We continued our travels in China and headed to the next climbing area we chose to visit: 江油腰悬岩 (Jiangyou Yaoxuanyan), located northeast of Chengdu.

On the way, Rosinante achieved one of her all-time fuel consumption records: with her 80-liter tank, she made it 813 kilometers, that’s 9.8 liters per 100 kilometers! Not bad for a fat-ass car like her.

All thanks to the flawless Chinese expressways.

Along our route, we found an okay camp spot in an abandoned tourist area. It was strange: the site was huge, complete with an artificial lake, walking paths, shops, apartments, hotels, everything. Yet, all the buildings were completely empty and unused commercially. Local residents came there to chill and a few small vendors and food carts were selling things, but otherwise (aside from one active hotel), the area was abandoned.

On the way, we picked up some supplies: cheap Baileys for Racki and a mixture of cognac and Chinese herbs (we called it Chinese medicine) for me.

Nope, we didn’t take the whole cucumber.

Eventually, we arrived at the climbing area. The road leading there was super narrow, winding through deeply forested hills. It was a nice concrete road, as always in China, with no major damage.

When we reached the gate to the climbing area, a lot of signs greeted us.

Because the few roads in that region were so narrow and at times very steep, it took us a while to find a good camp spot. In fact, both we and the locals had to get a running start in our cars just to make it up some of the steeper sections. Thankfully, there was almost no traffic.

We were extremely happy with our spot, as it provided plenty of shade in the heat.

The climbing crags looked amazing!

There were a couple of sectors, and the quality of the routes was very good.

The weather was great, but it was too hot in the sun, so we timed our climbing sessions according to the sun’s position so we could mostly climb in the shade.

Some sectors required a fairly steep approach through the forest.

We had a blast finally climbing in a larger area again, and we were getting fitter and fitter.

See details about 江油腰悬岩 on thecrag.com.

During our stay, we watched the Leonids, and the night sky and stars at this place were absolutely stunning!

We had to pay the locals for our parking spot, but they were super friendly and…

… let us use their toilet, which was the hole you see at the top left of this photo, located inside their pigsty.

And of course, we enjoyed plenty of amazing food. This was our signature homemade pesto, packed with lots of fresh herbs and nuts.

We continued our journey to Zhengzhou. In China, most “Western apps” did not work without a VPN, and even with a VPN, some apps didn’t work as seamlessly as their Chinese counterparts. Instead of Google Maps, we used AMAP, a very nice navigation app that came with a lot of features, like showing the current state of traffic lights along your route.

When entering the perfect expressways, we had to show our Chinese license plate to the toll gate personnel. Most of them had to ask their supervisors what to do with it, and it usually took some time to get onto the highway, but the staff were always super friendly and motivated to help us.

And Rosinante weighed around 3.45 to 3.55 tons—not too bad considering everything we carry around with us.

We arrived on the outskirts of Zhengzhou and found a very nice parking lot close to our next climbing area.

There were a few mobile homes parked where some owners were living full-time. Many locals also arrived in all kinds of cars to camp in their vehicles or pitch tents for the night. It was lovely to see, and we guessed that for them, this parking lot and the small hiking area behind it served as a wonderful recreational getaway.

It was fascinating to see how the locals camped. Many had electric vehicles, so they brought induction cooktops that they plugged directly into their cars to cook meals. Some stayed inside their air-conditioned vehicles for most of the time, while others hung out in large, lively groups across the parking lot.

Of course, there were stray dogs as well. Compared to some of the massive stray Kangal dogs in Turkey, these strays were pretty cute.

After sunset, there was a lot going on along the small boulevard near the parking lot, which offered a great view over the city. Some locals practiced Tai Chi, while others just hung around, ate, played games, …

… or sang karaoke right at the bus stop.

Many people smoked, and spitting on the ground was a very common sight. We researched it and asked a few locals; the spitting seems to stem from Traditional Chinese Medicine beliefs that toxins should be expelled from the body. Even though smoking was widespread, there were still info panels highlighting the negative health effects of smoking.

The climbing area called 龙景 was a bit disappointing at first: from the parking lot, the trail to the climbing sectors was obvious, but the location of the first sector wasn’t right. Not a huge deal, we’ve navigated much harder approaches, but when we finally found the first sector, many bolts had been removed, making it unclimbable.

The second sector, right next to the first, had only a few routes, but they looked climbable.

We decided to push further to the third sector, and that one was absolutely beautiful! A impressive, large wall with well-bolted routes.

The rock was very unique: much of it was a mineralized stone that felt somewhat soft. It felt a bit strange at first, but we quickly got the hang of it.

We enjoyed the climbing immensely, even though the sun was beating down on the rock all day. As belayers, we draped wet towels over our heads to keep cool. Fortunately, there was a small creek running right next to the wall.

From the top of the higher routes, we enjoyed a fantastic view of the city. See details about the 龙景 climbing area on thecrag.com.

The massive “domino block” apartment towers of Zhengzhou.

And from the parking lot, the surrounding rock formations looked stunning as well.

We continued on to the world-famous Terracotta Army in Xi’an. It was a massive attraction and thoroughly impressive.

It’s unbelievable how much work and detail were put into building this grand mausoleum!

The sheer level of detail and individuality crafted into all the statues was mind-blowing.

This is one of the main halls, where visitors can see various stages of restoration. These are still covered statues—thousands of them.

Here were uncovered, broken fragments waiting for restoration.

And these were fully reconstructed statues. Thousands!

Every single figure had distinct facial features and a unique expression. Visiting the site was incredible, and learning about the history behind the Terracotta Army was just as fascinating.

In the commercial district of the site, there was an abundance of souvenirs and even more street food.

I bought a nice bracelet in hopes that it might help me practice a bit more patience in certain moments.

We found a overnight spot in the site’s massive parking lot. Coincidentally, we ran into two couples from our overland convoy with whom we had crossed the border into China. It was wonderful to reconnect and swap stories about our experiences in China so far.