0:03 My mule is carrying me across this
0:06 treacherous moat. The geese mafia is out
0:13 >> I feel like I'm in an escape room right
0:15 now. The innocent children are being
0:21 >> Welcome to Leoning, China's northernmost
0:23 coastal province. My husband and I are
0:25 in our third month of our North China
0:26 bike tour and we're currently heading
0:28 northwest from the seaside city of
0:30 Dalian to the grasslands of Inner
0:32 Mongolia. In the previous vlog, we
0:34 explored pebble beaches, tide pools,
0:36 cliffs, and even the bottom of the sea.
0:38 And today, we're exploring our favorite
0:48 [Music]
0:50 >> From friendly strangers to not so
0:53 friendly strangers.
0:55 From beautiful otherworldly landscapes
0:58 to places that are a little bit less
1:00 aesthetic, come along with us on our 300
1:02 km journey up the Leoning Peninsula.
1:04 Today's route begins in this quiet
1:06 little fishing village on the outskirts
1:08 of Dalian. Or maybe quiet is the wrong
1:11 word actually.
1:13 Oh my gosh, the geese mafia just blocked
1:15 a car. Did y'all see that? The geese
1:18 mafia is out in the street causing a ruckus.
1:26 And then there's this one straggler
1:28 who's like, "Wait a second. Why are we
1:31 escaping again, guys? Are we sure this
1:32 is worth it? I'd kind of rather just
1:34 take a nap." Anyway, many minutes of
1:36 chaos later, the owner finally showed up
1:38 and coralled her geese back into their
1:40 pen. Well, that was the most excitement
1:42 we've had all morning. It's the weird
1:44 and funny and interesting little
1:46 encounters like these that make us keep
1:48 taking detours off the main road to
1:50 explore villages and small towns. Yeah,
1:52 the main roads are faster and smoother
1:53 and whatever, but they don't have as
1:56 much character. And the smaller the
1:57 place, the more likely it is that the
1:59 residents have never seen a foreigner
2:01 before, which leads to all sorts of
2:20 Unfortunately, we're about to be having
2:22 a lot less interesting encounters with
2:24 kids because school is starting, but
2:25 we'll enjoy it while it lasts. We're
2:27 outside of a school right now and there
2:29 are a bunch of people like lined up
2:32 trying to find their child in this mass
2:34 of uniform children. Everyone is wearing
2:35 the exact same thing. This is not a
2:37 complaint, by the way. I think it's
2:38 great because in the US clothing in
2:41 school becomes such a snafu like all the
2:42 time. Anyways, there's a bunch of
2:44 parents lined up here and it's like,
2:50 >> Apparently, they can't, but they just
3:02 Obey the party. Be thankful to the
3:05 party. follow in the footsteps of the
3:07 party. It's a communist party in case
3:10 anyone's confused. [Music]
3:20 [Music] >> Hello.
3:21 >> Hello. >> Hello.
3:23 >> Hello.
3:24 >> Hello. Hello. >> Hello.
3:32 Everyone is hanging this monkey looking
3:35 creature all over the place like on
3:47 Even this tiny convenience store has the monkey.
3:50 monkey.
3:52 They even drew a face on the monkey with
3:54 Sharpie to make it look more like a monkey.
4:06 Fascinating. Y'all check this out. This
4:08 family has loaded up their gate with
4:11 like every single good luck charm
4:14 possible. We got the monkey. We got the
4:18 get-rich triangle. We got a bonus
4:22 monkey. We got a bonus triangle. We got
4:25 the prosperity triangle. We got the
4:29 little the little guy. We got another
4:31 monkey. All over China, it's common to
4:33 find some sort of duad on people's gates
4:35 in rural areas for good luck or
4:37 prosperity or wealth or whatever. And
4:38 this really was our first encounter with
4:40 the monkeys. But unfortunately, their
4:42 habitat range is very limited. We
4:44 stopped seeing them the moment we left
5:05 [Music]
5:07 Anyway, the next morning, Uncle Long
5:10 Eyelashes managed to procure us a lovely
5:12 brunch at the local Shinjang restaurant.
5:14 A lot of places we've been going don't
5:16 have these, but if there is one, he will
5:18 find it. And because most of them know
5:20 him from Doí, he's always getting free
5:22 meals everywhere. What better way to
5:23 start off the day's bike journey than
5:26 with some handpulled Qashqar style
5:27 noodles. The restaurant isn't even open
5:30 right now. She invited us here to make
5:38 >> This is actually a barbecue restaurant,
5:40 so handful noodles are not even on the
5:43 menu here. She made her own home cooking
5:45 for us. Is that not the cutest thing
5:49 ever? The noodles are here. H, that is
5:50 beautiful. After our noodle breakfast,
5:52 we began our journey from the east side
5:54 of the peninsula to the west. [Music]
6:07 >> How are you?
6:10 >> Exod's making a friend. [Music]
6:25 [Music] Byebye.
6:44 I mean, I get these comments all the
6:46 time on the internet, but I actually
6:48 don't get them in person very often. So,
7:19 This is what the internet is doing to
7:22 the children. The innocent children are
7:24 being ruined by the internet. Know who
7:25 else is being ruined by the internet?
7:28 Asa John. Every day I immerse him in
7:29 American internet dril. And it's thanks
7:32 to Let'sVPN that we can enjoy it all lag
7:34 free. It's reliable, it's affordable,
7:36 and it's a great choice for both a
7:37 short-term visit and a long-term stay in
7:41 China. Just click the button and in 3 2
7:43 1, you are connected. Thanks to
7:45 Let'sVPN, I can now enjoy my favorite
7:46 block sites and platforms without
7:48 constantly having to switch servers.
7:49 Check out the link below if you're
7:51 interested. And now back to the vlog.
7:53 John's making a friend. >> Hello.
7:53 >> Hello. >> Hello.
8:01 That is Northeast hospitality for you.
8:03 Just another day as an American in a
8:05 random Chinese village. Sometimes I met
8:07 with a hello, sometimes with shock and
8:10 surprise, sometimes with rage, and
8:13 sometimes with free fruit. [Music]
8:24 >> Look at this pig pen. The pigs are
8:26 actually given a little yard space to
8:29 like run around in and they're having
8:30 the time of their life. This is how
8:32 animals should be raised. Give them some
8:54 we have come so far on this flyinfested
8:56 dirt road. We thought we were almost
9:01 done, but now the final boss is here.
9:02 How in the world are we going to get
9:04 through that? But I don't want to turn
9:05 back cuz we've been on this road for so
9:09 long. Mr. Sock Sandal has removed the
9:12 socks and is going in. Don't get a leech
9:16 or something, please. Oh my gosh. [Music]
9:22 [Music]
9:25 My mule is carrying me across this
9:30 treacherous moat. That's a strong boy. Hello.
9:31 Hello.
9:37 >> Oh my gosh, y'all. Finally, we escaped.
9:46 [Music]
9:48 >> The time has finally come. It's done.
9:51 It's getting a haircut.
9:53 These guys are spraying water everywhere.
10:01 We are on our way to the beach one last
10:03 time before we head west towards Inner Mongolia.
10:15 [Music]
10:18 We are trying to get to the beach, but
10:20 in my attempt to find us tiny roads with
10:23 no people, I once again got us on a road
10:32 [Music]
10:33 >> This place was one of the emptiest
10:35 landscapes we'd been through for a
10:38 while, with the exception of this island
10:40 of city that looked so out of place
10:42 surrounded by fields. [Music]
10:44 [Music]
10:46 What a strange place, y'all. It's like a
10:48 little tiny bubble, a little island of a
10:55 And what few shops were here are mostly
10:56 closed because there aren't enough
10:58 people in the vicinity to keep them
11:00 alive. What a confusing place. Why does
11:06 [Applause] [Music]
11:15 [Music]
11:17 The only trace of life in this place.
11:19 Another hour along these quiet, empty
11:21 roads later, we finally made it to the
11:24 beach. Who doesn't love a beach? [Music]
11:50 There's not just a beach here. There's
11:52 also a temple. Over my seven years
11:54 living in China, I've been to more
11:55 temples than I can count. Not for a
11:57 religious purpose, but because I love
11:59 the architecture, and I especially love
12:01 the little guys. Little guys on roofs,
12:03 little guys on doorways, little guys on
12:05 railings, little guys everywhere. This
12:07 particular temple was actually in the
12:08 middle of roof renovations, so some of
12:10 the little guys were off of their perch
12:12 and laying on the ground. I've never
12:14 been able to observe the roof guys from
12:16 such a close distance. It was super cool
12:18 seeing them in so much detail. There was
12:20 an interesting ritual underway where you
12:22 pull a stick out of a cup and based on
12:24 the number of your stick, you are given
12:49 I don't know if it's taboo to
12:51 participate in the temple activities if
12:52 you're not religious, but she offered
12:57 for us to try, so we did. foreign.
13:43 You may be wondering how having kids can
13:45 possibly be compatible with our current
13:47 nomadic lifestyle. I don't think it is
13:48 compatible, honestly, which is why we've
13:50 given ourselves about a year to complete
13:51 as much of this bike route as possible.
13:53 And then it's time to start a family.
13:54 For those of you who missed the previous
13:56 video and are wondering how we suddenly
13:58 got here so quickly from Dillian, that's
14:00 why. We don't have enough time, so we
14:01 have to skip over some regions. And now
14:03 we're here on the Leoning Coast biking
14:05 towards Inner Mongolia. Every square
14:07 inch of land where you can see even the
14:10 tiniest sliver of ocean, there is
14:13 seafood barbecue.
14:19 See, this restaurant here technically
14:22 does have an ocean view. Across the road
14:24 through this tiny opening in the trees,
14:26 you can in fact see the ocean. So,
14:29 oceanfront dining experience right here.
14:30 We will not be partaking. We actually
14:32 don't like seafood. I'm just here cuz I
14:34 like the beach. I don't know if y'all
14:35 can see it, but there is a grapesized
14:38 spider there hanging in the middle of
14:40 the bike lane.
14:42 Someone is going to get a face full of
14:44 spiders. Acceedon is doing a public
14:45 service, moving this spider out of the
14:48 road so nobody hits it. Look at that big boy.
15:01 Just our luck that the best sunset of
15:03 our entire time in Leon would happen
15:05 when we're passing through an industrial
15:07 district. Well, when life gives you
15:09 lemons, make lemonade. I'm still pretty
15:11 pleased with how these shots turned out. [Music]
15:19 [Music]
15:21 Dinner was our old friend, Lenjo
15:23 Noodles. What can I say, guys? If you
15:25 want to see food content, this vlog is
15:27 not the place. We just love our noodles,
15:29 and that's all we ever want. Once you've
15:31 tried handpulled noodles, there is no
15:33 going back, y'all. Regular noodles are
15:36 ruined for me forever.
15:39 We're here. This is the tallest building
15:40 we've stayed in since this bike tour
15:44 began. We are on the 25th floor. And I
15:45 hate to sound like a plea, but like
15:47 that's kind of scary, man. That's too
15:49 high. My little primate brain just
15:51 doesn't compute being in such a high
15:53 building. It's like what if it falls
15:54 down? The good thing about booking one
15:56 of these apartment hotels is you get
15:58 more space and it's cheaper. But the bad
16:00 thing is you have to hunt for it. Like
16:01 really hunt through the neighborhood. We
16:02 barely managed to find this building and
16:04 now we're in the building and we can't
16:05 go up the elevator because we don't have
16:07 the card. And how do we get the card? We
16:09 have to enter a password into this box.
16:11 I think it's this box. I feel like I'm
16:13 in an escape room right now. It's just
16:16 like too many steps to stay in this
16:18 little apartment. But we're doing it
16:20 anyway because it has a washing machine.
16:22 We want the washing machine. Okay,
16:25 Okay,
16:44 All of this for 125 g and beat. So, it's
16:47 worth the escape room experience to have
16:49 all of this. Actually, I didn't know it
16:52 had this many beds. I just saw washing
16:54 machine. So, we booked it. Very nice.
16:57 For the same price of a hotel room, you
17:00 can have a kitchen, multiple bedrooms, a
17:03 couch, even this cool little thing here.
17:04 It even comes with this borderline
17:07 useless helicopter ceiling fan. Anyway,
17:09 I bet you're all wondering what the view
17:11 looks like out the 25th floor. Sorry, I
17:13 forgot to film it, but believe me, it
17:15 was pretty nice. Good morning, friends,
17:18 from Leoning. It might look like we are
17:20 just in any old city, but actually,
17:22 we're right by the beach. You can tell
17:24 because even the public bathrooms have
17:45 [Music]
17:48 >> Oh my gosh, it's a chicken roller
17:50 coaster. But we're here at the wrong
17:52 time, so it's not going. And I'm so
17:54 disappointed. There's a couple over
17:55 there having like a breakup chat or
17:57 something, and it's like, I'm sorry to
18:00 interrupt, but I must film the chicken
18:02 roller coaster. Okay, that's enough city
18:04 life for now. Tonight, we're staying in
18:23 >> Today we are going to be experiencing a
18:26 rural homeay in a fishing village.
18:27 Unfortunately, you can't see the ocean
18:29 from here. There is kind of a road in
18:30 the way, but you can see all these boats
18:32 everywhere. So, I promise you it is legit.
18:41 >> Okay, here's our room.
18:44 Pretty nice. Well, the view leaves a bit
18:46 to be desired, but it's also like 90 remite.
18:48 remite.
18:51 Here is the resident cat. Love me a
18:54 friendly cat. Not one of those aloof,
18:56 hostile cats, you know. This cat sees
18:58 new people come through and it's like,
19:00 yeah, I want to meet you. Night has
19:02 fallen, so we are going for a little
19:03 stroll in the village to see what's
19:05 going on. Probably nothing, but that's
19:07 fine. Whether there is something or
19:14 Man, why don't they make boats this cute
19:16 anymore? Like, fine, if you're going to
19:18 modernize them, but look how cute this
19:20 is. Why don't we make boats like this anymore?
19:29 >> We at the dock cuz I wanted to look at
19:31 boats. And if you like boats, this is
19:32 the time to look at boats cuz they're
19:37 all here from May 1st to September 1st.
19:39 It is the no fishing season to let the
19:43 fish rest. Give the fish peace.
19:46 >> It is almost time for fishing season to
19:59 Two days left and then time's up, fish.
20:01 They're coming for you. The next
20:02 morning, we continued our journey
20:04 northward towards the coastal wetlands.
20:07 Got my second in-person spy accusation
20:09 right here in this grocery store. Come
20:10 on, Naomi. What is up with all the spy
20:11 accusations? We made it all the way
20:13 through Halong Dang and Dian without any
20:14 of this. And now here in Naing, it's
20:16 happened two times. We're crossing
20:18 through an area called Yingo. And this
20:19 place has more abandoned things than
20:22 everywhere else we've been combined.
20:24 This could have been something, but
20:26 alas, it is nothing. And the street is
20:29 full of student drivers. >> Hello.
20:29 >> Hello.
20:32 >> Hello. Because there's no one here, the
20:34 learners can go as slow as they want,
20:36 and no one will beep at them. Between
20:37 the abandoned buildings and the
20:39 aquaculture ponds that went on for
20:41 literally hours on end, we didn't really
20:42 get a chance to chat with anyone today.
20:44 So, unfortunately, my only encounter
20:46 with a local all day was being called us
20:57 >> like it has the layout of what could
20:59 have been a really big bustling city,
21:01 but it just doesn't have the people to
21:03 fill it in. A lot of the population of
21:05 the Northeast has moved to other
21:06 provinces or moved to the biggest cities
21:09 like Talian and Shenyang. So, this place
21:10 kind of got left in the dust. I'm not
21:12 saying there are no people here, but the
21:13 fact that the population could fit in a
21:15 space like 1/3 this size gives it a
21:17 slightly apocalyptic vibe. We bike north
21:19 for what felt like ages until we finally
21:21 reached the quote unquote normal part of
21:23 the city. Upon arrival, we were greeted
21:25 by the traffic accident board of shame,
21:28 which I suppose is here to remind you to
21:29 be a good driver, but I think it's a
21:31 little bit distracting to be honest. But
21:33 hey, whatever works, right? Okay, now
21:35 this place finally looks like a city.
21:37 And why are we never in a scenic place
21:38 when there's a good sunset? The next
21:41 morning, we traversed two more hours of
21:43 industrial parks and abandoned things.
21:44 And then we finally arrived at the
21:48 wetland park. We are here at the Red
21:49 Wetland Park. [Music]
21:56 [Music]
21:58 The scenery here feels like some alien
22:00 planet unlike anything else on Earth.
22:02 Just like autumn leaves, this plant also
22:04 changes color through the seasons. And
22:06 we're here at its peak time when its
22:08 vibrant red collides with the blue sky
22:10 and the white birds and the silly
22:12 looking mud skippers flopping around,
22:14 creating a beautiful and otherworldly panorama.
22:15 panorama. [Music]
22:26 I feel like wetlands are a highly
22:27 underrated ecosystem in this world.
22:29 Like, yeah, at a glance, there's not a
22:31 ton going on. It looks like it's just
22:32 grass and mud, but if you look up close,
22:34 there are so many little creatures in
22:36 there crawling around, and there are so
22:38 many birds. They create habitat. They
22:40 prevent erosion, and they're just
22:42 beautiful. What's not to love? The Red
22:44 Wetland Park is the finale to our
22:46 journey through the Leoning Peninsula.
22:48 After days of biking through cliffs,
22:50 fishing villages, beach towns,
22:52 semi-abandoned landscapes, boring
22:54 industrial parks, and even more boring
22:57 aquaculture ponds, we finally witnessed
22:58 this beautiful piece of art made by
23:00 Mother Nature herself. Yeah, I
23:02 encountered a few cranky people in ugly
23:04 places along the way, but there was also
23:06 so much beauty that came alongside it.
23:07 And these vlogs exist to show you the
23:09 full tapestry of life throughout all
23:11 sorts of random places in China. So,
23:13 thank you all for coming on this journey
23:15 with us through the good, the bad, and
23:17 the in between. Stay tuned, and I'll see
