April 22nd Xiaoquigkou

Joan took a rest day while I headed for a small town 75 km into the mountains. Since Joan was changing hotels I left her with the passports, which are required for registration. I got an early bus and I was the only passenger as we left the station. Within 100 meters we were 5 and then we trolled the city for more passengers and a few boxes to be delivered. Then we hit a police check. I flashed my Quebec drivers’ licence and the police seemed to like it.
The first 16 km took 1 hour. We covered the next 60 km in 2 hours. When I got off the bus, at my destination, I was met by the local police posse (4 of them). They demanded my passport, which I didn’t have, and then gave me a ride to the local police station. I wrote down my intentions (to take pictures of mountains) and they checked my camera and made numerous phone calls. Nobody spoke much English and my Chinese was very, very limited, so after 30 minutes I got to talk to a policewoman on the phone who took down all my details. Then the police photographed my drivers’ licence and medical card and released me with a warning to take pictures and then leave town that day. I agreed. After a brief photo session in the fields I found a restaurant. I was eating my lunch of barbequed potatoes, when the bus came by, so I hopped aboard. I hopped off at the top of the mountain pass and took more pictures. I got the next bus and headed back to town. Unfortunately we hit another police check. The locals all passed verification but my Quebec drivers’ licence wasn’t good enough this time. They told me not to move and then I got 1 question every 3 minutes while they went away and discussed my answer. I was glad they didn’t take me off the bus because I’m sure the bus would have left without me. The bus was boiling and the passengers were unhappy. Finally a police officer that spoke English arrived and she gave me the five-minute lecture on carrying my passport in a border area. I promised Ms. Officer I would never again travel in the border area without my passport and she let me go. I was only 10 minutes late for happy hour.