村合影”就让我心里高兴！

Nice people, nice place.

While I was just kind of standing around on a recycle-yard, someone got a little friend and had him pose for the camera:

Obviously, this one was a little bit shy, so we gave him a big brother as back-up:

I love both the kids’ expressions on this picture: The little one looks kind of like me on my baby photographs – trying to maintain a certain physical balance while trying to figure out what is actually going on. The big one reminds me of myself when I was his age and looking cool (both posture and face) started becoming a serious issue.

Of course it’s no issue at all today! Hahahaha…

Not much color in all these pictures, huh? Well, I saw the cabbage mountain today, and it was mighty green:

Lots and lots of cabbage, interesting weather, many a happy face, new friends, and some terrible accidents.

I hope nobody died or got seriously insured on G107 today.

Wish them luck.

Soundtrack: Kanye West – “Hey Mama”

—total: 226,9km